The Pulse: May 22, 2025

Startup TNT has freed its co-founders to continue building a community of investors by hiring its first-ever executive director.

The organization, launched in Edmonton in 2019 as a tech-focused networking happy hour, has gone on to organize investment summits for startups and convince people to be angel investors, operating today in Edmonton, Calgary, and around British Columbia and Saskatchewan, all while still running its happy hours on Thursdays in Edmonton and other cities. It once had a chapter in Manitoba, but that was put on pause in 2024. Startup TNT also runs sector-specific summits for industries such as agri-food and life sciences.

In December, after announcing the Manitoba pause in July, the organization shared that it was at a "pivotal" moment, was letting some staff go, and was restructuring its operations to give more local ownership to its Startup TNT communities.

"One of the things that we have learned over the course of time is that centralizing operations and having individuals in locations (to run a chapter of Startup TNT) isn't super durable from a community-building perspective," co-founder Tim Lynn told Taproot.

"Zoom calls don't build community," co-founder Zack Storms added.

That's where a central part of the restructuring, in the form of the new executive director, CK Dhaliwal, comes in. Speaking to Taproot after about a week on the job, Dhaliwal said he wants to hear how Startup TNT's regional chapters want to operate, not force them into a mold.

"Every region, every community is unique, and I think (Startup TNT has) done a really good job of trying to find a good brand ambassador in each one of those areas," Dhaliwal said. "My main focus is on listening to as many people as I can … I'm hearing everybody's needs, where they're at, and where we can support and grow each region."

Dhaliwal has moved to Startup TNT from his position as a business development specialist for interactive digital media at Edmonton Screen.

Lynn said Dhaliwal's work will himself and Storms more time to treat the Edmonton chapter as a flagship operation where they can "iterate on what models work and don't and could."

• The City of Edmonton sent out over 430,000 property tax notices early in anticipation of Canada Post workers going on strike. Most property owners will get their 2025 tax notices this week. Those who don't are encouraged to use the MyProperty portal to ensure they pay their balance by the June 30 deadline. More information about property taxes is available on the City's website.
• Edmonton city council approved rezoning applications for five Priority Growth Areas, which are areas where administration expects to see the most short-term growth. The rezonings aim to encourage development in key areas: the Wîhkwêntôwin Node and 124 Street Corridor, the 156 Street and Stony Plain Road Corridors, and the University-Garneau Node. The approval came after the rezonings drew criticism at a May 20 public hearing. Council voted down a proposal by Coun. Michael Janz to remove part of Garneau from the plan.
• Edmonton city council is expected to decide by the end of the week whether to pre-approve sponsorship deals for about two dozen recreation centre, rinks, outdoor pools, and storage facilities. The move would allow administration to start negotiating naming rights with corporate sponsors without council's approval, although council would still give final approval. On May 21, council voted to give the pre-approval, then decided to reconsider it and to possibly exclude large recreation centres that have received significant public investment, like Clareview, Kinsmen, and Coronation.
• A group of residents in the Delton neighbourhood are organizing opposition to City of Edmonton's plan to expand bike lanes on 96 Street north of 119 Avenue. Jeremiah Rawling said he's acquired hundreds of signatures opposed to the current bike lane plans and is lobbying for the province to launch an investigation of the City under Section 571 of the Municipal Government Act, which would be unprecedented. Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen, who has called on the City to cancel a multi-year plan for 30 blocks of bike lanes in north Edmonton, said the province is reviewing "contentious bike lane and traffic-calming proposals" across the province.
• Marigold Infrastructure Partners, the company building Edmonton's Valley Line West LRT, is facing 14 charges under occupational health and safety laws in relation to a June 23 incident. Documents say a worker was seriously injured when struck with a jack and tensioning bar while completing temporary post-tensioning. Charges against the company include failure to ensure adequate training, failure to ensure health and safety, and failure to do a hazard assessment.
• Edmonton city council designated the Gilpin Residence, a house in the Westmount neighbourhood, as a Municipal Historic Resource. The semi-bungalow was built in 1914 and is considered valuable for its association with early development in the Westmount and Groat Estates areas. The current owners will get a grant to work with the City's Heritage Planning Unit to make historically accurate improvements. It is the 193rd property to be added to the City of Edmonton's historic resources inventory. Meanwhile, the City is engaging the public as it creates a new Heritage Places Strategy, with a survey open until June 8.
• Alberta Worker, a labour news outlet run by Kim Siever, examined a recent settlement reached between Bee Clean and a union representing 150 of its workers who provide cleaning services at the University of Alberta. While the workers are set to receive 30-cent raises for 2024 and 2025, or 3.07% to 3.57% over the two-year contract, it doesn't make up for the 8.16% to 9.48% depreciation in their real wages over their previous two contracts. The workers are paid less than $20 an hour, except night workers who make $20.15 an hour, which is below the living wage of $20.85, Siever reported.
• The Edmonton Police Service has charged the owners of 10 local tow truck companies, which were allegedly billing insurance companies for services not provided and also inflating bills up to as much as $5,000 for a basic collision tow. Police began investigating the companies for allegedly going to collision scenes and demanding people use their services. The Alberta Motor Association said the number of tow truck companies operating as "accident chasers" in Edmonton and Calgary began to increase sharply in 2024.
• Edmonton city council voted to accept a collective agreement with Civic Service Union 52, which was ratified by union members on May 15. The three-year agreement includes a 2.75% wage increase in 2025, 3% in 2026, and 3% in 2027, along with enhancements to safety benefits, increased shift differential pay, and an increased safety boot subsidy, the City said.
• CN says its 2025 capital investment plan includes a $510-million investment in its Alberta infrastructure, including increasing intermodal capacity in Edmonton. Last year, CN also invested millions in its multi-year project to improve capacity along its mainline between Jasper and Edmonton, which will support supply chains from Vancouver and the Port of Prince Rupert, according to a press release.
• The Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute has received a $5-million grant from Google to launch the AI Workforce Readiness initiative, which will equip 125,000 Canadian students with "foundational AI knowledge to apply in any field," the company says. DeepMind, an AI research company owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, closed its Edmonton office in 2023, but Google Canada says it is now partnering with local AI firms.
• Edmonton Global highlighted three local companies that are "redefining their industries" with artificial intelligence: medical technology company Pulse Medica, synthetic modelling company RunWithIt Synthetics, and the Indigenous-owned public relations agency pipikwan pêhtâkwan, which created an AI-powered writing tool called wâsikan kisewâtisiwin.
• The NAIT publication Techlifetoday published a profile of content creator Linda Hoang, a NAIT alumnus, and her efforts to showcase restaurants in Edmonton's Chinatown. In addition to running her blog, Hoang has contributed to Chinatown Dining Week, the Chinatown Stories Map, and most recently the Chinatown Chow Down.
• A recent open access article in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research uses Rogers Place in Edmonton as case study of sport-related gentrification, focusing on themes of racialized policing, "carceral redlining," and the loss of community spaces. "Very few of the so-called community-wide economic and social benefits of sport-related gentrification have 'trickled down' to city-centre residents; many have been deeply harmed by it," the authors wrote.
• Alberta newspaper publishers say the former NDP government's 2017 changes to the Municipal Government Act, which removed the requirement for municipalities to place public notices in newspapers or deliver them directly to residents, has erased a revenue source and created more polarization between media and governments. Since 2017, municipalities have been allowed to use exclusively online channels, like social media, to share public notices, resolutions, and other business. The City of Edmonton's $1-million-per-year contract with Postmedia expired in 2024 and was not renewed.
• Crawford Kilian, a novelist and contributing editor for The Tyee, analyzed documents on the website of the Alberta Prosperity Project, a self-described "educational initiative" calling for greater sovereignty for Alberta. Kilian wrote the project paints a "dystopian portrait of Canada" and offers a vision of a "utopian Alberta," but suspects the "real goal" of the project is not Alberta separation but rather pulling the Conservative Party of Canada "much further to the right." The group says it will push Premier Danielle Smith to hold a referendum on separatism once it has gathered signatures from 600,000 residents.
• An upcoming documentary about the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s, called The Great Ones, is marketed as offering an "unprecedented look at the lives and careers" of players who helped win five Stanley Cups between 1984 and 1990. The five-part series, set to premiere on Super Channel in winter 2027, is produced by Ryan Reynolds' production company Maximum Effort.

Here are opportunities to inform municipal decisions about waste, heritage, and more. Please only answer surveys from the municipality where you live.

• Waste Reduction Roadmap '30 — The City of Edmonton is developing a roadmap to reduce waste between 2026 to 2030. The public can help guide the plan by attending drop-in sessions at West Edmonton Mall on May 24 and Northgate Mall on May 28. Residents can also complete an online survey until June 11.
• Heritage Places Strategy — The City of Edmonton is developing a new strategy for identifying, commemorating, and preserving places that matter to residents, including historical buildings, natural spaces, and community landmarks. The strategy will replace the 2009 Historic Resource Management Plan. Residents can ask a question, take a survey, or contribute to an interactive map until June 8.
• Business Census — The City of Edmonton launched its third annual business census to gather data for economic development strategies, investment attraction, and service improvements. Starting this week, summer students will be administering door-to-door surveys in the districts of Central, 118 Avenue, Scona, Jasper Place, Southeast, West Edmonton, West Henday, Whitemud, Mill Woods and Meadows, Northwest, and Northeast. Businesses in all districts can also complete an online survey until the end of August.

More input opportunities

• Until May 30: Carlisle Park Playground Renewal — Planning (City of Edmonton)
• Until May 30: Skyrattler Playground Renewal — Planning (City of Edmonton)
• Until June 3: Vision Zero Street Labs — Blackmud, Greenview, Kiniski Gardens, Matt Berry, Rapperswill (City of Edmonton)

Here are some events happening today in the Edmonton area.

• Search Engine Optimization 101: The Basics to Help You Rank Higher starting at 11am online
• Solar Journeys: Alberta's Native Friendship Centres starting at 12pm online
• Dark Matters: Science is Dope starting at 6:30pm at TELUS World of Science - Edmonton
• Book Club - The Berry Pickers starting at 7pm at Devon Public Library
• Offbeat Book Club: The Measure starting at 7pm at St. Albert Public Library (downtown)
• Poetry Launch: patti sinclair starting at 7pm at Audreys Books
• Ritchie Community League AGM 2025 starting at 7pm at Ritchie Community Hall
• James Arthur starting at 7:30pm at Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
• Blindman and Dandy Brewing - Cask Beer Streetcar starting at 8pm at High Level Streetcar (Jasper Plaza Terminal)
• KALDRSAGA: a new queer, old norse cabaret at Artshub Ortona (until June 8)

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• May 27: Executive Director Mentorship Program at Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organizations
• May 27: Brain Health and Mental Health: Using Science To Guide Mental Wellness at Brain Care Centre
• May 29-June 1: International Children's Festival of the Arts at St. Albert Place

Visit the beta version of the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.