Most candidates for mayor and council said they want the city to build more supportive housing when asked Which action would you be most likely to advocate for on homelessness on Taproot's candidate survey.
Thirty-nine candidates said they would be most likely to advocate to Build and operate more permanent supportive housing if they were elected. This includes all incumbent council candidates, as well as mayoral candidates Andrew Knack, Rahim Jaffer, Michael Walters, Omar Mohammad, Utha Nadauk, Ronald Stewart Billingsley, Jr., and Vanessa Denman.
Meanwhile, 16 candidates said they want to Fund supportive services to alleviate suffering. This includes several Better Edmonton candidates: Banisha Sandhu, Nurmaiya Brady, Caroline Matthews, Stephen Hammerschmidt, Josh Doyle, and Reed Clarke.
Ten candidates said they want to Enforce bylaws to manage disorder: Tony Caterina, Ramey Demian, Rob Fediuk, James Gosse, Mark Hillman, Harman Singh Kandola, Roger Kotch, Albert Mazzocca, Diana Steele, and Justin Thomas.
Mayoral candidate and Better Edmonton leader Tim Cartmell, and mayoral candidate Paul Bakhmut, both said they didn't have a position on the issue. Council candidates Jason Bale and Michael Elliott said the same.
As of this writing, 25 candidates have not yet completed the Taproot survey.
City council has limited tools to combat homelessness: The province has significant tax resources and jurisdiction over healthcare, community and social services, and social assistance; cities, on the other hand, mostly rely on property taxes to fund their programs. In 2024, the current council passed an affordable housing strategy and a homelessness and housing services plan. In 2025, council has approved the sale of city land well below market prices to allow supportive housing projects to be built. The challenge, nonetheless, remains dire. The most recent By Name List data from Homeward Trust tracks more than 4,700 Edmontonians who lack housing or temporary housing.