Although several municipalities have left Edmonton Global, mayors in the metro region remain dedicated to regional economic development rather than going their own way, says Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack.
"The good news is, in all of my one-on-one conversations with the regional mayors, I very much got a sense that they are invested in this," Knack told Taproot in a year-end interview. "I think they're looking for a different way to do it, not whether they want to do it."
In late 2023, Fort Saskatchewan, Strathcona County, Sturgeon County, Devon, and Parkland County voted to exit the regional economic development agency, which is funded by annual contributions from shareholder municipalities based on their size and property tax assessment base. Those votes started a two-year clock, and now each of those five has finalized its decision to leave. Leduc County signalled its intention to leave in December 2024, which means Edmonton Global could see its membership dwindle to eight municipalities — Edmonton, Beaumont, Gibbons, the City of Leduc, Morinville, St. Albert, Spruce Grove, and Stony Plain — by this time next year.
Fort Saskatchewan now plans to focus on "sub-regional collaboration" through Alberta's Industrial Heartland Association, which includes Edmonton and four municipalities along its north and east edges. That sort of focus might allow each of the region's many economic development organizations to do what they do best, Knack said. He noted Edmonton Global attracts foreign direct investment, while Edmonton Unlimited champions the city's startup and innovation ecosystem, Health Cities supports the surging life sciences sector, Edmonton Screen bolsters the film and interactive media industry, and Explore Edmonton promotes the city as a destination.
"We made a deliberate decision many years ago to break up the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation, which essentially had all of these things together under one bubble," said Knack, who was a city councillor when that decision was made. "I think for a number of reasons, the decision was made to break that apart because maybe each area wasn't getting its level of focus that was needed."
Now as the mayor, Knack said he will make economic development a priority. "I think we need to have dedicated and ongoing focus in this office, so that could be either a dedicated position, or ... maybe the other option is that you have everyone here leaning into that work," he said.
A concerted push for regional economic collaboration started in 2016 with the Be Ready, Or Be Left Behind report, which suggested that if municipalities kept competing with each other rather than collaborating, the region would suffer economically. Given that the ensuing decade has seen a pandemic and a vastly different trade relationship with the United States, the report could probably use an update, Knack said. But collaboration remains key in his mind.
"Because the world has changed as much as it has, it means even more emphasis is needed on working together as a region," he said.
Andrew Knack was sworn in as mayor of Edmonton on Oct. 29, 2025. (Mack Male/Flickr)
Economic update 'incredibly encouraging'
As for the city's economy, the third-quarter economic update that council received on Dec. 8 included some "incredibly encouraging" indicators, Knack said. Inflation is trending down, in part because of an easing of housing prices tied to an increase in supply.
"It is a continued reminder that the work that started over a decade ago in the City of Edmonton to provide more housing choice has clearly been paying off," Knack said.
Still, the average rent in Edmonton has increased by nearly 15% in the past three years, the largest increase among Canada's big cities. The MLS composite benchmark price in the region was $415,500 in November 2025, an 11.3% increase over November 2022.
This means the city must continue building a lot of housing, Knack said.
"Even with all of the things we have going for us, if you're under 40 right now, or under 30 in particular, you don't necessarily feel like that home is in reach to buy, and this is why it's a situation where we can't let up on the work that we're doing," he said.
Edmonton city council is now in its holiday break. Aside from a bit of agenda review in the new year, the regular meeting schedule resumes with committee meetings starting on Jan. 19.