Edmonton mayor pushes back as Alberta orders reversal of infill housing rules

The Alberta government is ordering the City of Edmonton to revert to its old rules for infill housing development — a decision Edmonton’s mayor calls uninformed and insulting.

During a news conference Thursday, Premier Danielle Smith said the city’s current policies, which have largely been in place since 2024, are too permissive and are harming homeowners by reducing property values and creating parking headaches.

“Let me be clear: the goal should not simply be more housing, but more housing that is planned and integrated in a way that works for both existing residents as well as future families,” Smith said Thursday, speaking to reporters in the backyard of a single-family home.

The premier said she worries multi-unit complexes are going up in established neighbourhoods without due consideration of whether the new builds are a good fit or have adequate parking.

“When growth outpaces the infrastructure and services that support a neighbourhood, residents feel it,” she said.

She said the city isn’t getting the necessary buy-in from existing residents, turning infill development into a property-rights issue.

“You can’t just take 10 single-family homes and put up 10 units that have 16 people in them without considering all of these things,” she said.

Smith was joined by a handful of advocates who have been calling for Edmonton to change its approach.

One group recently held a protest outside city hall with a few hundred people in attendance.

Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack has repeatedly pushed back against the prospect of provincial involvement in municipal zoning decisions, saying land use is a local decision and it should always be so.

“I’m not entirely convinced the premier understands what she is doing and what the consequences will be,” Knack told reporters while joined by several leaders from communities surrounding Edmonton.

“Limiting homes in established neighbourhoods doesn’t stop growth. It pushes it to the edge of the city.

“Every new suburb needs new roads, pipes, fire halls, and bus routes — and that lands on your tax bill forever.”

Knack called Smith’s Thursday announcement “uninformed,” and said it would only lead to higher property taxes and less affordable housing.

“This is a significant step back in how we build out our cities,” Knack told reporters.

“Edmontonians’ lives will become less affordable because of this.”

Edmonton political analyst John Brennan says there’s irony in the province stepping into municipal affairs, when it has spent so much time calling on Ottawa politicians to stay in their lane.

“Danielle Smith is always complaining about the federal government intervening in areas of provincial jurisdiction,” Brennan said.

“In fact, you could argue a number of our questions on the October 19 referendum are about this — but it doesn’t seem to stop her from intervening with municipalities.”

The Alberta government does have the legal right to force changes that many Edmonton residents have been asking for.

Brennan said it’s still heavy-handed and reeks of overreach, especially as the province has already forced changes at the local level with bike lanes and photo radar enforcement.

“In all my years in politics in Edmonton — and I’ve spent a lot of time in municipal government and politics — I’ve never seen anything like this, where a provincial government literally tells a municipal council that they’ve got to repeal their zoning bylaw and they’ve got three months to do it.”

The 2023 zoning bylaw changes paved the way for housing redevelopment across much of Edmonton, in an effort to increase density and manage population growth.

The province is ordering the City of Edmonton to revert to the previous parameters for housing types, density and height, and to restore minimum on-site parking requirements in place before 2020.

Edmonton city council will have three months, as of Oct. 8, to comply and Smith said after that, it will be required to review and consult on its land-use rules.

The province is also ordering Calgary to maintain its current rules after that city’s council backtracked on its own zoning policies earlier this year.

The changes ordered by the province on Thursday will be in place while both cities carry out comprehensive reviews of their land use bylaws, engage in public consultation and work with industry to pursue a more balanced approach to high-density infill, the province said.

Edmonton will have 18 months to review, while the province said Calgary’s broader review, which is currently underway, is planned to be complete in 2027.

Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams, with Smith on Thursday, said the province wasn’t issuing an ultimatum, but rather was launching a “conversation.”

“We have seen extreme examples that is dividing neighbourhoods,” Williams said. “Clearly, this demonstrably tells the province that this needs a pause and a sober second thought.”

Knack pushed back, saying a conversation after a decision has been made is not a conversation at all.

“Deadlines mean that they’re forcing,” he said.

In 2024, Smith’s government gave itself the power to rescind municipal bylaws deemed to be at odds with provincial policies.

Her government also granted itself the right to call a vote on whether a local elected official should be removed from their post if the province believes the official is unwilling or unable to do their job.

“When municipalities have taken actions that are undermining people’s property value, and you see the kind of reaction that we’ve seen from residents, then we have to step in,” Smith said.

Knack said he was considering options on how to fight Smith’s order but conceded that if he and members of council don’t follow it, they could be removed from office.

“They’re taking over land-use planning, they’re taking over our transportation planning, they’re taking over traffic safety — all at the same time of not dealing with the issues that we are asking for their support in,” Knack said.

Why are infills controversial for some?

Infill has been a contentious topic in Edmonton: from restrictive covenants to buying the neighbouring property, the rise in multi-unit builds in recent years has led some homeowners to take drastic action.

In 2023, the City of Edmonton changed zoning bylaws to allow for more multi-unit buildings up to three storeys in all neighbourhoods.

The aim was to encourage a variety of development to be built more easily in residential areas, to increase housing choices and affordability.

In early 2024, the federal government committed $175 million from the Housing Accelerator Fund program to fast-track more than 5,200 new housing units in Edmonton over three years.

But there’s been mixed reaction to the increase in multi-unit buildings replacing single-family homes.

Proponents of infill densification argue cities need to adapt to growing populations, and multiplexes offer a way to make existing neighbourhoods denser without adding to sprawl by building out into agricultural land.

Infill ended up being a contentious topic during the 2025 fall municipal election campaign after residents of established communities expressed concerns about property values, not enough parking, predatory developers, quality of builds and housing affordability.

“At the end of the day, people don’t like change,” Brennan said. “They don’t like the changes they’re seeing in their neighbourhood.”

Infill advocates suggest the province’s move is undemocratic.

“Edmontonians had their chance to have their say in this matter — it was called the 2025 municipal election,” said Jacob Dawang with Grow Together Edmonton, a volunteer organization that advocates for more housing choices.

“They chose, in great numbers, to return pro-infill councillors to council.”

Infill announcement a distraction from unpopular referendum: Brennan

So why announce a crackdown now?

“It’s a bait and switch. It’s a classic — you’re changing the topic,” Brennan said. “It gets people talking about something else other than the referendum.”

With polling numbers from the past year consistently showing about 70 per cent or more of Albertans have no interest in leaving Canada, the political analyst and strategist thinks the province is trying to distract from the vote coming up on Oct. 19.

“It’s quite clear when you see Danielle Smith’s comments on it… She doesn’t want to talk about it,” he said.

“She wants this referendum to be done, over and move on — so one of the ways you get people to move on is by changing the topic.”

The issue that’s been debated within Edmonton for years has been a point of discussion between municipal and provincial leaders in recent months.

During her weekend radio program Your Province, Your Premier in mid-September, Smith said residents affected by the developments have raised concerns with the province.

At that time, Smith said Williams was reviewing concerns related to Edmonton’s citywide rezoning approach.

The radio program is aired on 880 CHED and 770 QR Calgary, which are owned by Corus Entertainment, the parent company of Global News.

With files from Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press