ON THE AGENDA

Stephanie Swensrude

This week, councillors will discuss a proposed community court program, potential solutions to traffic in and around Belgravia, and two new incentive programs for industrial development.

There is a community and public services committee meeting on Oct. 19, an urban planning committee meeting on Oct. 20, an executive committee meeting on Oct. 21, and a special city council meeting on Oct. 23.

Here are some key items on the agenda this week:

• A community court program, which aims to connect people to supports as an alternative to prosecution, would cost about $1.17 million annually, says a report that will be presented to community and public services committee. Administration has presented the program as a way to mitigate the negative consequences that the public spaces bylaw may have on vulnerable Edmontonians. A community court aims to break the cycle of repeat infractions by addressing the underlying issues that contributed to the disorderly behaviour. Research on existing community court programs in North America suggests they reduce recidivism and court costs while providing a return on investment. David Rivera-Kohr of the Edmonton Coalition on Housing and Homelessness told CBC that such a program would still criminalize poverty. Administration will present a funding package for the program as part of the 2027-2030 operating budget.
• A traffic study found that drivers attempting to avoid congested roads south of the University of Alberta by shortcutting through Belgravia resulted in delays of five to 25 minutes for those trying to leave the neighbourhood, while some residents told the city that it can take 45 minutes or more to exit. The roadways that surround and bisect Belgravia are considerably congested during rush hour periods because of heavy use from drivers going to and from the University of Alberta and the Groat Road Bridge, as well as those waiting for the LRT on the line running along 114 Street NW. Administration has presented options to reduce shortcutting, with a focus on improving traffic flow on the arterial roads surrounding the neighbourhoods to avoid incentivizing shortcutting. In the short term, administration proposes reconfiguring the intersections and signal timing where 114 Street crosses 76 Avenue, University Avenue, and 87 Avenue, with a pedestrian scramble proposed at 87 Avenue. The short-term measures are estimated to cost around $2 million and would require approval in the 2027-2030 capital budget. Longer term, options include redesigning intersections at 87 Avenue and Groat Road, Belgravia Road and 114 Street, and at Fox Drive and Whitemud Drive to significantly improve network efficiency and traffic flows.
• Council will be asked to approve two new incentive programs for industrial development as part of the 2027-2030 operating budget, says a report that will be presented to executive committee. The industrial infrastructure first mover program would fund a single major component of oversized industrial land development sites across the city, while a new tax abatement program would reduce property taxes by 25% over three years to accelerate construction of industrial buildings within priority sectors. Administration also recommends retaining nine existing industrial incentives and programs. Several key performance indicators on the 10-year industrial investment action plan did not meet their target, the report said. While administration purposely set high targets to keep pace with the results of residential growth, the KPIs signal that changes are needed to speed up a positive trajectory.
• Regional municipalities told Edmonton’s administration that they routinely send residents to Edmonton or elsewhere when they require social supports, according to the Regional Housing Needs Assessment, which will be presented to community and public services committee. The only municipality outside of Edmonton that operates an emergency shelter during extreme cold is Spruce Grove, and there is no permanent supportive housing in the region. “Ultimately, these insights reveal that addressing regional housing need requires a holistic approach that considers the interplay between housing affordability, regional connectivity, and the social and health supports required for residents to thrive,” the report said. Administration recommends sustaining investment in supportive and affordable housing; bridging crisis substance use response to recovery and housing; and refining the overall social service system to address barriers that vulnerable people face when accessing support.
• Administration will take three targeted actions to pursue municipal leadership in the integration of housing and health solutions, says a report that will be presented to community and public services committee. The city plans to establish joint targets for supportive and recovery housing with the provincial government; inform the renewal of the National Housing Strategy to reinforce federal commitments toward integrated housing and health support models; and combine municipal, community, and health data sources to build a deeper understanding of substance use and mental health supports. Administration will include $93.9 million in the 2027-2030 operating budget for affordable housing investment. Staff will also include $18 million for the renovation of 11 city-owned social housing properties.
• Administration has developed a plan to introduce a one-year trial of a voluntary naloxone training program for transit inspectors. The employees don’t necessarily operate transit vehicles; instead, they act in a managerial role, providing mentorship to operators and assistance to riders. Inspectors receive standard first aid training, making the group of employees a good trial for naloxone training, administration said. If the trial is successful, administration could expand voluntary training to other employee groups.
• Community and public services committee will be asked to approve a contract with Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society for the Community Outreach Transit Team (COTT) partnership. Administration proposes a three-year term, valued at $700,000 annually, starting on Jan. 1 with the option to extend up to 10 years. The team recorded a nearly 150% increase in interactions in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025.
• Councillors on the executive committee will review an update to the storefront improvement program that increases the maximum grant amount, which is based on 50% of eligible costs, to $50,000 per building. The update also adds a grant covering 50% of permanent landscaping costs up to $10,000 per building. Council approval is required.
• Administration laid out options to strengthen city supports for business improvement areas, split among four themes: recognizing BIAs as economic development partners, autonomy for operations and procurement, interdepartmental alignment, and agility in service baseline and regulations. Some of the action items can be carried out using existing resources, while others would be included in the Edmonton Advantage implementation service package that is set to be debated as part of the 2027-2030 budget deliberations.
• Administration presented two options for proactively communicating upcoming infrastructure projects. The first option involves administration installing a sign about 18 months before construction begins on major capital projects. The second option relies on digital communication during the year before the project and a physical sign about six months before construction begins.
• There are no resources dedicated to directly supporting the nighttime economy, says a report that will be presented to executive committee. The Edmonton Advantage economic development plan helps businesses broadly and could indirectly help nighttime businesses, the report said, and Explore Edmonton also supports the tourism economy generally.
• Administration recommends that council refuse a developer’s request to create a statutory plan for the Winterburn Industrial area because it does not align with city policy. The 107-hectare parcel is bordered by undeveloped and developed industrial land, an active landfill, and a mobile-home park. The developer has proposed residential, mixed-use, and open space uses. However, the district policy generally discourages residential development in industrial areas, and the Winterburn Industrial area structure plan specifically aims to prohibit residential land uses. Further, administration recommends retaining the industrial designation because Edmonton lacks shovel-ready land.
• Urban planning committee will hear from the Edmonton Design Committee and the Naming Committee, and community and public services committee will hear from the Accessibility Advisory Committee, the Family and Community Support Services Advisory Committee, and the Edmonton Combative Sports Commission for the first time since approving a new governance framework for council committees. The framework requires council to approve terms of reference and a two-year work plan for the committees.
• Council will meet in private on Oct. 23 to discuss the future of the community safety and wellbeing framework and government relations.

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• The Community and Public Services Committee will meet today at 9:30 am, and one of the items on its agenda is a proposed non-competitive contract with the Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society to provide outreach workers for the Community Outreach Transit Team. The team pairs Transit Peace Officers with outreach workers across the transit network, and Bent Arrow's current agreement expires on December 31st. Administration is recommending a new three-year deal from 2027 to 2029 worth $2.1 million, or $700,000 a year excluding GST, with options to extend it by up to seven more years, for a total of up to $7 million through 2036. Because the contract exceeds $1 million and was not competitively tendered, it needs Committee approval, and Administration says trade agreement exemptions for non-profits and social services apply. Administration claims a long-term deal will provide stability and cut the work of repeated short-term approvals, and says the cost fits within the existing operating budget with no new tax levy. Since it launched as a pilot in 2020, the program has logged more than 26,000 interactions and engagements, and Administration recommends keeping it at its current capacity.
• The Committee will also discuss a pair of reports on how the City can combine housing with mental health and addiction services. Administration reports that since 2019 the City has provided $89.3 million in grants and $20.8 million in land value for supportive and transitional housing, leveraging $224 million in outside funding for 1,419 units. For the 2027-2030 budget, Administration's plan includes about $23.475 million a year, or $93.9 million over four years, for affordable housing, which it estimates could support about 1,376 new units, or about 835 if Council directs the money exclusively to supportive and transitional housing. The budget is also expected to include an estimated $18 million to renew City-owned social housing. Administration is recommending that Council approve an option for formal correspondence from the Mayor to other orders of government, but the options are in an attachment it wants kept private, citing harm to intergovernmental relations. The companion report notes that Civida's affordable housing wait-list exceeds 10,000 households and that Edmonton recorded 666 opioid-related deaths in 2025.
• The Executive Committee will meet on Wednesday at 9:30 am, and a report on City support for Edmonton's 13 business improvement areas and main streets is scheduled for 1:30 pm. The Committee asked for options in June to strengthen City support for the areas, whose member businesses pay a levy that the City collects and passes on to their associations. Administration counts nearly $7 million a year in City financial support for the associations and their members, not including staff costs, including $3.1 million for Centre City maintenance, an $850,000 enhanced services grant, and $500,000 for the Storefront Improvement Program. In 2025, member businesses owed $689,479 in unpaid levies, and Council wrote off $167,616 owed by businesses that had closed. The associations told Administration they want to be formally recognized as economic development partners, to hire their own contractors for streetscape maintenance on City property, and to see published baseline standards for City services. Administration says some of the requests can be met with existing resources, while others would need Council direction or new money, including an economic development service package in the 2027-2030 operating budget.
• A new City report lays out how Edmonton could run its own community bylaw court, offering an alternative for people fined under the City's public spaces bylaw for offences such as panhandling, loitering, and open drug use. Under the proposal, eligible participants would have their fines waived and be connected with community services instead of being prosecuted, with the aim of breaking the cycle of repeat infractions. Administration estimates the program would cost about $1.17 million in 2027 and a similar amount in each of the following three years, including new staff and a subsidy to a third-party agency that would provide legal advice and social supports. Ward 5 (O-day'min) Councillor Anne Stevenson, who brought the motion to explore the idea, says repeatedly ticketing people who have no other options is not solving the problem. The Edmonton Coalition on Housing and Homelessness opposes the plan, with board member David Rivera-Kohr calling the mandated care plans coercive and arguing that an administrative process could waive fines without putting people in a courtroom. Calgary has run a community court since 2024, and 526 of its 950 participants had graduated and had charges or fines removed as of June 2026. If Council funds the program in its 2027-2030 operating budget, the first court date would be in late 2027.
• The City of Edmonton is asking residents for input as it redesigns its residential parking program, which manages parking in high-demand neighbourhoods through restrictions and permits. The program was established in the 1970s and has remained largely unchanged since. There are 19 residential parking zones in Edmonton, with 4,800 resident permits and 1,200 temporary permits issued each year. Residents can share feedback online until November 15th through a public survey, weekly polls, and the City's curbside compass, an interactive tool that explores parking options and their trade-offs on a sample street. Administration will use the input to shape recommendations for a redesigned program, which it plans to present to City Council early in 2027.