| Standard | |
| Official Name: | Village of Standard |
| Settlement Type: | Village |
| Pushpin Map: | Alberta |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Standard in Alberta |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Alberta |
| Subdivision Type2: | Region |
| Subdivision Name2: | Southern Alberta |
| Subdivision Type3: | Census division |
| Subdivision Name3: | 5 |
| Subdivision Type4: | Municipal district |
| Subdivision Name4: | Wheatland County |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Martin Gauthier |
| Leader Title1: | Governing body |
| Leader Name1: | Standard Village Council |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Established Title1: | Incorporated[1] |
| Established Date1: | |
| Established Title2: | • Village |
| Established Date2: | April 29, 1922 |
| Area Footnotes: | (2021) |
| Area Land Km2: | 2.34 |
| Population As Of: | 2021 |
| Population Total: | 353 |
| Population Density Km2: | 150.9 |
| Timezone: | MST |
| Utc Offset: | −7 |
| Timezone Dst: | MDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | −6 |
| Coordinates: | 51.1107°N -112.9819°W |
| Elevation M: | 900 |
| Area Code: | T0J |
| Blank Name: | Highways |
| Blank Info: | Highway 840 |
| Blank1 Name: | Waterways |
| Blank1 Info: | Parflesh Creek |
Standard is a village in southern Alberta, Canada. It is surrounded by Wheatland County, approximately 80km (50miles) east of Calgary. The Canadian Pacific Kansas City tracks pass south of the village. The village was originally settled by Danish immigrants. Standard's economy is based on the surrounding farming community and the energy industry, with a number of oil and gas rigs in operation in the vicinity. Chief employers include Agrium Liquid Fertilizer, which operates a manufacturing plant, and the Husky Oil Plant.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Village of Standard had a population of 353 living in 151 of its 160 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 353. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2021.[2]
In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Village of Standard recorded a population of 353 living in 148 of its 150 total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of 379. With a land area of 2.35km2, it had a population density of in 2016.[3]
Standard is well known for its 1A Girls Volleyball Team the "Standard Rams" winning seven 1A Provincial Titles in a row. Standard continues to dominate in Alberta Volleyball.
Standard is known in Alberta for the tragic abduction and murder of one of its residents, 15-year-old Kelly Cook, in 1981.[4] [5] The Grade 10 student regularly babysat for townsfolk, and on the morning of April 22, 1981, she received a phone call from a man who identified himself as Bill Christensen. He asked her to babysit for him that evening. Although she did not know the caller, she agreed, as 'Christensen' was a common surname in the area and crime was virtually unknown in the village, with residents routinely leaving their doors unlocked. The caller arranged to pick Kelly up that evening and drive her to his residence. At 8:30 that evening, a car pulled up in front of the house where she lived with her parents and siblings. The driver did not leave his car, and Kelly walked out of her house and climbed into the automobile's front passenger seat. The car then immediately drove off. A few hours later, her anxious parents, concerned that Kelly had not called or returned home, called the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. A massive local search was launched but yielded almost no clues. Two months after her abduction, on June 28, her badly decomposed body was discovered by a young man riding his dirt bike in Chin Lakes, an irrigation canal south of the Town of Taber, southeast of her hometown of Standard. The case caught the public's attention like few other murder cases because it was so unusual, with the killer actually picking up his victim at her house while her mother watched through the window. Despite the publicity generated by this murder case, and a $100,000 reward offered by the Village of Standard for information leading to the arrest of Kelly's killer, the case currently remains unsolved.