Strathcona County, Alberta Edmonton, Red Deer & Northern Alberta

Barndominium Builders in Strathcona County (Sherwood Park), Alberta

Strathcona County is two places in one municipality. Sherwood Park is its urban centre, with serviced lots and suburban neighbourhoods, and around it the county stretches across farmland, small holdings and country residential subdivisions east of Edmonton. That rural land is what makes Strathcona County one of the more practical places in the Edmonton region to build a barndominium with a real shop, because the same county writes the zoning, issues the permits and runs the rural water and sewer services. A house in Sherwood Park is planned to its residential zone; an acreage build is planned to an agricultural or small-holdings zone, where the accessory building limits and the second-dwelling rules decide whether the shop stands apart or shares the roof. We design post-frame homes and steel-frame barndominiums around those limits, and custom plans start from the zone on your title. For a parcel with no services yet, site preparation covers the driveway and pad. Send the legal land description through the survey and we will look up the zone, the permits and the servicing first.

Strathcona County at a glance

Municipality: Specialized municipality, Division No. 11
Population: 99,225 (2021 Census); 107,345 (July 2025 estimate)
Building permit: Municipal building office
Land and acreage: City land and rural land; acreage in Strathcona County
Wastewater: Private sewage permit
Water: Municipal water or a well

Tell us about your land

Barndominium Builders Near Strathcona County

From a turnkey build to a shell you finish yourself, the work starts with the parcel: the access, the building pad, the route to a sewer or a private sewage system, and the water source. The parcel decides the budget more than the floor area does, so each option is priced against your land rather than a rate card.

Turnkey Builds

Turnkey barndominiums in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: one team from bare land and permits to a finished, inspected house, water and septic planned in.

Custom Plans

Custom barndominium plans for Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: floor plans and permit drawings drawn for your parcel, your loads and your municipality.

Site Preparation

Barndominium site preparation in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: clearing, grading, drainage, access and the building pad, planned around well and septic.

Permitting

Barndominium permits in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: development and building permits, trade permits, septic, and who issues each one.

Post-Frame and Steel-Frame Barndominiums Near Strathcona County

A post-frame home, often called a pole barn home, sets its frame on widely spaced posts and suits a wide, simple layout with a shop bay under the same roof. A steel-frame barndominium uses a bolted steel frame, and an RTM (ready-to-move) home is built off site and moved to the land. Which one fits comes down to the land use rules, the site and the design values for your location.

Post-Frame Homes

Post-frame and pole barn homes in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: a wide-open shop and a house on one column-and-truss frame, built as a real home.

Steel Construction

Steel-frame barndominiums and metal building homes in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: clear-span frames for a shop and a house, finished for winter.

RTM Homes

RTM homes in Alberta and Saskatchewan: ready-to-move barndominiums built in our yard, moved to your land and set on the foundation built there.

Shouses

Shop houses (shouses) in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: a working shop and a home under one roof, planned around the land use bylaw, water and septic.

Building a Barndominium in Strathcona County (Sherwood Park): Permits, Land Use, Sewage and Water

On acreage the land use, sewage and water answers often come before the building answer. Here is who decides each part in Strathcona County, taken from the office or document that publishes it. Rules change, so check them again against your parcel before anything is drawn.

Who issues the building permitMunicipal building office

Strathcona County Planning and Development Services

Strathcona County requires both a development permit and a building permit for every new dwelling, plus electrical, plumbing, gas and, on unserviced land, private sewage permits. A new house needs a site plan from an Alberta land surveyor and an Alberta home warranty certificate. The County's rural guidance lists screw piles, concrete piles and slab-on-grade foundations among those that must be designed by a professional engineer or registered architect.

Source: Rural and Agriculture - Dwellings and additions, Strathcona County (strathcona.ca)

Who decides the land useCity and rural land

Strathcona County Land Use Bylaw 24-2024

Strathcona County's Land Use Bylaw 24-2024 sets the rules for both Sherwood Park and the rural area. Its agricultural zones include Agriculture: General (AG), Agriculture: River Valley (AR), Agriculture: Small Holdings (RA) and Rural: Small Holdings (RS), each with its own list of permitted uses and limits on accessory buildings. The County amends the bylaw regularly, so check the current text for your zone.

Source: Land Use Bylaw, Strathcona County (strathcona.ca)

Sewer or private sewagePrivate sewage permit

Strathcona County Safety Codes (private sewage permits)

Sherwood Park and the hamlets drain to County sewers. On rural land, a septic tank with a field, mound or open discharge needs a County private sewage permit, and tanks must meet the sizing rules of the Alberta Private Sewage Systems Standard of Practice 2021. A homeowner living on the site may apply for a soil-based system, but its design needs professional involvement.

Source: Private sewage, Strathcona County (strathcona.ca)

Where the water comes fromMunicipal water or a well

Strathcona County Utilities

The County's water comes from the North Saskatchewan River and is treated by EPCOR in Edmonton. Strathcona County Utilities runs three kinds of service: a high-pressure piped system in the hamlets, a trickle system for rural customers, and truck fill for residents who haul water. Acreage outside those systems usually depends on a private well.

Source: Water, Strathcona County (strathcona.ca)

Code climate values for Sherwood Park

Ground snow load (Ss): 1.8 kPa
Rain load (Sr): 0.1 kPa
Hourly wind pressure, 1 in 50: 0.45 kPa
January design temperature (2.5%): -32 °C
Heating degree-days below 18 °C: 5,350

The values the code table lists for Sherwood Park. The designer confirms the values for your actual site.

Source: National Building Code – 2023 Alberta Edition (second printing), National Research Council Canada (National Building Code – 2023 Alberta Edition, Division B, Appendix C, Table C-2; nrc-publications.canada.ca)

Shop size on small holdings: In the RA Agriculture: Small Holdings zone of Strathcona County's Land Use Bylaw 24-2024 (as amended by Bylaw 5-2026), a single accessory building may have a ground floor area of up to 525 m², all accessory buildings on a lot together up to 600 m², and an accessory building may be at most 8.0 m tall.
A second house on farmland: In the AG Agriculture: General zone, a second dwelling is a permitted use only on a lot larger than 32.0 hectares outside the Heartland Policy Area of the Municipal Development Plan. Inside the Heartland Policy Area, dwellings are considered only for changes to or replacement of existing homes.

Building on Land Near Strathcona County

Most barndominiums in Strathcona County will sit on its rural land rather than in Sherwood Park, so the zone on the parcel is the starting point. Small-holdings parcels allow a large shop, but within set floor-area and height caps, and farmland zoned AG takes a second house only on big lots outside the Heartland Policy Area. Before buying, ask the County which zone applies and whether the parcel is near a highway, since a dwelling within 800 m of one needs the provincial transportation ministry's consent. Off the piped systems, a private sewage system is designed from a soil profile and permitted by the County, and water comes from a well, the County's trickle system where it reaches, or hauled water from a truck fill.

Other places in this region

Edmonton, Red Deer & Northern Alberta

Edmonton
Strathcona County
Red Deer
Fort McMurray

Barndominium builders across Alberta

Have land in or near Strathcona County? Tell us about the parcel and what you want on it, and we will check it against the local rules before anything is drawn.

Start your build survey (825) 465-3825

Building in Strathcona County: questions

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How much does it cost to build a barndominium in Strathcona County?

On a Sherwood Park lot the price follows the zone and the servicing that is already there. On rural land it also follows the foundation type, the sewage system the soil allows, and how the house gets water, whether a well, the trickle system or a cistern. We quote each parcel on its own. Sourced figures are in the barndominium cost guide.

Do I need a building permit for a barndominium in Strathcona County (Sherwood Park)?

Yes, and a development permit too: the County requires both for every new dwelling. Expect separate electrical, plumbing and gas permits, a private sewage permit off the sewer, a surveyor's site plan and a home warranty certificate with the application. The provincial rules on licensing and warranty are covered in our legal guide.

How big can a shop be on an acreage in Strathcona County?

It depends on the zone. In RA Agriculture: Small Holdings, one accessory building may reach 525 m² of ground floor area and all of them together 600 m², with an 8.0 m height limit. Other zones set different numbers, so we read the zone on your title before sizing a shop house.

Does my foundation need an engineer in Strathcona County?

For some types, yes. The County's rural guidance says a full concrete foundation, a 4 ft frost wall on a strip footing or a 4 ft pier on a spread footing can be built without engineered design, while screw piles, concrete piles, grade beams, preserved wood and slab-on-grade foundations must be designed by a professional engineer or registered architect.

Keep reading

What usually comes next once you know what Strathcona County allows.

Barndominium Cost Guide

Sourced price ranges and what moves the number on your land.

Read it

Can You Build a Barndominium in Canada?

Permits, licensing, warranty, land use, sewage and water in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC.

Read it

How Long Does It Take?

From parcel to move-in, and how the winter sets the clock.

Read it

Sources for this page

The published pages behind the Strathcona County facts above. Rules change, so check the current version with the office before you rely on it.

Other places near Strathcona County

Nearby places with their own pages. Across a municipal boundary the permit office, the land use bylaw, the sewage rules and the water source can change, so each is covered separately.

Edmonton

Alberta

Red Deer

Alberta

Building in Strathcona County?

Start with the survey. Tell us where the land is and what you want on it, and we will come back with which offices decide it, what the land use rules allow, and a plan to fit.

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