The Pulse: Aug. 27, 2021

A major downtown office space broker is seeing an uptick in interest from prospective tenants as companies plan return-to-office strategies.

"Q2 2021 marks the first quarter since the pandemic began where the optimism we've seen is starting to manifest itself into tangible signs," says Avison Young's Edmonton quarterly office market report.

"Office touring activity and general inquiries have increased; each day more cars and bikes can be found in downtown parkades; and overall, people are starting to slowly return to their office spaces."

A Downtown Business Association survey indicates that about 75% of employers do not plan to change their office footprint while a handful are looking to increase their office space. "I can breathe a little easier than I did eight months ago," DBA executive director Puneeta McBryan told the Edmonton Journal. "Most of that worst-case scenario we were bracing for didn't happen."

Downtown's office vacancy rate edged up 0.4% in the second quarter, but when a 1% fall in Q1 is factored in, Avison Young sees stability in the market that points to more leases being signed in 2022.

• An Edmonton police officer was found guilty of assaulting an Indigenous man during a 2019 arrest, which was caught on videotape. Const. Michael Partington was assisting another officer in an arrest when he forcefully dropped his knee into the suspect's back. He will be sentenced in October.
• Some Edmonton-area long-term care homes are requiring staff to be vaccinated. As of Oct. 12, staff working for Chartwell Retirement Residences, Extendicare, and Revera Inc. will be placed on an unpaid leave if they are not fully vaccinated.
• Goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé, who helped secure a gold medal for Canadian women's soccer team in the Tokyo Olympics, is expected to sign a two-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain.
• Wounded Warriors opened its provincial headquarters in Edmonton on Thursday. The mental health service supports veterans, first responders, and their families.
• Student and staff organizations are happy with the University of Alberta's latest back-to-school plan. Meanwhile, Edmonton post-secondary students shared their anxieties about returning to the classroom with CBC News.
• Hockey Edmonton won't require players and staff to wear masks during practices and games when the minor hockey season resumes next month.
• The province is working to improve access to digital immunization records. Albertans will soon be able to print off their vaccination card from their MyHealth Records account.

Podcaster and local personality Carrie Doll recently celebrated her 50th birthday with her inner circle of listeners and guests. In a special bonus episode, she shared 10 life lessons from her five decades on earth.

"This is 50!" provides Doll's perspective on the value of treating your body with respect, living with passion, practicing gratitude, and valuing time. These lessons are drawn from Doll's professional, personal, and emotional journeys.

Doll spent 20 years as a broadcast journalist, and though her news career ended in 2014, her love for interviews did not. When she isn't connecting people through stories, she chairs the Stollery Women's Network, sits on the board of the John Cameron Changing Lives Foundation, and was named one of Alberta's top 100 citizens.

The Inner Circle is a place for guests to share personal wins, anecdotes of success and failure, and primarily "the lessons they have learned along the way." Doll has unpacked the life journeys of Mark Wahlberg's former personal chef, paralympian Michelle Salt, senator and former journalist Paula Simons, and dozens of others with stories to share. Listeners with something to say can join Doll's Inner Circle and share insights, skills, and resources.

Tune into the podcast each week on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcast. Here's to 50, Carrie!

You can listen to podcast picks from Taproot on Listen Notes or Spotify.