StephanieSwensrude

• City Council meets tomorrow at 9:30 am, with debate continuing Wednesday, and one of the first items is Administration's operating financial update for the first half of 2026. The report projects that tax-supported operations would finish the year $50.9 million over budget before the City draws on its Financial Strategies contingency funds, a gap Administration attributes to heavy early-year snow clearing, transit and fire overtime, and higher fuel costs. After pulling $51.4 million from those funds, the City instead projects a slim $0.5 million surplus. The Financial Stabilization Reserve is forecast to end 2026 at $135.0 million, about $15.4 million below its required minimum, and is not expected to recover until 2028. Administration also expects the City to finish the year with roughly $5 billion in outstanding debt. The projections do not yet include the costs of July's flooding or of US tariffs, which Administration says it is still assessing.
• Also on Tuesday's agenda, Council will vote on the money needed to bring the Valley Line Southeast LRT under public operation. In May, Council directed Administration to end the City's contract with private operator TransEd in 2027 and hand operations and maintenance to Edmonton Transit Service. Administration is now asking Council to approve just over $7.6 million in one-time operating costs for a temporary transition office covering staff, consultants, and asset inspections through 2027, plus a $20.5-million capital budget for fleet and equipment. All of it would be drawn from the City's LRT Reserve, which requires a one-time exemption to Council policy. The request does not include the payment owed to TransEd to end the contract, which Administration says will be financed through borrowing and brought back for approval later. Administration notes that moving an operating light rail line from a private to a public operator has few precedents in North America, and rates the workforce, technology, and asset-handover risks as high.
• Council will also give first reading to a bylaw creating a new property tax subclass for derelict commercial and industrial buildings. The measure would let the City assess non-residential properties that have sat unoccupied for at least a year at a higher tax rate, mirroring a derelict residential subclass Council created in 2023. Under Edmonton's City Charter, the higher rate could be set no greater than five times the lowest residential rate. Administration estimates that putting the subclass in place would cost up to $274,000 a year in ongoing funding, plus up to $1 million in one-time spending to reprogram the City's tax system. It projects the higher rate could raise about $400,000 a year from derelict properties if Council set it at the maximum. A funding request would come forward as part of the 2027-2030 budget.
• Two information reports before Council on Tuesday set the table for this fall's 2027-2030 budget debate. The first summarizes public engagement that drew 11,716 responses last spring, in which participants leaned toward finishing existing projects and maintaining current infrastructure rather than starting new ones, and ranked road and pathway maintenance as a top priority. When users of the City's online budget tool were asked to balance the books, 40% chose to raise property taxes, 42% kept them flat, and 18% cut them, for an average increase of about 1%. A companion satisfaction survey found that satisfaction with City services overall slipped to 62% this year from 68% in 2025. The same survey found that agreement Edmonton is an attractive place to expand a business or build a career fell to 53% from 61%. Council will weigh the findings as Administration prepares its proposed four-year budget.
• Ward 8 (papastew) Councillor Michael Janz has a motion pending that would change how the City talks about property taxes. It asks Administration to report tax increases and spending in dollars per $100,000 of assessed property value, rather than using a "typical home" example or percentages, which Janz argues are less transparent for residents. Janz also has motions pending to set a standard three-minute speaking limit for public speakers at committee and Council meetings, and to open each Council meeting with a moment of silence for people killed on Edmonton roads. The motions were introduced with notice at earlier meetings and are listed for debate at this week's Council session.

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ON THE AGENDA

Stephanie Swensrude

This week, council will consider tax subclasses for derelict properties, review public engagement on the 2027-2030 budget, and vote on funding for the Valley Line LRT transition and equipment for the expanding network.

There is a city council meeting on Sept. 8, with a continuation on Sept. 9 if required.

Here are some key items on the agenda this week:

• Council will vote on the first reading of a bylaw that would establish a citywide tax subclass for derelict non-residential properties that have been unoccupied for at least a year. Administration estimates implementation would require up to $274,000 in annual operating funding starting in 2027 and up to $1 million in capital funding, with those requests to be considered during the 2027-2030 budget deliberations. Council will also consider all three readings of a bylaw expanding the existing derelict residential subclass from mature neighbourhoods to the entire city. Funding for that expansion is already approved. If the bylaw passes, eligible properties across Edmonton will be included starting with the January 2027 assessment notices.
• Participants in public engagement on the 2027-2030 budget wanted a focus on core services but disagreed on what “core” means, says a report due at council. Of the 1,467 residents who used an online budget tool, 42% kept property tax revenue the same, 40% increased it, and 18% decreased it. More than half of budget-tool participants chose spending cuts for police, environment and climate, and a combined category covering arts, culture, tourism, inclusion, and economic development. Administration will use the feedback to help shape the proposed four-year operating and capital budgets.
• Council will be asked to approve funding for a transition management office to transfer the operations and maintenance of the Valley Line Southeast LRT from TransEd to the Edmonton Transit Service in 2027. Administration is seeking about $7.7 million for the temporary office and $20.5 million for vehicles, tools, equipment, and operating systems for Valley Line Southeast and other LRT expansions, all from the LRT reserve. The request excludes the payment to terminate the TransEd contract

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Council will be asked to approve about $28.2 million from the LRT reserve for the Valley Line transition office and equipment for the expanding LRT network. (Jon Spencer/Flickr)

Here are some more key items:

• Council will vote on updates to the public art policy and the climate resilience policy, following infrastructure committee’s recommendations. The art update clarifies that funding is based on historical investments and collection maintenance needs. The climate update adds adaptation targets and a sustainable return on investment threshold to guide climate requirements for new city buildings.
• Coun. Ashley Salvador will introduce a motion requesting funding options for active transportation routes awaiting feasibility reviews and funding, plus an unfunded capital profile to continue implementing the Bike Plan, for the 2027-2030 budget deliberations.
• Coun. Thu Parmar will introduce a motion calling for a public hearing and an analysis of shifting up to $220 million from the Neighbourhood Renewal Program tax levy to arterial-road renewal for the 2027-2030 budget cycle.
• Council will consider first reading of a bylaw allowing the city assessor to delegate municipal tax relief decisions to directors and managers. The existing $500,000 annual limit on tax forgiveness by administration would remain unchanged.
• The city’s operating budget is projected to end 2026 with a $500,000 surplus after using $51.4 million that was set aside to manage budget pressures to offset a $50.9-million shortfall. Higher snow-clearing and overtime costs, as well as lower revenues from transit advertising and permits, are among the pressures. The forecast excludes the net effects of tariffs and heavy rainfall in June and July. The Financial Stabilization Reserve is still projected to end the year $15.4 million below its minimum balance of $150.4 million.
• Most significant capital projects are within acceptable tolerances for budget and schedule, administration says. Weighted by approved budgets, about 83% are within an acceptable range in terms of budget, and 94% are within an acceptable range in terms of schedule.
• Council will meet in private to discuss public safety, strategic planning, and intergovernmental matters, including a provincial pre-budget submission and partnership opportunity.

• The Community and Public Services Committee meets today at 9:30 am, and one of the items on the agenda is a review of the City's snow and ice control policy and program. Administration is asking the Committee to recommend that Council approve an updated policy that adds accessibility as a core outcome, but keeps service levels for the 2026-27 winter season largely unchanged. For the 2027-2030 budget deliberations, however, Administration is pitching a "Well Maintained City" service package of approximately $23.6 million in ongoing annual operating funding and $11.5 million in one-time capital funding, which would add more frequent residential blading, expanded parking ban enforcement and other measures. Optional add-ons, contingent on that package, include enhanced school zone clearing at $2.1 million per year and a calcium chloride system upgrade costing $2.5 million per year plus $4.4 million up front, which would return the controversial de-icer to major roadways. The report also recaps a volatile 2025-26 season, when December brought 59.9 centimeters of snow, nearly four times the monthly average, and enforcement officers issued 5,516 parking ban fines and 2,706 tickets for uncleared sidewalks.
• Also on the Committee's agenda today is a review of enforcement and penalties under the City's traffic bylaw, prepared in response to a Council motion from March. The report shows ticket volumes fell from 168,832 in 2015 to a low of 79,976 in 2020 before climbing back to 115,161 in 2025, with insufficient payment in EPark zones alone accounting for 35% of all tickets. Administration is proposing targeted fine increases for infractions it says threaten safety or block access, which it estimates would generate between $1.5 million and $1.7 million in additional revenue in 2027. Rather than automatic inflation indexing, fine amounts would be reviewed on a five-year cycle, with the next review in 2031. Administration has also temporarily added $1 million per year to the parking enforcement contract for 2026 and 2027, an increase it expects to be offset by roughly $2 million in fine revenue.
• Edmonton's bike lane expansion will continue as planned, after City Councillors on the Infrastructure Committee voted down Administration's recommendation to rework the remaining routes last Wednesday. The recommendation, made ahead of expected provincial legislation that could give the Province approval power over municipal bike lanes, would have seen more complex projects where construction has not yet started re-evaluated for alternative designs. Council approved $100 million in the 2023-2026 capital budget to rapidly expand the active transportation network, which has delivered about 35 kilometers of new routes in 2024 and 2025, with another 24 kilometers expected this year. The City has received more than 1,000 email and phone inquiries about the program since 2023, only about 2% of which were positive, with complaints focused on parking removal and changes to traffic patterns. More than 60 people registered to speak at the meeting, the majority in favour of continuing the expansion. Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen says the Province's planned legislation could result in some existing bike lanes being removed.
• The City has laid out a detailed timeline for replacing the Low Level Bridge, with construction of a new span expected between 2029 and 2031. The plan would keep the bridge's northbound half, a protected historic structure built in 1900 as the community's first bridge across the North Saskatchewan River, for walking and cycling, while tearing down the southbound portion built in 1948. The replacement would be a four-lane crossing slightly west of the current bridge, with a pedestrian sidewalk on one side and an active pathway on the other. Ward 8 (papastew) Councillor Michael Janz is questioning whether the project needs to be funded in the 2027-2030 budget cycle, saying he wants more data on why the bridge needs replacing given the span is not at full capacity. Council is slated to include the replacement in the upcoming budget cycle, while the High Level Bridge replacement waits for the 2031-2039 cycle.
• City Council is taking another look at LRT fare gates, narrowly passing a motion from Ward 10 (Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi) Councillor Jon Morgan to develop a proposal for a pilot fare-gate program at a yet-to-be-determined station. The motion passed 7-6, though several supporters said they backed it only to get more information and would need convincing to fund the program in the upcoming four-year budget. Council examined fare gates in 2024 but decided against them, citing the cost and station designs that make barriers easy to get around. Morgan, a veteran of the Edmonton Transit Service, argues riders should pay their fair share for the taxpayer-funded system and suspects fare evasion is higher than the roughly 5% previously reported. Mayor Andrew Knack voted in favour but called it "extremely unlikely" he would support the program at budget time, saying the money would be better spent rebuilding LRT stations to improve safety.

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This week, councillors will review new climate action priorities, a proposed update to the snow-and-ice-control policy, and a new heritage places strategy.

There is a community and public services committee meeting on Aug. 31, an urban planning committee meeting on Sept. 1, and an executive committee meeting on Sept. 2.

Here are some key items on the agenda this week:

• Administration will present an updated policy and program for snow and ice control after a scheduled review. Resources and service levels this winter are expected to remain consistent with previous years; however, council can choose to fund an enhanced service level starting in winter 2027-2028. Administration said the “well maintained city” service package would stabilize operations and create year-round positions to provide festival and event support, “ensuring consistent, high-quality services that keep Edmonton’s economy moving throughout the year.” Council will vote on the policy at a future meeting. During record snowfall in the winter of 2025-2026, Mayor Andrew Knack said he wanted to significantly increase funding for snow clearing.
• A third-party review of the city’s climate strategies and action plans highlighted the need for more focused actions, closer alignment with the municipal budget cycle, and better monitoring and evaluation, says a report set to be presented to executive committee. Administration has identified 27 action items in its update to the climate implementation priorities. The report says the first priority is to establish an ongoing and accountable relationship with Indigenous peoples regarding climate. The remaining priorities are divided into the following categories: buildings and land use, transportation, infrastructure, nature and water, and low-carbon energy and waste. About $257 million would be required to meet all 27 priorities, about half of which is planned to be presented for consideration in the 2027-2030 budget process. About $5 million can be met with existing budget, and the remaining $129 million has no planned or existing funding source. Administration said it will also transition the carbon budget to a more comprehensive climate budget, which will use the priorities as its basis and also evaluate all other city projects in the 2027-2030 budget for their contribution to both climate risk and emissions.
• Urban planning committee will review the updated heritage places strategy following nearly two years of work. The proposed new heritage places strategy includes four pillars: natural heritage, Indigenous heritage, community and cultural heritage, and built heritage. Its guiding principles are to be inclusive, integrated, community-led, living and evolving, visible and accessible, and collaborative. The strategy is presented alongside a new council policy that outlines how the strategy will be implemented. A main goal of updating the strategy is to widen the definition of “heritage places” to include not just historic buildings, but also natural spaces, cultural landscapes, and community landmarks.

Snow covered the streets during record snowfall in January 2026. The proposed update to the snow-and-ice-control policy would keep service levels consistent with recent years. (Stephanie Swensrude)

Here are some more key items:

• Administration has prepared three options for enhancing cleanliness in Chinatown. The first option involves maintaining the cleanliness funding the neighbourhood receives, which is already more than other neighbourhoods. The second option is to increase funding of city-provided services, at a cost of $600,000 to $900,000. The third option would involve a city-funded and community-led cleaning service. The Chinatown Transformation Collaborative and YEG Chinatown Re:VITA have proposed separate community-led programs. CTC’s program focuses on professionally delivered operational cleaning services, while Re:VITA’s emphasizes community stewardship, neighbourhood activation, and placemaking. Administration didn’t include the cost of the third option as it may involve a request for proposals.
• Administration is increasing the fees that construction companies must pay when they obstruct road lanes. The daily on-street construction and maintenance (OSCAM) permit fee will rise to $32 from $25 in an effort to further incentivize faster completion of construction projects that necessitate road closures. Administration is also introducing a $10 daily fee for waste bins that are placed on public roadways. A report that will be presented to urban planning committee says that construction-related road closures were in place for an average of 43 days before a daily fee was introduced in 2019. That number fell to an average of 25 days in 2025.
• Administration plans to use more technology in parking enforcement, says a report that will be presented at a community and public services committee meeting. Parking complaints have increased by about 45% since 2023, creating a persistent backlog of unresolved complaints, the report said. The city plans to launch automated parking enforcement in 2028. Staff will also explore digital tickets, which the report said could save about 7,500 operational hours annually.
• A report says 81% of 311 complaints in 2025 were resolved within established timelines. The report, which is to be presented to executive committee, said administration has continued to improve the service experience of Edmontonians using 311.
• Executive committee will be asked to amend an agreement with Azolla Hydrogen to align with an extended timeline for the Alberta Zero-Emissions Fleet Fuelling project. Because it is a single-source contract, committee must approve changes; however, no additional funds are required because the extension will be covered by the already-approved city budget and grant funding from Emissions Reduction Alberta.
• Executive committee will be asked to recommend that the historic designation of the Arlington Apartments be rescinded. The building, formerly located at 10524 100 Avenue NW, was Edmonton’s first apartment building, and was designated a municipal historic resource in 1998. A fire damaged the building in 2005, but three facades were saved, and the lot was rezoned to allow for development that retained the historic elements of the remaining structure. The owner did not develop such a building and instead demolished the remaining walls in 2008. Administration now requires council approval to rescind the historic designation.

And here are updates on some of the items we told you about last week:

• Infrastructure committee rejected administration’s proposal to drop 14 planned routes from the city’s $100-million active transportation network expansion, leaving the existing plan in place. More than 60 people registered to speak, and most supported continuing the expansion, as the province prepares legislation that could affect municipal authority over bike lanes. Coun. Ashley Salvador said she intends to introduce a motion to direct administration to provide options for increasing funding for the active transportation infrastructure capital profile to complete all routes that were planned for the 2023-2026 budget cycle. The motion will also call for administration to include an unfunded capital profile to build active transportation infrastructure as informed by the forthcoming updated active transportation implementation guide.
• Infrastructure committee recommended that council approve proposed changes to the public art policy. The program was previously called Percent for Art, and provided about 1% of eligible costs from capital projects to cover the cost of the artwork’s creation and installation, as well as the Edmonton Arts Council’s costs to oversee the project, plus lifecycle management costs, care, conservation, and restoration. Since 2021, the definition of “1% of eligible capital projects” has been based on historic spending patterns dating back several years. Now, administration has proposed amending the policy to say that the city will allocate funding for a public art reserve through the operating budget approved by council, with reserve funding levels based on historical public art investments and collection maintenance requirements. Council is set to vote on the change at a future meeting.
• Councillors recommended that council approve the revised climate resilience policy that introduces a sustainable return on investment (S-ROI) metric. This means projects would incorporate climate-resilient requirements to a point where a positive S-ROI is demonstrated, and while this responds to financial constraints, it could also result in reduced environmental outcomes, administration said. Ward Nakota Isga Coun. Reed Clarke said that even though the policy is not perfect, he supports it, especially the S-ROI.“I think it’s a good, practical, systematic way to move forward,” he said.
• After a public hearing on Aug. 25, council approved a rezoning application to allow the Hope Mission to turn its support facility in the Girard industrial area into a year-round emergency shelter. During the discussion, Coun. Michael Janz wondered aloud whether Edmonton should cease approving new social services until other municipalities in the region start “pulling their weight.” He cited a March 2026 memo that indicated there are no emergency shelter beds open permanently to the general public in the municipalities surrounding Edmonton. “It just feels like Edmonton is being used as the blood bag for the rest of our region and the rest of our province,” Janz said.
• Representatives of the construction sector say they need to be involved in how extreme weather risks are addressed in project planning, procurement, and contract delivery. Infrastructure committee heard from representatives from the Edmonton Construction Association, which represents the industrial, commercial, and institutional construction sectors, including contractors hired for public projects such as roads and neighbourhood renewal. The shortness of Edmonton’s construction season has been exacerbated by repeat storms, and it can be hard to make up for weather-related delays, said Ryan Christensen, chair of the ECA’s board. Record-breaking rain in Edmonton this summer caused $42 million in uninsurable damage to infrastructure and projects, City of Edmonton staff told city council’s infrastructure committee meeting on Aug. 26. The City plans to recover costs through the province’s Hazard Assistance and Resilience Program, which would cover 90% of losses, leaving the city responsible for the rest. Severe weather affected work on the Valley Line West and Capital Line South LRT projects, among other ongoing projects.
• Utility committee directed administration to accelerate parts of the 20-year storm management plan after the summer’s record rainfall. EPCOR told councillors that it doesn’t yet know the full financial impact of the summer’s repeated severe storms, but it estimates there will be minimal operational costs and some emergency repairs needed.
• Coun. Michael Janz questioned whether the Low Level Bridge replacement should be funded as part of the 2027-2030 budget, as administration has proposed in a report to infrastructure committee. The project will likely be classified as growth instead of renewal, and administration has said that dollars for growth will be constrained in the upcoming budget. “I want to see more data why it has to be done now. It’s not at full capacity. I understand that we want to build for the future, but right now it’s a tough budget, and I want to make sure we’re not building before we need to,” Janz told reporters.
• Council postponed a public hearing for a mixed-use building in Glenwood.
• Council voted to rezone a parking lot downtown to allow for a small park.

• The Infrastructure Committee will meet on Wednesday at 9:30 am, and one of the items on the agenda is a recommendation that would sharply scale back Edmonton's bike lane expansion. Administration is recommending that routes under the $100-million Active Transportation Network Expansion Program that have not yet started construction be removed from the program if they would affect travel lanes or parking, leaving 13 route packages to continue as planned and 14 others, including the contested Grovenor routes, to be re-evaluated only if money remains. Administration says the change responds to community pushback, with the program receiving over 1,000 email and phone inquiries since 2023 of which only about 2% were positive, and to new provincial legislation on municipal bike lane authority expected in late 2026 that could have significant impacts on current and planned bike lanes. About 35 kilometers of new routes were installed in 2024 and 2025, with another 24 kilometers estimated for completion this year. If the Committee agrees, the change goes to City Council for approval.
• On Wednesday at 9:30 am, the Infrastructure Committee will also receive the results of the City's call for partners to help build unfunded infrastructure projects. The City received 13 submissions containing 20 development ideas for the Woodcroft Library, the Cumberland and Big Lake fire stations, the Windermere North Transit Centre, and arenas across the city, with arena projects the most numerous and several proposals pitching mixed-use developments that combine civic facilities with residential or commercial space. Most submissions propose that the City provide land, sometimes for $1 or through a lease, along with capital support or ongoing lease payments. Administration cautions that privately financed projects still count against the City's debt limit, and that private financing typically costs more than the City's own borrowing rates through the province, so any partnership would require rigorous evaluation. The detailed proposals are being kept private to protect the business interests of the companies that submitted them.
• City Council voted 9-4 last Tuesday to have Administration study whether small scale infill housing is affecting the market value of nearby homes. Ward 3 (tastawiyiniwak) Councillor Karen Principe brought the motion after hearing from residents, saying some are concerned their property values are decreasing while others are seeing property taxes rise on the back of higher assessments. Ward 8 (papastew) Councillor Michael Janz tried unsuccessfully to have the findings delivered as a private memo to Council rather than a public report, arguing a public committee presentation would attract residents with preconceptions about infill. City staff cautioned the results may not be definitive, with the City's business operations director Stephen Leroux saying it may never be possible to say with certainty whether infill has raised or lowered values on a broad mass-appraisal basis. The public report is due at the Urban Planning Committee in the third quarter of 2027.
• Also last Tuesday, City Council unanimously passed a motion from Ward 11 (Karhiio) Councillor Keren Tang directing City staff to conduct a signal timing and optimization assessment of the southeast leg of the Valley Line LRT. The 13-kilometer line between downtown and Mill Woods has been operating for nearly three years, and multiple vehicles have collided with trains in that span. Tang says her constituents, drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians alike, blame confusing lights and signals at intersections, describing road users unsure of who has the right of way. The review comes as the City prepares to take over operation of the line from private operator TransEd. Tang argues that fixing the problems is vital to public acceptance of low-floor LRT, since whatever is learned will inform the Valley Line West as it approaches completion in the coming years.
• More than 40% of the entries in the top 50 complaint categories reported to Edmonton's 311 line in 2025 were related to parking, according to City data. Abandoned vehicles topped the list with 20,570 reports, followed by a catch-all parking safety category at 19,646 and parking on private property at 5,451. City bylaw officers issued 114,059 parking tickets last year, worth at least $5.7 million in fines, though just 986 of those tickets were for abandoned vehicles, the single largest source of complaints. The City's superintendent of parking enforcement attributes part of the backlog to losing access to a tow lot off Yellowhead Trail for almost a year, and expects abandoned vehicle reports to fall now that 150 impound spaces have opened. Ward 6 (Métis) Councillor Ashley Salvador is asking Administration what it would cost to assign more bylaw officers to parking enforcement and whether fine amounts are an adequate deterrent, with a report due to a Council committee on August 31st.

ONTHEAGENDA ONTHEAGENDA ONTHEAGENDA ONTHEAGENDA

Stephanie Swensrude

This week, councillors are set to discuss a pause on future bike lanes that take away parking or travel lanes, amendments to the city’s climate resilience policy, and early designs for the Low Level Bridge replacement.

There is a utility committee meeting on Aug. 24, a public hearing on Aug. 25, and an infrastructure committee meeting on Aug. 26.

Here are some key items on the agenda this week:

• Administration has proposed pausing planned active transportation infrastructure that takes away parking spaces or vehicle travel lanes because of expected provincial legislation, as well as community pushback. A report due at infrastructure committee said that because the previous council chose the “rapid” approach to building bike lanes and other active transportation infrastructure, public engagement was limited and adaptable infrastructure was often used. The report said this has garnered significant negative feedback and pointed specifically to the recent decision to redesign infrastructure on 50 Street. The new design — retaining parking and vehicle travel lanes — costs about double the initial construction costs. Alberta Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen spoke to residents in Capilano about that project in July. Dreeshen applauded a recent Ontario court decision that overturned an earlier ruling that stopped the provincial government from replacing protected bike lanes with car lanes in Toronto. “The appeal court made clear that governments have the authority to make and change transportation policy and that there is no constitutional right to a bike lane,” Dreeshen wrote. Though the provincial legislation limiting active transportation infrastructure doesn’t yet exist, the city report said making a proactive decision could help mitigate legal implications, which will be discussed in camera. The change in direction requires council approval; infrastructure committee is expected to give a recommendation to council, which will make the final decision at a future meeting. Additionally, administration is in the process of updating the Active Transportation Implementation Guide, which will be presented to council before the four-year budget deliberations. Administration has already cancelled planned infrastructure in Grovenor. That project didn’t involve separated bike lanes, but rather traffic calming features and reduced parking.
• Administration has prepared amendments to the climate resilience policy that incorporate the optimal point for capital investment that yields the best return for taxpayers when considering economic, environmental, and social benefits. The proposed change introduces a sustainable return on investment (S-ROI) analysis, meaning that projects would incorporate climate-resilient requirements to a point where a positive S-ROI is demonstrated, the report said. While this responds to financial constraints, it could also result in reduced environmental outcomes, meaning alternative solutions may be required to meet the city’s emissions targets, administration said. The policy update also includes a new community adaptation target, which would combine data across multiple climate hazards to provide a measurable, citywide view of risk related to climate change. This work involves tracking the climate risk and adaptation of individual neighbourhoods. Fifty-seven neighbourhoods have a high or very high climate risk, and administration aims to reduce that number to zero by 2050. Infrastructure committee will review the changes before council makes the final decision at a future meeting.
• Administration has released its preliminary plans for replacing the Low Level Bridge. A report set to be presented at infrastructure committee said that the city will likely build a functional roadway bridge rather than a “signature” structure. The report added that the initial traffic analysis suggested the replacement may need more than four lanes, but to align with city goals of reducing the number of people who use cars to meet their daily needs, a four-lane bridge will be considered. The alignment is expected to be to the west of the existing bridge. Administration had initially said the Low Level Bridge replacement project could involve simplifying the road network surrounding the bridge, as well as daylighting Mill Creek. However, this report says the replacement can be done without reconfiguring the road system. Public engagement will begin in the fall; the report notes that there are “no immediate risks when moving forward with only the Low Level Bridge replacement work at this time.” Starting in 2027, the northbound bridge is expected to close for a construction season for repairs, and administration will create the preliminary design for the replacement bridge. Construction is expected to take place from 2029 to 2031. The following year, the southbound bridge is expected to be decommissioned and the northbound one converted to active transportation.

• The Community and Public Services Committee meets today at 9:30 am, where Ward 8 (papastew) Councillor Michael Janz has asked Administration to report on the long-delayed Rollie Miles Recreation Centre, proposed to replace the Scona Pool that closed in 2022. Design work is complete, but the project remains unfunded, and Administration says construction was estimated at $138 million back in 2023, plus another $13.5 million for related park work, with those figures needing to be revalidated. Finishing the detailed design alone would cost $8 million to $10 million, and the facility's net operating cost is projected at about $2.9 million a year, equal to a roughly 0.11% property tax increase. Even if Council funded the project in the 2027 to 2030 budget, the earliest it could open is 2031. Administration notes the surrounding area is already served by the Kinsmen Sports Centre and Confederation Leisure Centre, and says future decisions will be weighed against the City's broader infrastructure backlog. Community groups, including Friends of Scona Rec, have pressed Council to follow through since the pool's closure.
• The Urban Planning Committee meets tomorrow at 9:30 am, and one of the items on the agenda is a proposal to help pay for infrastructure tied to private development near transit and in the City's priority growth areas. Administration is recommending a new Infill Infrastructure Program that would have the City cover part of the cost of public infrastructure upgrades, such as sewer, stormwater and electrical work triggered by new housing and commercial projects, then recover money from later developers who benefit. The report pegs the average infrastructure cost at $3,200 per unit and suggests a $12-million budget could support up to 3,800 dwelling units over four years, noting that a predecessor fund spent $39 million to help build more than 4,600 units over three years. Administration says it is preparing an unfunded request for the 2027 to 2030 budget. It also acknowledges the program would redirect growth revenue away from general revenue and cannot guarantee that subsidized projects would not have gone ahead anyway. The item is for information only, with no vote scheduled tomorrow.
• Also on the Urban Planning Committee's agenda tomorrow is an update on Edmonton's shared e-scooter and e-bike program, prepared after Councillors asked in May for a move toward mandatory, geofenced parking. The program now handles more than 1.4 million trips a year across a 220-square-kilometer service area, a 190% jump in trips since 2022, with the City setting the rules while private vendors own and operate the fleets. Administration reports that complaints through 311 have stayed relatively flat even as ridership climbed, and that parking and rider behaviour remain the most common concerns. A pilot in the Mill Woods service expansion will test requiring devices to be left only in designated areas, add 21 parking corrals, and future vendor contracts could impose fines on riders who park improperly. E-scooters are capped at 20 kilometers per hour and e-bikes at 32, which the report says is at the lower end of comparable cities.
• Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is publicly criticizing the Edmonton Police Service over a video encouraging residents to report hate, saying police should focus on violent crime, theft, drugs, and vandalism rather than speech. In a post on X, Smith argued that free speech is a foundational Alberta value and that the province does not believe in policing unpopular or religious statements, even controversial ones, warning of a slippery slope she said other countries have gone down. Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis added that the province would contact police agencies to make sure their priorities are on violent crime, and said law enforcement should not be policing opinions or, in his words, "hurt feelings". Ellis said the government does not condone hate speech or violence but is committed to upholding free expression regardless of religious or political belief. The Edmonton Police Service refused to comment.
• Alberta recorded its highest-ever number of opioid-related emergency calls in 2025, and Edmonton accounted for nearly 70% of the province's 10,562 responses. However, overall opioid deaths in Alberta fell to 1,154 in 2025, the lowest since 2019. Addictions physician Dr. Monty Ghosh of the University of Alberta said Edmonton has become the country's worst spot for overdoses, driven by an increasingly toxic and unpredictable drug supply that now includes new opioids far more potent than fentanyl. Carfentanil, which is more than 100 times stronger than fentanyl, was detected in 89% of Edmonton's opioid deaths in 2025, up from 17% the year before. Ghosh warned that the province's closure of supervised consumption sites, including one at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, would push more people into emergency rooms. The province acknowledged that no community is being hit harder by addiction, but noted that it has invested more than $30 million in addiction and mental health supports in Edmonton, including more than 400 treatment and stabilization beds, and that the declining death statistics show it's plan is working.

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ON THE AGENDA

This week, Edmonton’s city council returns from its summer recess to discuss the financial statements from the associations that oversee business improvement areas, potential updates to the City Plan, and the implications of allowing city employees to administer naloxone while working.

There is a community and public services committee meeting on Aug. 10, an urban planning committee meeting on Aug. 11, and an executive committee meeting on Aug. 12.

Here are some key items on the agenda this week:

• An auditor has found that the Chinatown and Area Business Association’s 2025 financial statements did not include sufficient and appropriate audit evidence for the second year in a row, says a report to be presented to executive committee. The auditor also found issues including a lack of segregation of duties, poor organization of source documentation, limited review of financial statements, and no tracking or reconciliation of gift cards. Administration said it will bring forward options later this year that could result in the organization suspending or disestablishing. Administration said it will continue to work with the association to obtain financial updates.
• Administration will begin updating the City Plan, as Edmonton is expected to reach its first population threshold of 1.25 million in 2026. A report to be presented to urban planning committee said that city staff will analyze the progress of the plan’s targets and metrics and make minor administrative corrections. Next, staff will create a plan for the work to follow, which could range from targeted amendments and new implementation projects to a comprehensive renewal of the plan itself. Some metrics can be measured with available data, while others would use data from the 2026 federal census, which won’t be available at a neighbourhood level until 2028.
• Allowing city employees to administer naloxone on shift would require a dedicated program, says a report set to be presented to community and public services committee. Only trained city employees, such as peace officers and firefighters, are allowed to administer the opioid overdose reversal while on shift. Councillors inquired earlier this year about allowing other employees, including transit operators and library staff, to volunteer to use naloxone. The report said the city would be required to train those employees in administering first aid and naloxone, as well as in safety de-escalation and self-defence. The change would also come with legal implications and increased litigation risks and union implications, the report said. In 2025, 770 people died of overdoses in Edmonton, setting a new record and exceeding Calgary’s death rate from drug poisoning.

• The Community and Public Services Committee meets today at 9:30 am, and one of the items on the agenda is a review of how Edmonton regulates domesticated pigeons. Administration concluded that existing business and zoning rules are sufficient and that no bylaw amendments are needed, after finding that all 94 licensed pigeon owners inspected in 2025 were in compliance and that pigeon complaints made up just 0.15% of all animal-related complaints, 16 out of 11,031. A survey of adjacent property owners found that 91% had no concerns about licensed pigeons, with the small number of complaints citing droppings, cleanliness and pests. Current rules cap pigeons at 75 per residence and require birds to be kept in a loft or aviary acceptable to the City. Administration will add two new licence conditions effective January 2027, requiring owners to join a recognized pigeon association and to fit all birds with official identification leg bands. Association membership runs roughly $30 to $80 a year, which the report acknowledges could weigh on lower-income owners, though no change to the licence fee is recommended beyond a previously approved increase of one dollar per year for three years.
• Also before the Committee today is Administration's plan for fireworks communications and a 2026 Diwali celebration, the first of two reports responding to a Council motion. Administration will reallocate $25,000 a year from existing budgets for an enhanced, multilingual fireworks safety campaign, of which $17,000 would be an ongoing cost, stressing that setting off fireworks without a permit is illegal and unsafe. For 2026, the City will continue hosting its own celebratory Diwali event at City Hall, funded by $20,000 from the existing Anti-Racism budget, while adding a one-time $10,000 to help community groups build toward a larger event in 2027. The community's preferred option, a centralized fireworks show at Mill Woods Park, carries a $110,000 price tag under a cost-sharing model with $90,000 from community partners and $20,000 from the City, but the report notes most of that community funding has not yet been secured. Administration points to a permitted display on a Laurel-area school field that it says cut illegal street-level fireworks complaints by 70%. A separate report on regulatory options to address the unsafe purchase and discharge of fireworks is expected back at Committee in the fall.
• The Committee will also review a report on the legacy outcomes of major sport and cultural events the City helps attract, prepared at Council's request. Administration reports that Edmonton hosted 23 attracted events in 2024 and 2025, with a collective economic impact of $148.2 million in 2024 and $145 million in 2025, and that 12 events are scheduled for 2026 with an estimated combined impact of $222.4 million. Rather than apply Council's $3-million economic-impact threshold for requiring formal legacy plans in funding agreements, Administration recommends raising it to $6 million, arguing larger events are better placed to deliver lasting benefits. Examples of planned 2026 legacies include the CPKC Women's Open's goal of raising more than $3.9 million for the Stollery Children's Hospital and food-rescue efforts tied to the World Juniors. Administration says it will finalize a legacy measurement framework by the end of 2026 and begin implementing it in 2027, funded by reallocating money from an existing events budget rather than new spending. Oversight would be shared among the City, Explore Edmonton, Sport Edmonton and event rights holders.
• City Council voted at a public hearing on Tuesday to reduce the on-site parking required for new neighbourhood daycares, with the change taking effect immediately. Under the old rules, daycares needed two spaces for the first 10 children and one for each additional 10, but providers now need only one space for every 10 children, halved again in areas with unrestricted street parking. The City says that means a 40-child daycare that once needed five parking spaces could now need just two. Administration argued the change removes a regulatory barrier for small operators, pointing to a fall 2024 traffic study that found 17% of daycare trips are made on foot or by bike and that parking demand ran about 20% below the old requirements. Mayor Andrew Knack said the goal is to make daycare drop-offs less car-reliant by letting families walk or bike, while Ward 8 (papastew) Councillor Michael Janz, a longtime supporter, said he would like to go further and allow daycares on mid-block lots. Ward 7 (sipiwiyiniwak) Councillor Thu Parmar and Ward 3 (tastawiyiniwak) Councillor Karen Principe were the only members to vote against. One Cavanagh resident appealing a daycare permit next to her home warned the City must balance adding daycares in residential areas against protecting existing residents' quality of life.
• City Council is wrestling with how to keep up service levels as Edmonton's infrastructure repair backlog widens, with aging swimming pools used to illustrate the scale of the problem. The Infrastructure Committee released previously in-camera projections showing it would cost roughly $1 billion to maintain current aquatic service levels, with eight pools already more than 50 years old and four expected to be in poor condition by 2037. City officials told the Committee that 10.2% of Edmonton's total assets are in poor or very poor condition and that about 60% of city alleys need renewal. Overall, the City projects a $2.8-billion renewal gap between 2027 and 2030, ballooning to $10 billion by 2036, and says it can currently cover only 30.7% of its renewal needs, excluding bridges. Administration is weighing cost-saving measures such as repaving rather than reconstructing roads, deferring some downtown projects, and using boardwalks instead of new concrete sidewalks. Mayor Andrew Knack said the figures reinforce why a dedicated renewal fund is critical, while Deputy City Manager Stacey Padbury cautioned the problem cannot be solved in four years.

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ON THE AGENDA

Stephanie Swensrude

This week, council will discuss its policy for engaging Indigenous groups regarding river valley development, review regulations for megaphones in public spaces, and discuss Diwali celebrations and the use of fireworks.

There is a community and public services committee meeting on June 29, an audit selection committee meeting on June 29, an executive committee meeting on June 30, and an urban planning committee meeting on July 2.

Here are some key items on the agenda this week:

• Urban planning committee will discuss a report on Indigenous engagement regarding redevelopment on River Valley lands, on the heels of a contentious public hearing on June 23 regarding a zoning decision in Rossdale. Council postponed its decision about new zoning regulations for Rossdale in anticipation of future development, citing concerns that Indigenous groups had not been consulted adequately. Mayor Andrew Knack encouraged those concerned about the development to attend the July 2 committee meeting, as well as a July 9 public hearing. The report to committee says municipalities do not have a legal duty to consult Indigenous groups under section 35 of the Canadian Constitution, but Edmonton has established its own framework for Indigenous engagement, and administration said it is endeavouring to follow it, as well as the city’s memoranda of understanding with the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations, Otipemisiwak Métis Government, and Enoch Cree Nation.
• Administration has laid out ways that council can regulate amplification in public spaces. A report that will be presented to community and public services committee said that while noise pollution is a legitimate concern, regulating it is complicated because limiting the use of megaphones or speakers could potentially impact Charter rights. Some Edmontonians said they were against amplification in public spaces, while others said it can be important for freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Administration said it could develop a time, duration, place, or volume (TDPV) regulation, which puts a restriction on when, how long, where, or how loud a disruptive sound may occur. It could also prohibit sound amplification unless someone has a permit.
• Administration plans to host an invite-only Diwali celebration at City Hall in 2026, with the possibility of a larger event in 2027, says a report that will be presented to community and public services committee. The report said community members would prefer a large event at Mill Woods Park in 2026, but the city has not confirmed about $90,000 of the event’s funding. The city will also improve communications about the use and sale of fireworks with signage as well as online and print communications in multiple languages. Diwali fireworks were blamed for property damage in 2025.

ON THE AGENDA

Stephanie Swensrude

This week, councillors will discuss priorities for infrastructure renewal as well as how capital projects impact future operating costs.

There is a utility committee meeting on June 22, a public hearing on June 23, and an infrastructure committee meeting on June 24.

Here are some key items on the agenda this week:

• Administration has listed sections of roads and bridges that it would like to prioritize for some level of renewal in the 2027-2030 budget cycle. Arterial roads can receive a paving treatment, a paving treatment with concrete or base repairs, or, for the roads in the worst condition, a full reconstruction. Administration said it recommends focusing on paving treatment for the upcoming cycle. This may seem counterintuitive, given the inclination to fix the worst roads first, a report to infrastructure committee acknowledges, but it says this is the best way to manage the network “within a fiscally constrained environment.” Council will debate funding for renewal projects during the 2027-2030 budget deliberations in the fall.
• Infrastructure committee will be asked to approve the creation of a dedicated renewal fund reserve, which aims to address a widening funding gap for the renewal of city-owned infrastructure. The reserve will be funded through a dedicated tax levy of up to 1% annually for the next 20 years, which would fund about 43% of the total ideal renewal needed in 2048. To narrow the gap further, council could choose to increase the renewal tax levy by 0.5%, which would fund about 60% of the total ideal renewal needed in 2048. If committee approves the fund, council will vote on it at a future meeting.
• Administration will include a capital project’s operating impacts — the day-to-day funds required to operate an asset once construction is finished — in the 2027-2030 budget deliberations, says a report that will be presented to infrastructure committee. Improving projections for the operating impacts of capital (OIC) is part of the total cost of ownership (TCO) project — in other words, the cost of building, operating, maintaining, and renewing an asset through the end of its service life, as opposed to just building it. “The enhanced integration of TCO, including OICs, into budgeting processes provides council with a more robust understanding in order to evaluate long-term operating costs before approving capital infrastructure investments,” the report said.

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• The Utility Committee will meet today at 9:30 am, and EPCOR Water Services will present a set of reports on how Edmonton's water and wastewater systems are performing financially and what the utility plans to measure next. EPCOR's progress report for the year ended December 31st, 2025 shows In-City Water earned a 10.96% return on equity, higher than the 10.54% it had forecast, driven largely by stronger than expected revenue and customer growth. Wastewater Treatment came in slightly under forecast at 10.85% and Wastewater Collection landed at 10.26%, roughly in line with its plan. The reports also reveal that projected water capital spending for 2022 to 2026 has reached $719.8 million, which is $209.4 million, or 42%, above the original forecast, with similar overruns in wastewater treatment. EPCOR is also seeking Committee feedback on the performance measures it intends to use in its next rate application covering 2028 to 2031, the framework that ultimately shapes what Edmontonians pay on their water bills. All three reports are listed for information only, meaning the Committee will receive them rather than vote.
• Also on the Utility Committee's agenda today is a report on how the City handles illegal dumping at apartment and condo buildings, prepared after Councillors asked Administration in March for options to address the problem. The report notes that between January 2021 and the end of March 2026, the City received over 600 complaints of illegal dumping on private property, which usually takes the form of abandoned furniture and garbage or waste dumped in another building's bins. Administration points to existing tools such as four Eco Stations, eight annual Big Bin events and free disposal weekends, and says it is studying further measures, including a new large item collection program and tougher fines. The Community Standards Bylaw currently sets a $250 fine for common dumping on private property and a $1,000 fine for large items or construction waste, figures property managers told the City are too low. Any new spending, including a possible large item pickup service to be piloted in 2027, would be brought forward through the 2027 Waste Services rate filing expected before Council in late 2026.
• The Infrastructure Committee will meet on Wednesday at 9:30 am, where one of the items is Administration's draft approach to renewing the City's existing infrastructure in the 2027 to 2030 budget cycle. The report values Edmonton's total infrastructure portfolio of roads, bridges, facilities and transit at $39.8 billion, and signals a deliberate shift toward maintaining and renewing those assets rather than building new ones. It cites an earlier forecast of a renewal investment gap of $2.8 billion over the four years from 2027 to 2030, climbing to $10 billion over the decade to 2036. Administration says renewal projects will be ranked not only on physical condition but also on strategic alignment with Council priorities and service needs, with growth projects funded only when required for safety, mandated by law or eligible for outside funding. The draft priority lists for bridges, roads, facilities, open space and transit are presented as unranked and subject to change once the capital budget is finalized in late 2026.
• In other Council business, members voted 7-6 to build a larger transit garage in southeast Edmonton, taking on an additional $66 million in borrowing to do so. The decision, made during a multiday budget adjustment, reversed an earlier recommendation from City Staff to scale the project down to keep it inside its $367-million budget. The original plan envisioned storage for 430 buses, Administration proposed a smaller facility for 250 to 290, and Council settled on a garage holding 330 to 380 buses, with a federal grant covering part of the cost. Ward 4 (Dene) Councillor Aaron Paquette argued the investment must be made now because construction costs and transit demand will only rise, while Ward 2 (Anirniq) Councillor Erin Rutherford warned the garage could sit half-full and leave less money for projects like the Metro Line extension, saying "we don't have an infinite pool of funding". More than half of Edmonton's bus fleet is rated in poor or very poor condition, and with a standard diesel bus costing roughly $1 million, the City is approaching its debt limit ahead of a four-year budget later this year. Mayor Andrew Knack took a more optimistic view, acknowledging a period of austerity in funding from other governments but saying transit has been chronically underfunded for decades. The garage is expected to be completed in 2032.
• Council also voted unanimously on Wednesday to proceed with a 2SLGBTQIA+ safe spaces action plan aimed at making City facilities and operations more responsive to the community's needs. Council had previously committed $750,000 to the effort last fall, distributed to support groups through grants, and a further $750,000 a year to continue the program will be weighed during the City's four-year budget deliberations. Mayor Andrew Knack tied the plan to provincial policy, noting the City is "being told what kind of flags we can hang in our buildings" and citing provincial legislation affecting transgender youth in sports, medical treatment, and school libraries. The City's report says there are hate crimes targeting sexual and gender expression trending upward, with 50 such incidents recorded in Edmonton in 2024, and to a local survey in which 81% of community members reported negative public interactions. It also says that a disproportionate share of Edmontonians experiencing homelessness identify on the 2SLGBTQIA+ spectrum, just under 12% of the roughly 800 unhoused people who disclosed their orientation. The report estimates more than 40,000 Edmontonians identify as 2SLGBTQIA+, including more than 2,000 who identify as "gender diverse."

ON THE AGENDA

Stephanie Swensrude

This week, council is set to make some adjustments to the final year of the 2023-2026 capital budget, examine options for building the southeast transit garage to its original scope, and hear an update on the state of community league facilities.

There is a public hearing scheduled on June 15 and a council meeting scheduled on June 16 and 17.

Here are some key items on the agenda this week:

• Administration recommends several adjustments to the final year of the 2023-2026 capital budget, including new projects totalling $45 million, scope changes totalling $44 million, and recosting adjustments totalling $4.8 million. A report to be presented to council says most new projects are related to projects previously approved that are moving to a new stage and require funding. However, one new funding request is for $600,000 to demolish the Koermann Block, one of the few buildings along The Armature, which the city had listed for sale for affordable housing. The report said the building needs to be demolished immediately due to critical structural failures, safety hazards, and ongoing liability risks. The interior of the building is collapsed, there are large holes in the roof, and the basement is flooded, posing a risk to unauthorized occupants, the city said. The building is listed on the inventory of historic resources, meaning it is deemed to have historic value, but it doesn’t have full legal protection from alteration or demolition. The building is historically significant for its connection to the local German community prior to the First World War. Council will also discuss changes to the capital budgets for waste services and renewable energy systems.
• Administration has laid out four options for building the southeast transit garage to accommodate more buses. In April, councillors learned that plans for the garage had been scaled down from a capacity for 430 buses to between 255 and 290. Emily Stremel, chair of Edmonton Transit Riders, told Taproot that garage capacity is key to expanding transit service in future years. Councillors asked administration to return with options to build the facility out to its original capacity, which are laid out in a private attachment.
• A review found that community league facilities face significant challenges, including aging infrastructure, an unfunded capital liability, and inconsistent service levels across the city. Community leagues need $100 million in the next decade for infrastructure renewal, and about $19 million has been deemed critical for safety, said a report that will be presented to council. The city and the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues are designing a new framework to establish a long-term roadmap to address infrastructure deficits as the city’s population grows.

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• City Council will meet on Tuesday at 9:30 am, and several items on the agenda propose adjustments to the City's capital budgets. The main package, the Spring 2026 Supplemental Capital Budget Adjustment, would increase the 2023-2026 capital budget for tax-supported operations by a net $75.6 million, including $45.1 million in new capital profiles, such as $22.2 million to rehabilitate the northbound Low Level Bridge and $15.9 million for the 178 Street bridge over Whitemud Drive. It also includes $44.2 million in scope changes, among them $15 million in new tax-supported debt for the Southeast Transit Garage. A separate Waste Services adjustment recommends $5.65 million in recosting, including raising the budget for the Coronation Eco Station expansion from $16.3 million to $17.9 million after a construction tender came in about 10% over budget, plus pre-approval of $7.84 million in 2027 utility funding so 17 waste collection vehicles can be ordered in 2026. A third report asks for a $7.6-million increase to the budget for the Blatchford Renewable Energy Utility's distribution piping system, raising it from $15.5 million to $23.1 million.
• Visitors to Fort Edmonton Park, the Valley Zoo and the Muttart Conservatory may have to pay for parking next year under a pilot project planned for 2027, part of a package of parking changes presented to City Council's Urban Planning Committee that could boost revenue by $5.4 million. Ward 8 (papastew) Councillor Michael Janz, who requested the report in December, said the choice is "either user fees or property taxes" as the City tries to mitigate property tax increases driven by rising costs. Janz is also asking the City to look into a Calgary-style system where parking fines increase the longer a ticket goes unpaid, with a report due back later in the year. Separately, the City is looking to expand automated parking enforcement, which Administration claims could bring in at least $14 million in revenue when fully implemented, and to sign a $1-million contract to put more enforcement officers on the ground after a 42% increase in calls requesting more parking enforcement. Administration says 30% of Edmonton's road users come from outside the city, with the City's safe mobility director arguing that Edmontonians are subsidizing parking for people who do not live in Edmonton. The Committee also voted 4-0 against a proposal to end the 15-minute free parking program, which had already been cut back from 30 minutes in the last budget.
• City Council's Community and Public Services Committee unanimously passed a motion from Mayor Andrew Knack last week to explore either a year-round day shelter program or a full community hub program for people experiencing homelessness. The $6.5-million plan will be discussed as part of the next four-year budget deliberations. Knack said the number of people dying on Edmonton's streets has risen from the 30s each year to over 300 and called for a "war-time effort" to make progress on the crisis. Support came from across the board, including the Edmonton Downtown Business Association, which says that with limited daytime options available, libraries, transit stations, parks, pedways and business storefronts become the default places where people spend their days. The Association funds its own core patrol, which conducted more than 1,900 wellness checks between January and May, and argued that more day shelters would take pressure off Downtown businesses currently spending heavily on security and support services. Council also received a letter from the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce pushing for community service hubs, while Ward 10 (Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi) Councillor Jon Morgan argued the City and ratepayers are already paying for the crisis through first responders, maintenance costs in public spaces, and encampment clean-ups.
• The Community and Public Services Committee also voted 3-1 last week to send a stormwater billing report back to Administration and return to the decades-old centralized payment system, sparing Edmonton's more than 160 community leagues from directly processing monthly EPCOR stormwater charges, despite both EPCOR and Administration calling for the leagues to be billed directly. Ward 10 (Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi) Councillor Jon Morgan made the motion after hearing from community league volunteers. An updated report is expected back on September 25th. Before April 1st, 2025, EPCOR billed the City directly, and the City paid the utility fees on behalf of the leagues, recovering part of the cost through an annual $116,798 tax levy charged to the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues, even though Administration says the actual cost runs between $152,000 and $284,000. EPCOR flagged the discrepancy in an audit, which also found that other properties were likely receiving stormwater services without being charged, and work to identify those properties is expected to be complete by 2027. Council allocated $995,648 through the community league operating grant to help pay the new bills from April 1st to December 31st, 2025, but the funding did not line up with expenses and many leagues found themselves in a cash crunch. The Federation urged the Committee to maintain a centralized model, arguing that volunteer-run leagues are not equipped to handle tracking and budgeting for monthly stormwater bills.
• City Manager Eddie Robar announced last Tuesday that the Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) will take over operation of the Valley Line LRT over the next two years, ending the City's 30-year public-private partnership with TransEd Partners, the consortium that built the line, 25 years ahead of schedule. The decision was made during an in-camera session on May 19th, and officials will not say how much the City is paying TransEd as a termination payment, though the original contract was worth $1.8 billion. Because a different contractor is building the Valley Line West extension, TransEd was never contracted to operate it, and officials claim that moving everything to ETS was the cheapest of three options, the others being expanding TransEd's contract or finding a new operator. The City predicts the change will mean better coordination between buses and the LRT when a train has to be taken out of service, reducing wait times for replacement buses. Ward 8 (papastew) Councillor Michael Janz called the move a "great opportunity", saying ETS is motivated by quality service rather than profit. Construction of the Valley Line West is on schedule to be finished by 2028, after which the system will be extensively tested before regular passengers are allowed on board.

• The Community and Public Services Committee meets today at 9:30 am. One of the items on its agenda asks the Committee to recommend that Council rescind a motion that Council itself passed at its December 2025 budget meeting. That motion directed Administration to amend the agreements governing community leagues so the City would directly pay all stormwater charges that EPCOR levies against the leagues, ensuring the leagues are never billed for those fees. After reviewing the billing process, Administration now recommends that community leagues keep being billed directly by EPCOR, arguing the agreements already make leagues responsible for their own utility costs and that Council has already approved $995,648 in annual funding that fully offsets the charges. Reverting to City-paid billing would mean removing that roughly $1 million from the community league budget, shifting it to the City's utility budget, and amending every individual league agreement.
• Also on today's agenda, the Committee will receive a report evaluating future spending on day spaces, which are daytime facilities offering respite and basic services for people experiencing homelessness. Council put $1 million into extending hours at four existing sites between December 2025 and March 2026, during which 6,634 unique individuals visited 37,663 times, a 51% increase in clients and a 169% increase in visits over the previous winter. Administration says there is currently no sustainable ongoing funding for day spaces and lays out four options, ranging from no new investment, to a seasonal winter respite model, to a year-round model, to a comprehensive community service hub, which is the costliest and the one sector partners preferred. Should Council direct an investment, Administration would bring an unfunded service package through the 2027-2030 budget.
• The Executive Committee meets on Wednesday at 9:30 am. On the agenda is a discussion about whether to approve a below-market-value sale of a City-owned property on 118 Avenue in Alberta Avenue for a community arts development. The City reacquired the former arts site for a nominal value in May 2025, then listed it for six months with requirements that any buyer deliver an arts project including a black box theatre, gallery, studio and maker spaces, and housing. Despite emailing more than 8,300 subscribers on its property sales list, the City received only two proposals. Council has set aside $3,304,823 from a reserve to fund the arts components of the site, and both bidders are seeking to draw on that money. Because the sale is below fair market value, Committee approval is required before Administration can begin negotiating with its preferred proponent.
• Also before Executive Committee on Wednesday are two linked information reports on the City's economic development work. The first is a refreshed ten-year strategy, called Edmonton Advantage, which aims to reverse what Administration describes as a "business-unfriendly perception" and a tax base in which residential growth outpaces business and industrial growth, and which Administration says will need roughly $70 million over 2027-2030. The second is a review of the four City-funded agencies that receive taxpayer funding: Explore Edmonton at $22.7 million annually, Edmonton Unlimited at $5.3 million, Edmonton Global at $3.3 million, and Edmonton Screen at $1.2 million. An independent consultant found the agencies' mandates clear and recommended adding mid-stage business support, but Administration does not recommend mandate changes or a new agency. The review also notes Edmonton Global's membership has fallen from 14 municipalities to 9, with 3 more giving notice they will leave.
• Mayor Andrew Knack joined the Big Cities Mayors' Caucus of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities on Thursday in asking the federal government to commit billions of dollars to downtown revitalization ahead of Ottawa's fall budget. The caucus wants the federal government to follow its Parliamentary Budget Officer's recommendation to invest $3.5 billion annually to cut chronic homelessness by at least 50% by 2030, to raise the Canada Public Transit Fund from $25 billion to $30 billion over ten years, and to at least double the Build Communities Strong Fund. Knack argued the homelessness and safety crisis cannot be solved by any one order of government acting alone and called for a coordinated federal-provincial-municipal response. The push follows an April report from the Downtown Revitalization Coalition flagging visible drug use and disorder, and a CBC investigation that found transit-related crime in Edmonton more than doubled over nine years.

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This week, Edmonton city councillors will discuss day spaces for vulnerable Edmontonians, a review of economic development agencies, and potential changes to city-owned parking.

There is a community and public services committee meeting on June 8, an urban planning committee meeting on June 9, and an executive committee meeting on June 10.

Here are some key items on the agenda this week:

• There are no sustainable municipal funding options for day shelter spaces, says a report set to be presented to community and public services committee. Mayor Andrew Knack’s first motion of this term directed administration to allocate $1 million to expand access to day shelter spaces, and for administration to report back with an evaluation of the options to build out the service. The report said the funding allowed hours at four sites to increase from 99 per week to 252; the sites were visited nearly 38,000 times by more than 6,600 people. Administration laid out investment options for winter respite day spaces, year-round day spaces, and a community service hub with clinical healthcare and holistic supports. More options for supporting vulnerable people will be included in a report coming later this month that is meant to outline a way to transition the city out of providing services to people experiencing homelessness, which administration called a provincial responsibility.
• Administration has refreshed its economic development strategy, titled Edmonton Advantage, to adapt to current and anticipated market realities. The strategy outlines three primary issues: Edmonton is perceived as unfriendly to business, there is a lack of awareness around the city’s business proposition, and residential growth is outpacing business and industry growth, resulting in a tax imbalance. The strategy’s pillars aim to enable a strong business environment, market the Edmonton advantage, and drive investment. A cross-referenced report about four of the city’s economic development agencies — Explore Edmonton, Edmonton Global, Edmonton Screen, and Edmonton Unlimited — said a review found that the organizations have clear and complementary mandates with no significant duplication, and that the agencies are delivering measurable economic outcomes. While the ecosystem supports growth, there is a gap in mid-stage business retention and expansion support, which could limit firms transitioning from startup to growth and expansion, the report said. The consultant who examined the agencies recommended setting up a new economic agency to add scale-up supports for local businesses, but administration did not endorse that idea.
• Administration is considering changes to city-owned parking, including increased rates, the elimination of the free 15-minute period, and a pilot project for paid parking at facilities such as the Muttart Conservatory, the Edmonton Valley Zoo, and Fort Edmonton Park. A report to be presented to urban planning committee says demand for parking has increased as Edmonton grows, and curbside space is supporting a broader range of uses than parking, including deliveries, transit access, festivals, patios, activations, and micromobility devices such as e-scooters. The proposed changes are expected to manage demand and improve turnover while increasing revenue. A cross-referenced report outlines options for parking benefit districts, a system where parking revenue would be invested into the area it is collected from. While administration doesn’t recommend implementing parking benefit districts at this time, it said it will bring forward options in 2027 once the overall parking system is more financially stable and effective.

• The Infrastructure Committee will meet on Monday, with one of the most significant items on its agenda being a major reassessment of what to do with the High Level Bridge. Administration is recommending Council scrap the previously approved $200 million rehabilitation plan and instead plan for full replacement - a strategic pivot triggered by updated cost estimates that came in at $380 million at the 30% design stage, nearly double the original figure. The bridge, built between 1910 and 1913, carries 24,000-27,000 vehicles per day and has an estimated remaining service life of only 10-15 years. The total cost of the broader central area bridge renewal program - encompassing the High Level Bridge, the Low Level Bridges, and Dawson Bridge - is estimated at approximately $1.3 billion. Because the High Level Bridge holds a Municipal Historic Resource designation, Council must formally repeal that designation before demolition can proceed. The construction and decommissioning timeline runs from 2031 to 2039, with debt servicing costs beginning at $6.6 million in 2033 and rising to $28 million annually by 2036.
• Also this week, the Council Services Committee will consider a request from Ward 10 (Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi) Councillor Jon Morgan for $3,000 from the Common Travel Budget to attend the Calgary Stampede from July 3rd to July 12th, 2026. The request reveals that Ward 9 (pihêsiwin) Councillor Michael Elliott and Ward 11 (Karhiio) Councillor Keren Tang had already received Stampede travel approvals of $3,000 and $2,000, respectively, earlier in the year. The total Common Travel Budget for 2026 is $73,002, and with $58,500 already approved or estimated for other travel this year, only $14,502 remains. The committee must decide whether to approve Morgan's additional request from that remaining balance.
• The Audit Committee meets on Wednesday, and among the items on its agenda is the City Auditor's follow-up dashboard on outstanding audit recommendations. Across all City departments, 35 audit recommendations remain unresolved and five are now overdue. The most delayed item is the Historic Resource Management Program recommendation, originally due December 31st, 2024, and now revised to June 30th, 2026, making it 16 months past its original deadline. A Fraud Risk Management recommendation is four months overdue and has been extended to June 30th, 2027, with Administration citing staffing challenges as the reason for the delay. A Cybersecurity recommendation is also four months past due, and two items in the Taxation, Assessment and Collection System category are one month overdue. Financial Services has the highest number of outstanding recommendations, at 9. The Audit Committee received administrative explanations for the delays, but those explanations rely on revised timelines rather than completed action.
• The Council Services Committee's agenda this week includes Administration's 2026 financial update for Councillors' offices. Each Councillor receives an individual ward office budget of $214,304, and the report provides a line-by-line breakdown of spending by councillor, allowing direct comparison of how individual ward budgets are being managed through the first four months of the year. The total approved budget for all Councillors' offices combined is $6.088 million for the year. As of April 30th, the combined offices carry a "net favourable variance" of $74,000, meaning they are running 3.1% under budget overall. Ward office budgets collectively are 9.3% under-spent, while the common budget is in a slight deficit of $6,000.
• Edmonton Police Service and Recovery Alberta are opening an Integrated Stabilization Centre designed to detain people causing public disorder who have not been charged with a criminal offence. The centre uses authority under the Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Act to hold intoxicated individuals for up to 24 hours without a criminal charge being laid. The facility is staffed by Recovery Alberta clinical workers rather than police officers, and is intended to divert individuals away from emergency departments and jail cells. The arrangement raises civil liberties questions, as individuals can be held for nearly a full day based on an administrative determination rather than a criminal process. However, supporters of the model argue that it connects people in crisis to addiction and mental health services more effectively than either an arrest or a hospital visit would.

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Stephanie Swensrude

Here are some key items on the agenda this week:

•   The High Level Bridge and Low Level Bridges will be decommissioned and replaced over the next 10 to 15 years, says a report to be presented to infrastructure committee. While the Low Level Bridges have been slated for demolition for some time, the city had planned to rehabilitate the High Level Bridge to extend its lifespan. But updated testing shows it could cost more than $1 billion to keep it in operation over the next 75 years. Mayor Andrew Knack acknowledged that the High Level Bridge is iconic, but said there comes a time when rehabilitation is no longer feasible. “We’ll have to think about how we rebuild it in a way that respects that heritage and legacy,” Knack told CTV Edmonton. The tentative timeline, pending budget deliberations in the fall, would see a new Low Level Bridge funded in the 2027-2030 budget cycle and a new High Level Bridge funded in the 2035-2039 budget cycle. Replacement bridges would be built before demolition, and the northbound Low Level Bridge would be maintained for active transportation
•   Administration has prepared amendments to the landscape securities program in the zoning bylaw, which it has put forward as an alternative to a private tree protection bylaw. The city collects a security from a developer when it gets a development permit and returns it when the developer plants the required trees and shrubs. If the landscaping isn’t done, the city uses that money to do it. The program is currently applied to large-scale residential, mixed-use, and non-residential developments, and the proposed amendments would add small-scale developments. The city recommends a phased approach starting in January 2027. If council approves the changes, administration estimates that the number of securities collected would increase from 300 to nearly 5,000 annually, with two more full-time employees and two seasonal employees required. The resources for the program would come from fees that developers pay to the city. Council will vote on the amendments to the zoning bylaw at a public hearing.
•   The ward budgets for the Office of the Councillors have a surplus of $74,000, in part because councillors are not fully using personnel budgets for executive assistants and council assistants. The common budget, which funds travel, office furniture, and salaries for councillors and administrative assistants, is in a deficit of $6,000 due to non-personnel costs.
•   Council will consider a rezoning application on a corner site in the Balwin neighbourhood that would allow the landowner to build a four-storey building. Administration said it supports the application because the property is near the 82 Street secondary corridor, and it would match the rest of the zoning on the property’s block. Some residents said they oppose the application because they feel a larger development would reduce available parking and increase crime.
•   A landowner has proposed consolidating two lots in the Belgravia neighbourhood at the corner of 80 Avenue and 119 Street NW and rezoning it to allow a building up to three storeys tall. Administration said it supports the application because the site is both large and surrounded by roadways and alleys on all sides, which would mitigate the impacts of a larger building. Some residents said they oppose the rezoning because it would increase traffic and parking congestion, and they feel there is already too much development happening in the neighbourhood.
•   Council services committee will consider a request from Coun. Jon Morgan to add $3,000 to the common travel and conferences budget to attend the Calgary Stampede.
•   Council will receive a private update on its strategic priorities.

HISTORIAN SEEKS TO TELL THE REAL STORY OF MILL WOODS 

Mill Woods, the 24-square-kilometre development that makes up most of Edmonton’s southeast quadrant, isn’t quite what it seems from the outside, says historian Catherine Cole.

“The perceptions of people inside the community and outside the community are totally different,” Cole told Taproot.

That’s just one theme she aims to explore in her forthcoming book about the history of Mill Woods. She is hosting listening sessions with current and former residents at the Mill Woods branch of the Edmonton Public Library on May 13 and June 10 from 1pm to 4pm to better understand how Mill Woods has changed over time.

“It’s an opportunity for people to talk about what it has been like for them to grow up in Mill Woods, or to live in Mill Woods — to watch Mill Woods grow up around them,” she said, noting that she hopes to continue the sessions in the fall.

Mill Woods, with a population of around 50,000, is commonly described as one neighbourhood, but it’s actually a collection of more than 20 distinct neighbourhoods. It is bounded by 91 Street to the west and 34 Street to the east, and by Whitemud Drive and Anthony Henday Drive on the north and south.

Cole has hosted two listening sessions already, and so far, attendees have been a diverse mix, including a man and a woman who were among the first couples to build a home in the neighbourhood. “She actually brought a piece of paper with all these photographs of their house under development,” Cole said. Another attendee was a recent immigrant to Canada who came “because he wanted to learn about the place he was moving to, and he wanted to listen to the conversation.”

Cole said with a laugh that she has no connection to Mill Woods — she lives in Riverdale — but she’s interested for a variety of reasons. The development started in the 1970s and would end up facing issues that are still relevant today: the need for affordable housing, the costs of suburban sprawl, the preservation of agricultural land, the need for transportation. “There’s just so many urban challenges that played out through that development,” she said, adding that she thinks it has lessons to teach city planners today, especially those working on Blatchford and similar projects.

Mill Woods began as a city-led housing development. In the late 1960s, land available for suburban development was declining, and the city was having trouble expanding the infrastructure necessary to access more, especially roads. The province owned a land bank southeast of what was then the city boundary. “The province acquired this chunk of land — the largest land bank in North America — and the federal government lent the money to the province to buy the land, and then the province sold it to the city at 1969 prices over the period of its development,” Cole said.

Phil Ellwood, a senior city planner at the time, said the city should act as a land developer to help with housing affordability. In the original development concept, planners envisioned “a place for people — a community with a sense of place where the physical environment will be realized in the context of human scale,” and a neighbourhood “large enough in its own right to create its own identity and sense of place.”

That’s one example of the city’s perception of the neighbourhood not matching the reality of living there, Cole said. “One of the things I find really interesting is that people who are live in Mill Woods, or are from Mill Woods, really see how unique the community is and and they see it as being a very accessible, walkable, human-scale kind of place, whereas the rest of Edmonton either have never heard of Mill Woods, never been there, don’t know what it is, or they think it’s way out there.”

Before Mill Woods became a massive city-planned housing development, the land was home again and again to displaced people, Cole said, starting with the Papaschase Band. The band was forced to relocate from Rossdale to a reserve in what is now Mill Woods in the 1880s, because settlers in and near Edmonton didn’t want to live near a reserve. The band lost that entire reserve in 1888 under “highly questionable circumstances,” as historian Jan Olson put it. Then the area was settled by German-speaking Russians who were not free to practise their Moravian faith back in Europe. The city quickly assembled the land the Moravians farmed on in 1969, annexing the parts that were in Strathcona County in 1970 and rezoning the area from agricultural to urban uses.

As Mill Woods was developing, it attracted displaced people from other parts of the world, such as Asians expelled from Uganda in 1972 and refugees from Chile after Augusto Pinochet’s coup in 1973. Federal immigration policy also changed, making Canada more welcoming to people from countries outside of Western Europe, which led to a large increase in the South Asian population.

“For newcomers, (Mill Woods) was more affordable than other parts of the city,” Cole said.

Mill Woods has been Cole’s focus for several years now, and the book will build on previous work that focused on cultural diversity. “When we were doing the first work 10 years ago, we were really focused on the cultural diversity of the community and creating these arts outputs,” Cole said. “Now I’m going back and filling in the gaps, and one of the gaps is really the whole city planning aspect of it.”

She has also been hearing from residents about some dark days that shaped the community’s collective memory, such as when 19,000 people were evacuated after a gas explosion and fire in March 1979. There was also the devastating Black Friday tornado in 1987 that, in Mill Woods alone, damaged 30 homes and injured around 15 people, before moving eastward and killing 27 people.

“It’s really interesting hearing from these people in those sessions, and it’s helping me with writing the book, because they tell me things I didn’t know,” Cole said. “They also give me a perspective on some things that I had already read about or understood to a degree, but they give you a different flavour of what really happened to actual people.”

Even though Mill Woods has been fully developed for years now, it’s still evolving, Cole said. “Already, the change from having the LRT there means people are coming into Mill Woods from other parts of the city who didn’t before, so it has created a different kind of dynamic,” she said of the extension of the Valley Line.

The neighbourhood is also starting to see infill, both small- and large-scale. Maclab Development Group purchased Mill Woods Town Centre in 2022 and says it plans to gradually build housing and other amenities on the parking areas, transforming it into a transit-oriented development.

Mill Woods is continuing to evolve with the rest of the city, Cole said, adding the final chapter of the book will look to the future. “We really need to be careful to not make assumptions about neighbourhoods and think that they’re static,” she said.

ON THE AGENDA

Stephanie Swensrude

This week, councillors are set to discuss user fees, the city’s aging bus fleet, and Blatchford’s capital budget.

There is a community and public services committee meeting on May 11, an urban planning committee meeting on May 12, an executive committee meeting on May 13, and a utility committee meeting on May 15.

Here are some key items on the agenda:

• A proposed policy would set user fees for city services to achieve pre-established cost recovery targets. A report to be presented to executive committee said the city’s non-tax revenues have not been keeping pace with the rate of expenditure growth, requiring higher property tax increases to maintain a balanced budget. The city also doesn’t have a consistent approach for determining user fees, the report said. The policy will be presented alongside the 2027-2030 operating budget in the fall. If approved, administration will implement a policy for all user fees and then repeal existing policies for recreation user fees and transit fares. The approach doesn’t necessarily mean that the full cost of services will be covered by such fees, the city said.
• Administration laid out three options to renew the city’s aging bus fleet in a report to be presented to urban planning committee. If council chooses not to replace any buses and spend only $42.4 million to refurbish part of the fleet, there could be a reduction of up to 331,000 annual service hours, the report said. The second option is to spend $186.9 million to replace 100 buses over the four-year budget cycle, which administration said is the minimum investment to avoid service reductions. The third option would see the city spend $386.9 million to replace 300 buses over four years, which would eliminate the need for some refurbishment work. Even if council chooses a moderate level of replacement, more than half of the conventional fleet will be over 20 years old in the next four years, two years past the ideal retirement age.
• Administration will ask utility committee to increase the budget for the distribution piping system in Blatchford. The neighbourhood is developing faster than the original forecast, and pipes need to be installed sooner than expected, said a report to be presented to utility committee. The city said a one-time increase of $7.6 million will not increase the overall capital costs of the district energy system in Blatchford. The report said the faster pace of development is expected to continue.
• The city’s policy for supporting vulnerable people during extreme weather events has been updated to reflect feedback from that population, said a report that will be presented to community and public services committee. The “safety first” principle has been expanded to include psychological and cultural safety, and the “connected” principle has been shifted to “integrated” to emphasize that municipal supports exist within a broad social service system. A new procedure to support the policy introduces clearer articulation of roles and responsibilities. The new policy requires council approval.

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• This morning, at 9:30 am, there will be a Community and Public Services Committee meeting. On the agenda is a report recommending updates to how the City supports vulnerable people during extreme weather such as heat, cold, and poor air quality. The revised policy maintains services like shelter shuttles, respite spaces, water stations, and emergency supplies, while updating definitions and shifting toward a more seasonal, proactive response model. Officials say the program plays a critical role in reducing harm for people experiencing homelessness and is considered aligned with best practices compared to other Canadian and international cities. The review also found that extreme weather responses have expanded since 2019 and are increasingly used as demand grows, with hundreds of extreme weather days recorded over the past several years. Engagement with service providers and people with lived experience showed strong support for the program, along with calls for clearer communication and more consistent access to supports. The updated policy also strengthens accountability measures by adding clearer roles, ongoing evaluation requirements, and improved transparency in how services are delivered.
• Also on the agenda is the UP-Lift Equitable Recreation Programming Plan, developed in response to a 2024 City Auditor’s report calling for stronger equity in recreation services. The plan introduces a city-wide framework aimed at improving access to recreation by reducing barriers for “underserved and underrepresented communities,” supported by 31 actions and performance measures. Key changes include a new Equitable Allotment and Allocation Model that ends automatic rollover of facility bookings and instead prioritizes space for groups that deliver higher community benefit or serve "equity-deserving populations." It also establishes new communications guidelines to improve outreach to communities that have historically had less awareness of City programs. Implementation will begin in 2026, with full rollout expected by late 2027, and officials say the approach may shift facility access and program availability, with some large user groups potentially seeing reduced allocations. 
• The Executive Committee will meet on Wednesday at 9:30 am. On the agenda is the new Corporate User Fee Policy the City is developing as part of its broader effort to address long-term fiscal pressures and improve consistency in how user fees are applied across municipal services. The policy is intended to standardize cost-recovery targets for services like transit, recreation, and attractions, while still maintaining a mix of user fee and tax funding so that affordability and access are not compromised. Officials note that user fee revenues have grown more slowly than both property taxes and service costs over the past decade, contributing to increasing reliance on the tax levy to balance budgets. The proposed framework introduces principles such as financial sustainability, “beneficiary pays,” and equitable cost allocation, alongside targeted subsidies to reduce financial barriers for low-income residents. It will also replace existing standalone fee policies once implemented, integrating them into a single corporate approach aligned with the 2027-2030 budget cycle. 
• The Edmonton Police Service says it is shifting toward a more targeted, data-driven policing strategy focused on identified “hotspots” of crime and disorder in the city. Chief Warren Driechel said officers are concentrating resources in areas such as Churchill Square, LRT stations, and known problem properties, using intelligence and public reporting to guide deployments. Police data shows mixed results: while calls for service and arrests have increased in some locations, officials report decreases in downtown disorder and violent crime in certain areas, suggesting displacement and focused enforcement rather than overall escalation. The police service is also working more closely with transit peace officers and downtown partners, including sharing CCTV access, to improve response and visibility. Driechel emphasized that tolerating visible disorder can erode community safety over time and said the goal is to restore public confidence through stronger enforcement presence. The approach is being justified as “smarter policing,” aiming to concentrate limited resources where they are most needed while addressing concerns about safety on transit and in the downtown core.
• Business owners along 124 Street in Edmonton say outdated “ePark” signage is still causing confusion for customers, even though the City of Edmonton moved away from the system and shifted to app-based parking payments, including the HotSpot platform. Some merchants report that customers - especially seniors or those without smartphones - struggle with QR codes and digital-only payment methods, and in some cases are unsure whether the system is legitimate or how to use it. City officials acknowledge “growing pains” from the transition, with councillors pointing to usability and customer experience issues rather than age alone, while the Mayor has suggested revisiting options for those without smartphones. The City has said any reintroduction of physical payment options would require Council approval, and is encouraging residents to contact 311 if needed. 

ON THE AGENDA

Stephanie Swensrude

This week, council will debate rezoning applications for a six-storey building in the northwest, a mixed-use development in Parkview, and a 25-storey tower in Windsor Park, as well as hearing updates about relationships with other levels of government.

There is a private audit election committee meeting on May 4, a public hearing on May 5, and a non-regular council meeting on May 6.

Here are some key items on the agenda:

• Nova Builders has proposed rezoning a parcel of industrial land at 13640 142 Street NW to allow for a six-storey residential building. The site is located 23 metres away from an active CN Rail right-of-way, a corridor that may transport dangerous goods. The Railway Association of Canada recommends a minimum setback of 30 metres from a rail right-of-way to residential development, and administration wrote in its report that the setback can be achieved. The application also includes an amendment to the Northwest District Plan to change the designation of the lot and a commercial development to the west to facilitate future redevelopment.
• Council will review a rezoning application in Parkview that has been revised twice since its initial submission. The landowner has proposed to rezone the property at the corner of 91 Avenue NW and 142 Street NW to allow for a mixed-use development. More than 300 people gave input on the rezoning, with most concerns related to the predominantly single-family development in the neighbourhood, existing traffic and parking congestion, and privacy and shadowing impacts on neighbouring properties. Administration said it supports the application because the property is within a secondary corridor, and it will help people complete their daily needs within proximity to local businesses, open space, school, and active transportation options.
• Westrich Pacific’s development in Windsor Park is set to return to a public hearing after being referred back to administration. The developer has proposed rezoning the southern portion of the property to the mixed-use zone, which would allow for a building up to 25 storeys tall, and the northern part to the neighbourhood mixed-use zone, which would allow for a building up to four storeys tall. Many residents oppose the development, arguing it’s too tall and will cast a shadow across the neighbourhood. Some have shown support for the development due to its proximity to the University of Alberta campus.
• The City of Edmonton’s urban growth and open space department has proposed rezoning a lot in Henderson Estates to allow for a school. The rezoning, if approved, would allow the Conseil scolaire Centre-Nord to use the property for a francophone elementary school. Some residents said they support the school in principle but have concerns that include traffic and parking congestion. The application also includes amending the Whitemud District Plan.
• Administration will give an annual update on Alberta Municipalities, and both private and public updates on intergovernmental relations.
• Audit committee will meet in private to select its public members.

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• Edmonton property owners will receive their 2026 property tax notices in the mail this month, with payment due June 30th. City Council approved a 6.9% property tax increase for 2026 - the final year of its current four-year budget cycle - but the addition of a higher provincial education tax levy brings the effective increase for most homeowners to 7.7%. The City's portion of the increase funds a range of things including affordable housing, new transit buses, and expanded policing. 
• Council has voted to reduce the maximum height for infill housing from 10.5 metres to 9.5 metres, with the change set to take effect in August. City officials say the adjustment still allows for three-storey developments, but may require design changes such as lower ceilings or deeper basements. The decision follows ongoing debate over how to balance neighbourhood character with the need for more housing density and affordability. Supporters of the change argue it responds to resident concerns about building scale in mature communities, while critics warn it could lead to smaller, less livable units. Some Councillors and community representatives also expressed concern that repeated adjustments to infill rules are creating uncertainty for builders and slowing down development. Others on Council cautioned that more restrictive approaches may be emerging as residents turn to private legal covenants to limit redevelopment. 
• Ward 2 (Anirniq) Councillor Erin Rutherford is calling the proposed Metro Line LRT extension to Castle Downs "a pipe dream" and asking Administration to identify lower-cost alternatives. The extension would run north through Rutherford's ward, past the Blatchford neighbourhood to Castle Downs, and eventually to the City of St. Albert - a project that has been deferred repeatedly over the years as costs have climbed. Rutherford tabled a motion last week asking Administration to prepare a memo on alternative transit options for the corridor, including bus rapid transit or a redesigned LRT alignment at a lower price point. She said she is open to all options and described the current LRT proposal as prohibitively expensive. Administration has not yet indicated when the requested memo will be delivered to Council.
• A disability advocate is supporting Councillor Aaron Paquette’s push for stricter rules on where e-scooters can be parked, citing ongoing safety and accessibility concerns for people using mobility aids. The advocate says improperly parked scooters can create real barriers on sidewalks, sometimes forcing users to detour into unsafe areas or rely on assistance to get past obstacles. The proposed motion would require designated parking or geo-fenced drop-off zones, with penalties or charges for riders who leave scooters outside approved areas. The councillor behind the proposal argues that while e-scooters are a useful transportation option, clearer rules are needed to balance convenience with accessibility. Scooter companies have indicated they are open to working with the City and say they also want to avoid blocking sidewalks or creating hazards. 
• The City is facing a projected $63.6 million shortfall tied to the Quarters Downtown Community Revitalization Levy, as expected property tax growth and private investment have not materialized at the pace originally forecast. The CRL was designed to fund infrastructure upgrades by borrowing against future tax revenue, and it has already supported about $100 million in public projects, including parks, streetscapes, and building conversions. While officials note the area has attracted over $450 million in private development activity, no new CRL-funded capital projects will move forward due to the revenue gap. City representatives and Councillors say the infrastructure built so far still has long-term value, even if the timing of development has lagged expectations. At the same time, community voices are raising concerns about cultural erasure and the loss of historic identity in the neighbourhood, particularly related to Chinatown’s presence and visibility. Some stakeholders argue the area has been stigmatized by the concentration of social services, while others emphasize its existing cultural activity and potential for renewal. City officials say there is still an opportunity to strengthen cultural identity through future planning decisions and community engagement.