Nestled along Highway 9 in the Calgary Metropolitan Region, Irricana sits approximately 53 kilometres northeast of Calgary and is entirely surrounded by Rocky View County. The town’s name has an interesting origin – it is a portmanteau formed from the words “irrigation canals,” reflecting the network of irrigation infrastructure that once defined the landscape of the surrounding area.
Irricana’s roots stretch back to the early twentieth century, with a post office, hotel, and a store run by the Irricana Trading Company all established by 1909. The community was formally incorporated as a village on June 9, 1911, and after nearly a century at that status, it was elevated to a town on June 9, 2005 – exactly 94 years to the day after its original incorporation. The town marked its centennial in 2011. According to the 2021 Census conducted by Statistics Canada, Irricana had a population of 1,179 residents living in 467 of its 483 private dwellings, a modest decrease of roughly 3% from the 1,216 residents recorded in the 2016 Census. The town covers a land area of 3.23 square kilometres, which works out to a population density of approximately 365 people per square kilometre.