- Edmonton Transit Service is deploying 15 new transit peace officers this month, with an additional 15 scheduled for July. This will increase the total number of transit peace officers to 126, a move approved by city council in April 2025. The new officers will patrol buses, LRT, and transit stations to enhance safety, replacing Commissionaires, who lacked enforcement authority. Transit peace officers can enforce municipal bylaws and provincial legislation, and intervene in certain criminal incidents.
- Edmonton's Phase 2 parking ban for residential road clearing will begin on Jan. 12 at 7am. This ban may last up to 14 weekdays, affecting each neighbourhood for approximately 72 hours while City of Edmonton crews blade residential roads to a 5 cm snowpack. Parking will be permitted on weekends. Yellow "no parking" signs will be placed 24 hours before clearing in a neighbourhood, and vehicles parked in active clearing areas may be ticketed.
- Edmonton's housing affordability advantage could diminish in 2026, according to a report detailing the economic forecast for Edmonton from the Conference Board of Canada, released on Jan. 6. After surging from 2023 to 2024, the city's population growth is expected to taper off due to federal immigration cuts and rising home prices. Principal economist Richard Forbes anticipates a "bumpy" short term, with unemployment projected around 7.9% in 2026, though the services sector will add jobs.
- Edmonton woman Regan Gamble, a residential school survivor, launched SheDrives in late December 2025. This new driving service provides safe transportation for Indigenous women in and outside Edmonton. Inspired by her personal experiences with trauma and domestic violence, Gamble aims for the service to foster connection and healing. SheDrives addresses the disproportionately high rates of violence faced by Indigenous women and is available via text, call, or Facebook.
- Alberta recorded more than 2,000 measles cases in 2025, making it the most infectious jurisdiction per capita in the Americas and contributing to Canada losing its measles elimination status. The outbreak, sparked by imported cases, led to one death and 161 hospitalizations. While daily cases have dropped significantly, Karina Top, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Edmonton's Stollery Children's Hospital, warns the virus "is still a threat" and could surge again due to low vaccination rates in some areas. The province responded by administering more than 156,000 vaccines.
- Alberta Municipalities issued a statement saying that the federal government's $51-billion Build Communities Strong Fund, which ties infrastructure funding to reduced developer fees, could compromise housing progress. The organization said a "one-size-fits-all" approach is unsuitable for Alberta, where off-site levies fund essential infrastructure like roads and pipes. In Edmonton, these levies are used for new firehall construction. A City of Edmonton spokesperson said that eliminating or reducing these charges would force it to find alternative capital, potentially hindering housing supply.
- A new permanent homeless shelter in Wetaskiwin, operated by Hope Mission, is expected to open this winter with capacity for up to 75 people. Expanding on the current 42-bed temporary facility that serves around 65 individuals nightly, the shelter will offer emergency lodging, a dining hall, and access to health, tax, grief counselling, and addictions support services. Hope Mission contributed $6.8 million, while the Alberta government provided $3.2 million in capital funding and $2.23 million in operational funding for 2025 to 2026.
- A recall petition against Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides in the Calgary-Bow riding needs 10,000 additional signatures by the Jan. 21 deadline. As of Jan. 7, Jenny Yeremiy, who launched the petition, has collected about 6,000 signatures, aiming to force a vote on Nicolaides's seat. Yeremiy wrote in her petition application to Elections Alberta that Nicolaides has shown a "clear failure to support public education," referring to the provincial government's use of the notwithstanding clause to end a teachers' strike in October 2025. Nicolaides called the campaign "meritless."
Headlines: Jan. 8, 2026
By Mariam Ibrahim