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The Alberta Old Age Pensioners Society was organized in Calgary in 1940-1941 by Ethel Baker who had become interested in the poor living conditions of the elderly. At first the organization conducted numerous public meetings in an attempt to raise the organization's profile and to raise funds. Numerous branches were founded around the province during the war and the emphasis was placed on lobbying for enhanced federal and provincial benefits for seniors. In the 1950s a campaign was also launched for civic housing. Ethel Baker was very active throughout the 1950s and 1960s in assisting those of pension age to amass data for pension applications and to complete forms.

The <em>Alberta Report</em> began as a weekly general news magazine called the <em>St. John's Edmonton Report</em>. Billed as a faster way than the local newspaper to get a complete picture of the week's news, the <em>Report</em> sought to tell the news, the reasons and personalities behind the news, and why the events happened. However, the main focus was on political figures and events from a socially conservative Christian viewpoint. The <em>Report</em> was produced by the St. John's Press, a small publishing company that was run by the Community of the Cross, an Anglican lay Order. The Order also managed St. John's School of Alberta, a Christian boarding school for boys located in Stony Plain. The roots of Company of the Cross's publishing venture began in 1971, when the Company also printed the weekly multiple listings catalogue for the <em>Edmonton Real Estate Board</em>. Staff consisted of the St. John's School students who worked on the press, and members of the Order who worked as journalists for the magazine. The original editorial board consisted of Keith T. Bennett, who was also the minister of St. John's School, and Ted Byfield, the founder of the magazine. In October of 1973, a prototype of the magazine was issued, with the <em>Report</em> going into full production in the first week of November of that year. Initially, the magazine covered "People", "Government", "Economy", and "Faith". Over the next few months, two new topics were added -- "Schools" and "Edmontonia". Eventually, sections on Sports, Law, Science, and the Arts were also added. Other staples of the magazine included publishing the works of contemporary artists on the back cover, and advertisements for charitable organizations. Additional advertising space was added when the circulation of the magazine exceeded 7500 weekly subscriptions. In 1974, the Company of the Cross created a new publishing company called St. John's Edmonton Report Ltd. The publishing company became incorporated in order to qualify for second-class mail service. At this time, the Directors for the newly incorporated business included Keith T. Bennett, Ted Byfield, and Duane Berezowski. Also in this year, the magazine headquarters moved from their original location to Edmonton in order to minimize the rising costs of staff commutes between Stony Plain and Edmonton, and rural challenges for delivering the magazine to its Edmontonian client base. By 1976, the magazine had a subscriber base of 20,000 in the Edmonton region. Its success derived from its controversial, albeit Christian, perspective, particularly with older readers distressed by the new moral and cultural transformations, such as gay rights, feminism, and abortion. Furthermore, the <em>Report</em> fulfilled a niche in the local media market in covering stories outside the purview of big-city newspapers like the <em>Edmonton Journal </em>and the <em>Calgary Herald</em>. As part of the Company's success, it expanded into Calgary with the <em>St. John's Calgary Report</em>, which was launched in 1977. Unfortunately, the expansion of two magazines, and the related operating costs and business expenses to produce both Reports, including the hiring of professional journalists and photographers, nearly forced the magazines into bankruptcy. In order to minimize the loss of revenue, both magazines were merged to form the <em>Alberta Report</em> in September of 1979. As part of this merger, the publication company's name, St. John's Publications Ltd, was changed to reflect the new title of the magazine -- Alberta Report Limited. Additionally, the subscription price for subscribers in southern Alberta rose to be the same price that was charged for the <em>St. John's Edmonton Report</em>. This was part of Edmonton businessman Al Hardy's reorganization of the company. Shortly after Hardy's death, Ted Byfield acquired control of the magazine and published the <em>Alberta Report</em> under Interwest Publications. For the next five years, the <em>Alberta Report</em> was at its pinnacle with a subscription base of nearly 60,000. This was the heyday of the magazine, and its production quality improved as the <em>Report's</em> photographers learnt how to snap photographs, and the magazine employed an art director and librarians. Consequently, better cover imagery and cataloguing of the photo archives resulted from the hiring of the new staff members. The recession in the mid-1980s took its toll on the <em>Alberta Report</em> and by 1986, Interwest Publications was losing revenue again. To offset its loss, the <em>Western Report</em> was launched to appeal to a broader conservative audience than the <em>Alberta Report</em>. The <em>Western Report</em> was more of a national type general news magazine with bureaus of editorial staff representatives stationed in Vancouver, Victoria, Lethbridge, Red Deer, Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg. Even with this broader base, the magazine still presented a distinctive Western voice and followed the early years of the political birth of the Reform Party, and later the Alliance Party, as well as the beginning of Preston Manning's and Ralph Klein's political careers. Hence in the early days of the Reform Party of Canada, the <em>Report</em> played an instrumental role in attracting supporters from the West, particularly Alberta, while destroying Albertan support for the federal Conservative Party. Financial trouble continued to plague Interwest and in 1989, the company decided to capitalize on the West's largest market by launching the <em>B.C. Report</em> in British Columbia. The new <em>Report</em> did not meet financial expectations and in the following year, Interwest went into receivership. Within a few weeks, the <em>Alberta Report</em> and its sister publications became the primary business assets of United Western Communications, of which Ted Byfield, John Scrymgeour, and Don Graves each owned one-third. The economic downsizing and other publication projects helped to defray the ongoing losses from the magazine operations. In the mid-1990s, the editorial focus of the magazine shifted from its previous mandate of providing general news with a conservative Christian perspective to providing greater emphasis on social issues. The new editorial focus arose as the <em>Report</em> attempted to differentiate themselves from mainstream media news. Plunging into the "Culture Wars", the <em>Report's</em> perspective on feminism, abortion, gay rights, affirmative action, human rights law, subsidized art and political correctness earned the reputation of the magazine as being intolerant, bigoted and at times racist. As a result, the company expended their financial resources to fight human rights complaints and defamation lawsuits. Furthermore, the company experienced further financial loss as mainstream advertisers boycotted the magazine. By the end of the 1990s, the magazine was firmly ensconced in the fringe of Canadian political and media discourse. Once again the magazines were redesigned and launched as <em>The Report</em> with minor variations between the <em>Alberta, B.C.</em>, and <em>National</em> editions. Although the company attempted to increase circulation and sales in Ontario, the magazine was unable to gain a foothold in that market. The decline in readership and the scant editorial resources meant that many of the stories and images had to be freelanced or commissioned to outside sources. Within the last three years of the magazine's publication, the company adopted desperate and erratic strategies to improve circulation and revenues. However, in 2002, United Western Communications Ltd. sold its assets, including the photographs of <em>The Report</em>, to History Book Publications Ltd. in exchange for the relinquishment of outstanding debt. At the same time, Link Byfield who was the publisher, decided that another avenue, the Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy, would better serve the political and social causes that <em>The Report</em> had served for so many years. This proposal proved unsuccessful, and in the spring of 2003, <em>The Report</em> printed its last issue and ceased publication.

In October, 1919 a committee was convened by the Provincial Secretary to advise on matters relating to industrial research. A preliminary survey of resources was conducted, with encouraging results, and in 1921 the Scientific and Industrial Research Council of Alberta was formally established by Order-in-Council. Research was to be conducted in cooperation with the University for laboratory and other facilities. The President of the University was a member of the Council; the Provincial Secretary and the Premiers of the Province have acted as Chair. In 1930, under new legislation, the Council was reorganized to be an advisory body to the Cabinet. A Cabinet Minister was Chair of the Council; the President of the University was Chair of the Technical Advisory Committee and Director of Research. At this time the Council's name was shortened to the "Research Council of Alberta"; it is now known as the Alberta Research Council. With the onset of the Great Depression the work of the Council halted. The University took over its funding, work, and staff in 1933; the Council itself did not meet from 1934 to 1942. In 1943, the Research Council Act was amended to include ten members, of which two were from the cabinet (one to act as chair); the President of the University; the Director of Research, and members at large. Until 1950 the President of the University was Director of Research. Dr. N.H. Grace was appointed the Councilþs first full-time Director in October, 1951. The Council was the first provincially funded, scientific research agency in Canada. It undertakes, promotes, and funds research which might not otherwise be undertaken. Chairs: 1919-1923 J. L. Cote; 1923-1925 Herbert Greenfield; 1925- 1926 Alex Ross; 1926-[1930] J.E. Brownlee; 1930-[1950] Cabinet Ministers assigned to Chair; [1946-1947] Nathan Eldon Tanner; 1950-1951 Robert Newton; 1951-1961 Nathaniel H. Grace; 1961 William Albert Lang (Acting); 1962-1977 Ernest J. Wiggins; 1977- 1978 Brian Hitchin (Acting); 1978-1983 Giles Cloutier; 1984- 1987 Robert W. Stewart; 1987- Clem W. Bowman;

Although rugby had been played in Alberta as early as the 1880's, it was not revitalized until the early 1950's when British and other immigrants in Calgary and Edmonton formed teams. In 1954, the Saints and the Saracens were established in Calgary to provide opposition to the Edmonton British Rugby Football Club. The Calgary Rugby Union was formed to represent these Calgary teams as well as others which emerged later. It struck committees, such as fund raising and public relations, to organize and fund tours and other activities. It also became involved in promoting rugby in public schools. In 1961, the Calgary and Edmonton union presidents became members of the Alberta Rugby Union. The aim of the ARU has been to promote participation of provincial teams internationally. It became registered as a society in 1970.

The Alberta Social Credit League was formed in 1932 by Bill Aberhart and inspired by the speeches and writings of Major C.H. Douglas of Britain. Social Credit adherents believed that inefficient money management by government reduced the purchasing powers of the consumers and inhibited economic growth. The Alberta Social Credit League was led by radio evangelist William Aberhart and came to power in the 1935 provincial election. The Alberta Social Credit League remained in power through the next eight provincial elections before being defeated by the Alberta Conservative Party in 1971. The Wetaskiwin Constituency of the Social Credit League was established for 1935 provincial election and functioned as an organizing force for both federal and provincial elections. Wetaskiwin elected several Social Credit M.L.A.s and one M.P., Norman Jacques. The Wetaskiwin Constituency ceased operations sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s.

In the early 1920s, Major C.H. Douglas founded Social Credit theory. The theory posited that banks held capital that could be circulated to the people. He advocated the distribution of money, or "social credit," to allow people to purchase the goods and services produced by capitalist enterprise. He believed that the total wages paid to individuals producing goods (which he called "A") would always total less than the total costs of production ("B"). Therefore, without social credit, the people could not purchase all of the goods and services produced. This was known as the "A plus B theorem.";A high school principal and radio evangelist in Alberta, William Aberhart, introduced Social Credit to the listeners of his radio program, "Back to Bible Hour". He also lectured his students at the Prophetic Bible Institute in Calgary about Social Credit, proposing that Social Credit theory could alleviate the financial strain of the Depression. Graduates from the institute organized numerous Social Credit study groups in Calgary. By early 1935, the movement had spread throughout Alberta, and Aberhart became president of the newly formed Social Credit League. That year, the Social Credit League ran in the provincial election. The ruling United Farmers' of Alberta (UFA) lost all of their seats while the Social Credit League gained the majority with fifty-six seats. While in power, the Social Credit government attempted to effect new laws such as the Credit of Alberta Regulation Act, and the Bank Taxation Act. However, the Lieutenant Governor or the Federal Government disallowed almost all of the reforms excepting the establishment of Credit Houses, now Alberta Treasury Branches. After failure to enact the promised reforms, public opinion turned on the Party and newspapers began to criticize the government. In response, the Social Credit government passed the Accurate News and Information Act in an effort to censor the media. Ultimately, the Lieutenant-Governor, John Bowen, disallowed both bills by refusing to sign it into law. He turned the bills over to the Supreme Court of Canada for comment and the court ruled the bill unconstitutional under the British North America Act. The Edmonton Journal won a Pulitzer for the coverage and opposition to the act. Despite the criticism lobbed at the party, Alberta re-elected the Social Credit Party in 1940. In 1943, Aberhart died, and Ernest Manning a former student of the Prophetic Bible Institute and fellow broadcaster, succeeded him as Premier. During Manning's tenure as Premier, he developed Alberta's oil and gas industry. He facilitated American investments in the industry, and he established the Alberta Gas Truck Line. He also promoted the construction of the Trans-Canada Pipeline during the late 1950s. The Alberta Social Credit Party also maintained a women's auxiliary that worked in support of the Party. While Social Credit Women's Auxiliaries held its first conference in Calgary in 1938, groups of women had been meeting in Social Credit discussion groups since the early party of the 1930s. The auxiliaries raised money for the Party and also held social events such as teas, parades, dinners, and fairs. In the 1967 election, the Social Credit Party continued its majority, but lost much of the popular vote to the Progressive Conservative Party under Peter Lougheed. After the election, Manning retired and Harry Strom became leader. In the 1971 election, the Social Credit Party maintained only twenty-five seats and became the Official Opposition. By the late 1970s, the party lost most of its popularity. In the 1993 election, the Social Credit Party ran 39 candidates without success. The Social Credit Party remains a registered political party in Canada. Len Skowronski serves as the current leader of the party. According to the by-laws of the Party, the purpose of the Party includes promoting the election of enough candidates of the Alberta Social Credit Party to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta to form a government. Objectives of the party include study and extending the knowledge of the principles of the Alberta Social Credit Party and their application in Alberta; to establish responsible and effective democratic government in Alberta; to oppose and expose any attempts to weaken the democratic sovereignty and the democratic institutions of the people by the means of increased centralization of power; to oppose any attempt to spread or implant the seeds of racial discrimination, class hatred or religious intolerance among the citizens of Alberta; to obtain the economic security which the vast resources of Alberta can provide for its citizens; to make poverty and privation totally unnecessary; to secure freedom from oppressive debt and taxation; to influence the provincial economy through the Alberta Treasury Branch and other provincial financial institutions through such measures as low interest loans; to provide the people of Alberta with an effective organization for obtaining information on matters essential to their welfare and for taking action to assert their democratic will; and to foster, advance and promote the attainment of a humanitarian society within the framework of a realistic and responsible free economy.

The Alberta Society of Artists was founded by a group of Calgary artists led by Alfred C. Leighton and incorporated in 1931. Objectives of the Society are to foster and promote the fine arts in Alberta. A.C. Leighton, the first president, was succeeded by a number of prominent Alberta artists including H.G. Glyde, Illingworth Kerr, Stan Perrot and Ken Sturdy. The Society published several issues of a newsletter Artometer in the 1930s, followed by Highlights, which began publication in the late 1940s. Highlights flourished under the editorship of Jim Nicoll, when it included original works of art and was published in limited editions of 100 issues, the average size of the membership at that time. Additional information in Alberta Society of Artists : the first seventy years / by Kathy Zimon (Calgary : University of Calgary Press, 2000).

In 1931, a group of Calgary artists, under the leadership of Alfred C. Leighton formed the Alberta Society of Artists (ASA). In 1933, the society published its first newsletter, Artometer. The editors later re-titled the publication Highlights. Early runs of Highlights included samples of members work. Throughout its history, ASA members often met for retreats in locations such as Athabasca Falls, Sunwapta River at 44 Mile House, the Brewster Dude Ranch, Canmore, Saskatchewan River Crossing, Lake O'Hara, Lake Louise, Coleman, and Nordegg. As a registered charity, the Alberta Society of Artists holds the mission to promote visual arts through exhibition, education, and communication with an aim to increase public awareness and appreciation of visual arts in Alberta. The society operates a northern branch (Edmonton) and a southern branch (Calgary); a provincial council governs the society. In pursuit of their objectives, the ASA has helped establish galleries and exhibition spaces in Alberta, hosted numerous workshops and conferences, and held exhibits featuring the work of its members. Membership fees and the financial contributions of sponsors such as the Alberta Foundation for the Arts help fund the association. To become a Full Member of the society, artists must submit their work for adjudication, and the society accepts the artist based on the strength of the submission. The society also offers membership at a Supporting and Sponsoring level.

The Alberta Status of Women Action Committee (ASWAC) was a feminist organization concerned with advancing the status of women in Alberta by providing a forum for women's voices, raising awareness, and sharing resources to effect change. Based in Edmonton, Alberta, the group emerged out of a series of four regional workshops offered throughout Alberta in 1975. The workshops were titled <em>Strategies for Change</em> and were organized by an Edmonton group called Options for Women. Women from urban and rural Alberta participated in these workshops where it was decided that a structure needed to be developed to effect change within the Government of Alberta. Using the information gathered at these sessions a brief was written called <em>Joint Initiatives,</em> which was presented to the Government of Alberta on October 6, 1976. Although the Government denied all of the recommendations in the brief, this became the first conference of ASWAC. In 1979 ASWAC ratified its by-laws and hired a coordinator. A year later the organization applied for funding to hire an Administrative Assistant/Researcher and registered as a Non-Profit Society. The objectives of ASWAC were to promote awareness of issues concerning the social and economic factors affecting the status of women, and to make women aware of choices available to them with regard to health, welfare, education, and law. ASWAC helped women in Alberta to acquire the understanding and skills necessary to participate in all areas of society. They promoted increased involvement in all areas of the community and provided resources to support this aim. ASWAC developed and maintained an effective organization with a communication network throughout Alberta, and facilitated communication and interaction between individuals and groups concerned with improving the status of women. The organization was managed and controlled by a Board, which was made up of a maximum of fifteen full members in good standing. ASWAC also contained five standing committees to look after personnel, budget, membership, assembly, and fundraising. In the late 1990s there was a marked decline in the number of women joining ASWAC. The decline in membership, combined with a lack of funding contributed to the demise of ASWAC. In August 1996 the Board of ASWAC resigned, and the organization officially closed in 1997.