As we welcomed 2024, we also embraced a new era with Edmonton’s new Zoning Bylaw coming into effect on January 1, 2024.
Zoning might feel far removed from our everyday lives, but it’s everywhere–the parks and playgrounds we play in, the homes we live in, and the downtown core. The new bylaw shapes the very heart of Edmonton.
Modern rules for a modern city
The new Zoning Bylaw takes direction from The City Plan–Edmonton’s long-term vision for growth and development. The bylaw supports a greater variety of housing options, increases business opportunities and provides greater development flexibility. This helps us build a city where all Edmontonians can more easily meet their daily needs within a short walk, bike, roll or transit trip from home.
The Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL) welcomes the new bylaw.
“We know that this is a big shift for Edmontonians, but we believe these changes are necessary to help us welcome more Edmontonians, give them more housing options, support different modes of transportation and ensure that our most established neighbourhoods continue to thrive,” said Laura Cunningham-Shpeley, Executive Director of the EFCL.
The new Zoning Bylaw represents the first comprehensive review of Edmonton’s zoning rules in over 60 years, rethinking how, what and why the City regulates in terms of land development. The last overhaul of the Zoning Bylaw was completed in 1961, when Edmonton’s population was only 276,000. The city is now home to more than one million people and is on track to reach 1.25 million by 2030.
Because of this growth, it’s essential to have a planning framework that reflects Edmonton’s evolving needs. The new Zoning Bylaw isn’t just about today; it’s about preparing for tomorrow, ensuring the city is equitable, climate-resilient, livable and adaptable for everyone.
“We look forward to seeing how the bylaw continues to change and grow, particularly in regards to forthcoming climate measures, and we are eager to remain a partner in helping our city adapt to the 21st century,” said Cunningham-Shpeley.
Housing choice and affordability
The bylaw contains a number of changes to help increase the amount and diversity of housing options in Edmonton.
The new regulations for all housing types form the “box” that a building must fit within while providing flexibility around the number of homes and how they can be arranged inside the box. This allows for a wider variety of housing types, such as row and courtyard houses and small apartments, and living arrangements, such as supportive housing, within all areas of the city.
While housing affordability is tied to a number of factors that are beyond the City’s control, such as housing market demands and the cost of building materials, zoning is one factor the City does control. Zoning plays a key role in influencing whether a city has a diversity of housing choices and ample housing supply—which in turn both influence affordability.
The changes also help to simplify the bylaw, enabling more infill in Edmonton’s existing neighbourhoods while reducing the need for rezonings or change-of-use permits. This helps support greater certainty for both communities and applicants during the development review process and more predictability around what may be built in their neighbourhoods.
“The new Zoning Bylaw will enable the delivery of new product types across all areas of the city resulting in more housing choice for Edmontonians now and in the future. It’s all about ensuring a high quality of life for the residents and businesses in Edmonton, providing people with choices, attracting talent and skills, and fueling economic success,” said Laura Bruno, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association.
“Overall, the new Zoning Bylaw puts us in a great position to build new homes in a way that considers a variety of lifestyles and life stages, and we know that customers want choices that suit their individual needs.”
Supporting businesses and more local amenities
Businesses and entrepreneurs are vital to Edmonton’s economy. The new Zoning Bylaw supports businesses through zoning that enables innovation and helps maintain a thriving city.
It further simplifies requirements and streamlines the City’s permitting process. This helps support emerging development trends, reduces barriers for business owners, and encourages investment in our city—a key goal of both The City Plan and Edmonton’s Economic Action Plan.
For example, if you are an owner of a small business, such as a coffee shop, you may now be able to expand your services to add meal offerings without the hurdle of needing to apply for a new development permit. While provincial building code requirements still apply, this simplifies things for your business, so you can focus on what you do best, adding vibrancy to our city.
The bylaw also opens doors for more commercial businesses in neighbourhoods, allowing amenities and services to be closer to our homes. Rules limiting the size and scale of businesses have been retained to ensure the types of businesses allowed are appropriate in a residential neighbourhood.
Equity
The new Zoning Bylaw also includes initiatives to support a more equitable, livable and adaptable city for everyone. For example, the bylaw is housed on a new, interactive platform and uses simpler language, visuals and diagrams to improve your experience in using it.
Environmental considerations
Responding to climate change is a key city-building initiative for Edmonton. The new zoning bylaw incorporates measures for climate resilience into the land development process. This is aimed at shaping Edmonton’s spaces to create a more compact city to support Edmonton’s Community Energy Transition Strategy while protecting open spaces and natural areas.
Public engagement and input
Through extensive public engagement since 2018, thousands of Edmontonians played a critical role in its development, ensuring it reflects our community’s values and needs.
“Edmontonians voiced a desire for a city with more diverse housing options and the ability to more easily meet their daily needs,” says Trevor Illingworth, Senior Planner on the Zoning Bylaw Team.
“I’m proud to say that the new Zoning Bylaw is a significant leap towards realizing that vision and building a city that grows with its people, where everyone can find their place.”
Next steps
The Zoning Bylaw is a dynamic tool, constantly evolving to meet future priorities. It’s an essential piece of our city-building puzzle and one of many initiatives shaping Edmonton. The City will continue to advance a number of items, including climate resilience, affordable housing and heritage preservation.
For more information
For more details, visit edmonton.ca/zoningbylaw.
Editor’s note: the pic at the top of the post shows Edmonton’s downtown skyline and the North Saskatchewan River.