Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams will travel to the United Kingdom and France from Nov. 6 to 15 to study municipal financing and urban planning models that could be applied to growing Alberta communities, the provincial government said in a news release Wednesday.

Williams will meet with infrastructure finance experts, government agencies and parliamentarians in London and Paris, building on the work of the Minister's Council for Municipal Financing. The meetings are intended to explore ways to fund municipal infrastructure without raising taxes, the release said.

The itinerary includes visits to Poundbury and Battersea in England and the Paris-area communities of Le Plessis-Robinson and Clamart in France. Williams will tour those communities with planners from the Classical Planning Institute, PwC and the Congress of New Urbanism, and will meet with the mayor of Le Plessis-Robinson on Nov. 13.

On Nov. 8, Williams will attend the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Cenotaph in Whitehall. On Nov. 11, he will deliver remarks at the Vimy Ridge Remembrance Day ceremony on behalf of the Government of Alberta before travelling to Paris.

"As Alberta grows, we're looking for practical ideas in urban planning and municipal financing that can meet our province's needs," Williams said in the release. "This visit is also an opportunity to pay our respects at Vimy Ridge on behalf of Albertans and honour those who served and sacrificed for our country."

Williams is scheduled to return to Canada on Nov. 15. Travel and expense costs for the mission will be posted on the provincial government's travel and expense disclosure page, the release said.

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