The Pulse: June 2, 2025

This week, council committees will review the first year of the updated zoning bylaw, consider increased fines for animal attacks, and preview the new budget process that will begin in 2026.

There is a community and public services committee meeting on June 2, an urban planning committee meeting on June 3, an executive committee meeting on June 4, and a special city manager committee meeting on June 5.

Here are key items on this week's agenda:

• Council's urban planning committee is scheduled to review the updated zoning bylaw about 18 months after it was enacted. Taproot analyzed the development data to see what trends the city is experiencing.
• Administration proposes owners face more serious consequences when their dogs attack or bite people or other pets. A report scheduled to be reviewed by council's community and public services committee details proposed changes to the animal licensing and control bylaw. In Edmonton, dog attacks have increased by 15% over the last few years and fines are lower than in other major Canadian cities, the report said. Currently, a dog owner is fined $500 if their dog attacks or bites any person or animal causing injury or death. Administration proposes to increase this fine to $2,000 if the dog attacks another pet and causes a serious injury, and to $3,000 if the dog seriously injures a person or kills another pet. The new bylaw would also increase fines if an incident is the dog's second offence, and increase fines even more for restricted dogs, which are dogs that have previously chased, attacked, or bitten a person or another pet. The bylaw would also change practices for returning unowned, roaming cats to their neighbourhoods and allow caretakers who trap and neuter feral cats to continue managing those colonies. If the committee approves the changes, administration will prepare amendments to the bylaw, and council will vote on them at a future meeting.
• Council watchers will get a sneak peek at the city's results-based budgeting process this week. In March, council approved a new budget process in which performance information will be used to understand if budget decisions are having the desired impacts in the community. To follow a results-based budgeting process, each city department will present reports to council's executive committee starting in 2026. Staff will present an overview of the branch, a line-by-line budget, funding model, key cost drivers, structural budget variances, staffing composition, outputs and deliverables, services and service levels, benchmark comparisons with other municipalities where possible, and any audit information. Administration is testing this process with a pilot presentation from the corporate procurement and supply services department to executive committee on June 4.
• Administration said proposed changes to city policy would improve opportunities for affordable housing providers. The suggested amendments to the affordable housing investment guidelines are laid out in a report scheduled to be presented to council's community and public services committee on June 2. The policy guides administration's decisions on grants and land dedication for affordable housing. Under the current iteration of the policy, enacted in 2019, the city has invested $202 million and leveraged $985 million from other sources to support more than 2,600 affordable housing units. Administration recommends including the acquisition of affordable housing and conversion of market housing in the policy to expand investment opportunities. If the committee approves the amendments, they will be sent to council for a final vote. The report also includes an analysis of which neighbourhoods have met the city's goal of having affordable housing make up 16% of the housing in each of Edmonton's 330 neighbourhoods. Administration said 14 neighbourhoods have reached the goal, and more than 100 have seen an increase in the ratio of affordable to market housing. About 50 have seen a decrease, but that doesn't necessarily mean affordable housing was lost; it could mean, instead, that the neighbourhood gained market housing faster than affordable housing. The city has surpassed the goal laid out in its Affordable Housing Investment Plan to support 2,700 units of affordable housing between 2023-2026, and has updated the goal to be 4,652 units.
• Council's urban planning committee will review the environmental impact of widening a portion of Ellerslie Road SW that crosses the Whitemud Creek Ravine system. The road will be widened from two to four lanes between the Graydon Hill neighbourhood and the Ambleside Eco Station. The project involves a new two-lane bridge over the ravine, located north of the existing bridge, which will carry westbound traffic. The construction of that bridge could potentially interact with the ravine's surface water, soils, vegetation, wildlife, aquatic species, and archaeological artifacts. The assessment describes how construction crews will mitigate potential damages. If urban planning committee approves the assessment, it will go to council for a final vote.
• All of the city's investment funds outperformed their benchmarks in 2024, according to the investment committee's annual report, which is scheduled to be presented to council's executive committee on June 4. The city's largest fund, the Ed Tel Endowment fund, paid $46 million in dividends to the city. Central banks reduced interest rates as inflation softened, which created a positive environment for growth assets, but the trend came with market volatility. To manage volatility, the committee will stay active, diversify assets, and practice risk management.
• Councillors are scheduled to receive a private update from a consultant on June 5.

Meetings stream live on YouTube on the Chamber channel and River Valley Room channel.

Also: What issues do you care about as you consider who to vote for in the 2025 municipal election, and why? The 2025 municipal elections are approaching. Let us know what matters, and read more about what we plan to do with what we gather.

• Edmonton Police Service, in partnership with City of Edmonton Peace Officers and Alberta Transportation, launched the annual Traffic Enforcement Noise/Speed Offence Reductions (TENSOR) project to address speeding and noisy vehicles. Police Sgt. Kerry Bates said the public frequently complains about these traffic issues, and TENSOR aims to address these concerns through enforcement and education. The first deployment of the TENSOR program began on May 23, resulting in 27 speeding violations, seven noise-related violations, and multiple other traffic violations.
• The City of Edmonton will remove an unpermitted bridge in Jackie Parker Park in Mill Woods next month after engineers deemed it unsafe. The City says it did not build the bridge, which crosses provincial Crown land along Mill Creek. It has no formal trail system leading to it, and its age is unknown. Locals say the bridge has been there for years and is a popular feature of the off-leash dog park, and some nicknamed it "rainbow bridge" in memory of dogs who have passed away. The City says it is discussing potential options with the community.
• The Edmonton Police Service held a series of six open houses across the city's police districts, offering a casual setting for Edmontonians to learn about crime and policing issues. Interim Chief Devin LaForce said that the open houses allowed for more personal engagement compared to traditional town halls. Topics of interest included traffic safety, neighbourhood policing, and financial crime. The 2024 annual report was also distributed. The police service reported a 47% decrease in shootings compared to 2023. Project Gaslight, an investigation into an extortion scheme targeting South Asian home builders, was cited as a major success.
• Edmonton Public Schools is phasing out seclusion rooms, aiming to eliminate them in favour of supportive approaches. As of May 1, there are 105 seclusion rooms, down from 167 the previous year. Between June 2024 and May 2025, 62 rooms were decommissioned and repurposed into sensory spaces, with the doors removed to prevent them from being used as seclusion rooms. Superintendent Darrel Robertson said that new spaces will be sensory rooms that are not to be used as seclusion rooms. Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, reporting on seclusion room use will be included in the division's Annual Education Results Review.
• The Edmonton Police Service is seeking a driver who fled the scene after a 17-year-old pedestrian was struck at 17 Street and 28 Avenue on May 27 around 8:30pm. The teen was in a marked crosswalk when hit by a small black vehicle heading north. She went to school and was then taken to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Police are asking any witnesses or those with dashcam footage to contact them.
• Conservative activists provided the Alberta government with a list of books they deemed "inappropriate" for school libraries, prompting new provincial content guidelines. The books were identified in an Edmonton secondary school library. Action4Canada, a Christian conservative group, says it met with Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides in the fall of 2024. Nicolaides acknowledged receiving materials from the group. Edmonton Public Schools has temporarily pulled the books in question from circulation for review. The Library Association of Alberta has requested a meeting with Nicolaides to discuss the matter further.
• Alberta Premier Danielle Smith appealed to First Nations chiefs for their support of Alberta sovereignty in a letter dated May 13, addressed to leaders of Treaty 6, 7, and 8. Smith stated her commitment to protecting the constitutional sovereignty of Alberta, as well as the rights of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people, and ensuring Treaties 6, 7, and 8 are upheld in any citizen-initiated referendum. Smith also requested the chiefs to join her in asking the federal government for an energy corridor in Alberta.
• The Alberta government rejected a report that gave the province a D+ grade for affordable housing, calling it "baseless" and "politically motivated." The report, commissioned by the Task Force for Housing and Climate and authored by Mike Moffatt of the University of Ottawa, praised Edmonton and Calgary for reforms but urged the province to build more social housing and cut red tape.
• This year's Edmonton International Cat Festival has raised $15,000 to support Little Cats Lost. This brings the total the event has raised for cat rescues to $187,000 since launching in 2014.
• As of June 1, 49 wildfires are active in Alberta, with about half listed as out of control, according to Alberta Wildfire. Eight evacuation orders are in place, displacing 4,500 Albertans. The community of Chipewyan Lake has lost 27 structures, including homes and community buildings. Yellowhead County is developing a re-entry plan for evacuees, and officials note that some overnight rain helped lower fire activity. Air quality warnings have been issued for northeastern Alberta, including areas from Wood Buffalo south to St. Paul, with high to very high risk air quality forecast in communities like Fort McMurray and Cold Lake.
• In an opinion piece published in Postmedia, three retired Alberta assistant deputy ministers of health called for the rebuilding of public health services, citing the scattering of public health responsibilities across government ministries and a decline in core programming. Margaret King, Kathleen Ness, and Dawn Friesen urge the government to establish a separate public health entity with defined leadership, rebuild prevention programs, focus on early detection of threats, promote safe living, and protect the independence of public health leadership. They point to the current measles outbreak as evidence of the consequences of underinvesting in public health.
• Connor Brown is set to rejoin the Edmonton Oilers lineup for the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers, which begins at Rogers Place on June 4. Brown's return comes as Zach Hyman is out for the remainder of the playoffs due to a broken wrist. Head coach Kris Knoblauch expects Brown to be ready for Game 1. Brown, who joined the Oilers as a free agent, has eight points in 14 playoff games.
• Edmonton's Marco Arop has won the short-distance title at a Grand Slam Track event in Philadelphia on June 1. Arop, an Olympic silver medalist, achieved a personal-best time in the 1,500-metre race and secured the title after winning the 800-metre race on Saturday.
• Ahead of the CFL's May 31 deadline, the Edmonton Elks reduced their roster, releasing 27 players. The Elks also assigned 11 players to its practice roster and added one to the suspended list. Edmonton will begin their regular season on June 7 in B.C. against the Lions.

Here are some events happening today in the Edmonton area.

• Seniors' Week Kick off starting at 10am at Edmonton City Hall
• Messed Up Mondays starting at 6pm at EPIC Market
• Rough Cut Comedy starting at 8:30pm at River City Revival House

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• June 5-15: Nextfest at Roxy Theatre
• June 6-14: Now Hear This Festival of New Music at Mile Zero Dance and Edmonton Moravian Church
• June 7: What's on your mind, municipally speaking? at Edmonton Public Library (Castle Downs)

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