Your turn: Downtown, snow maps, and Fort Sask
By
Stephanie Swensrude and 
This week's batch of calls for public engagement includes a survey on Edmonton's updated downtown policy and another to improve snow and ice clearing maps, as well as the last chance to comment on a couple of initiatives in Fort Saskatchewan.
The City of Edmonton is collecting feedback until June 21 on a downtown policy update that will bring together two area redevelopment plans: The Quarters Downtown Area Redevelopment Plan and the Capital City Downtown Plan, which were adopted in 2009 and 2010, respectively. The city said this will establish a dedicated, comprehensive downtown policy chapter in the district policy that better aligns with the City Plan and supports housing growth, walkability, inclusive public spaces, and everyday amenities.
A main goal of this work is to increase the residential population downtown, which most of the council members elected in 2025 said they supported. An area redevelopment plan guides land use, mobility, and urban design direction within established neighbourhoods, and is meant to provide more fine-grained direction than the overarching district policy.
Downtown and The Quarters, also sometimes known as Chinatown South, have typically been separated, both in city-planning documents and geographically. The construction of Canada Place in the 1970s resulted in Chinatown being scooted over a few blocks, no longer directly adjacent to downtown. Downtown and The Quarters have since been served by different policies, initiatives, and plans.
However, the two areas are both within the boundaries of the Edmonton Downtown Business Association, making it one of the largest business improvement areas in Canada. Puneeta McBryan, the association's former CEO, told Taproot that the geographic mass made it tough at times to serve its members. "We already have an area that is way too big, and we're a tiny, tiny organization," she said in her last weeks as CEO. "Obviously, I believe the work that we do is invaluable, and really high impact and necessary, to create a vibrant downtown or a commercial district. You can't really do that well when you're trying to spread yourself over such a huge area."
Outside of land use and urban design, there have been numerous initiatives aimed at increasing downtown's livability, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic, when many office buildings emptied out as employees switched to remote work. The city allocated $15 million through the student housing incentive earlier this year, and it plans to give out $30 million through the attainable housing incentive. The city has allocated $22.9 million for the downtown economic construction grant since 2021.
The attainable housing incentive is funded through the downtown community revitalization levy, which allows the city to borrow against future tax revenue to fund infrastructure improvements. The downtown CRL was extended last summer, and to some consternation, as it involved Edmonton pitching in $69 million for an event park next to Rogers Place. Before its extension, the CRL funded initiatives such as O-day'min Park, which developers consider a catalyst for more than 1,800 housing units under development on adjacent lots.
Meanwhile, the CRL in The Quarters is facing a shortfall of nearly $64 million, because there hasn't been enough private development and subsequent tax uplift in the area to recoup the city's investment.
Administration said it will use the survey feedback to build upon previous engagement downtown and in The Quarters. It will also conduct targeted conversations with residents, businesses, and community organizations until August. Policy recommendations are to go to council in the fall. The finalized policy is set to be presented to council for approval by mid-2027.
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