Land use bylaws up for discussion throughout region
Leduc and Fort Saskatchewan are among the municipalities in the Edmonton region that are updating their land use bylaws. The City of Leduc will hold in-person engagement sessions on April 15, 18, and 21 on proposed changes that would move from lot-based to neighbourhood-scale zoning to enable a greater mix of housing diversity. The city may reduce the minimum number of parking stalls in locations supported by transit and where there is sufficient on-street parking. Fort Saskatchewan, which is accepting feedback until April 10, is proposing seven residential districts and a mixed use district, among others. Administration said the draft creates custom regulations for different areas, moving away from "one size fits all" zoning. A report summarizing feedback from all neighbourhoods is expected by mid-2026.
St. Albert recently wrapped up engagement on changes to its land use bylaw, and Beaumont is in the early stages of its own updates. The changes in St. Albert and Leduc are linked to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Housing Accelerator Fund, which provides federal money for municipalities to spur construction. In return, municipalities are required to make transformational changes to permitting processes and zoning to accelerate housing construction and increase housing diversity.
The federal government ended its $12-million HAF agreement with Red Deer after its city council refused to make zoning changes to allow four units per residential lot as-of-right throughout the city. The Alberta government responded by threatening to withhold approval of further housing agreements until Red Deer's funding is reinstated. St. Albert, Leduc, Stony Plain, and Edmonton also have HAF agreements. On the CMHC's progress report, Stony Plain is marked as having made moderate progress on its agreement, and the other three municipalities are marked as having made good progress.
