ERVCC has partnered with Taproot Edmonton to support advocacy on key issues. Their election platform will launch soon and we will link it here. Check this page for updates and send your favorite candidates here to learn more.

ERVCC and Better Infill created a list of questions for you to ask candidates.

We include them below to help you hold candidates accountable and encourage your own questions. You can email these questions to candidates and see their replies.

Infill matters to ERVCC because the river valley is the heart of our ecological system. Protecting it means thinking about the whole network. All green spaces are connected. Without a well-planned, dense city that values green spaces, porous surfaces, and good water management, the river will suffer.

Questions for Edmonton mayoral and city council candidates—2025

Better Infill / Edmonton River Valley Conservation Coalition

 

1) Edmonton is the only city in Canada to allow 8 housing units on one 50-foot lot in almost any location. Are you prepared to immediately curtail the most extreme provisions of the zoning bylaw and district plans, including reducing the number of housing units on a fifty-foot lot from eight to four, unless supported by the surrounding community league?

 

2) Under s. 2.5.2.6 of the District Policy, mid to high-rise developments can be in areas OUTSIDE Nodes and Corridors. They can be along a collector or arterial road, and at a corner site or adjacent to a park or open space. Many neighbourhoods have a lot of corners adjacent to open spaces or parks. Also, developing extra density in proximity to the valley park system and natural areas is not consistent with our Strategic Connections Strategy and River Valley policies. If elected, are you prepared to suspend sections 2.5.2.5 and 2.5.2.6 of the District Policy? 

3) Public sentiment overwhelmingly supports preservation of Edmonton’s tree canopy to support a greener, more sustainable urban environment. Too many mature trees have been destroyed by developers to build infill. Planting new saplings is not enough.  As approximately 60% of Edmonton’s trees are on private property, what would you do as a city councillor to push for a private tree protection bylaw to protect mature trees as the city densifies?

4) It has been clearly proven that housing affordability is not a simple result of increased supply. We all see in our neighbourhoods that as old affordable houses come down, multiple new unaffordable ones go up. What would you do as a city councillor to change the zoning bylaws and ensure exploration of community land trusts and cooperative housing to ensure increased affordability? 

5) Many Edmontonians are concerned that the development industry has had an inappropriate amount of influence for years on the planning department at City Hall. Are you prepared to support an immediate organizational review of the city’s planning department, with a focus on the appropriateness of its relations with the development industry? Do you feel it’s a good idea to mandate a “time-out” to ensure that City planners don’t immediately rotate between industry and the City?

 6) Many Edmontonians feel they were never authentically engaged or consulted in the development of the City Plan, the district plans and policy, or the proposed priority growth areas. Will you support City Council launching a review of the City Plan, district plans, and district policy under the auspices of a broadly-based public working group?

 7) Good urban planning doesn’t have to apply a one-size fits all approach to Edmonton’s neighbourhoods. It is important not to allow neighborhoods to become sites of windfall profit-taking and speculation, and to avoid wholesale destruction of older homes when there are other options to promote densification. Do you support suspending district plans in mature neighborhoods and returning to neighborhood-based planning?

 8) Climate change is a reality.  Do you support City Council requiring all new infill projects to include improved energy efficiency components such as triple pane windows, higher insulation values in walls and attic, and high efficiency furnaces, etc.?  What requirements would you be in favour of mandating in all new infill projects, to protect the environment?

 9)  Top urbanist Jane Jacobs was a strong advocate of bottom-up decision making in cities. This makes sense as the community knows its neighbourhood the best. Throughout Edmonton’s history, Edmontonians have had a say on how their neighbourhood develops and changes. This ability to shape our neighbourhoods changed with the new zoning bylaw and imposition of one-size-fits-all planning in Edmonton as of 2024. What is your position on the city’s public consultation processes on urban planning? What would you like to see done differently?

10) Is your campaign taking donations from developers?

11) Considering that Alberta has the highest food insecurity in the country, and we know that we need to strengthen local food systems, what would you do as a City Councillor to ensure that infill and zoning regulations are changed to protect backyard gardens and ensure access to sunlight?