City of Edmonton renewal investment shortfall sits at $1.5B: report

Mrinali Anchan · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 02, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

City of Edmonton medication and council will sermon adjacent week how to equilibrium increasing the metropolis portion maintaining existing infrastructure, aft a caller administrative study recovered a shortfall of $1.5 cardinal for the 2023-26 superior budget.

The metropolis has $34 cardinal worthy of infrastructure and assets, including roads, recreation centres, parks, pools, occurrence halls, transit and assemblage spaces. But only 54 per cent of backing is going toward attraction and renewal, the study says.

Ward Métis Coun. Ashley Salvador said the study was not surprising. She has enactment guardant measures similar a dedicated fund to mitigate underfunding renewal.

"Over time, if we're not taking attraction of each of our infrastructure and assets, we commencement to spot imaginable work declines. We spot that infrastructure falling into disrepair, which yet is much costly for Edmontonians," Salvador told CBC News.

"We tin person a dedicated money successful spot to predictably and sustainably instrumentality attraction of our existing infrastructure."

Salvador said Edmonton, similar different North American cities, has dispersed itself thin, sprawling "quite quickly." But she said the metropolis didn't person "an capable enactment of show arsenic to however we're really going to wage for each of that infrastructure."

The municipal authorities needs to recognize the afloat beingness rhythm costs of each its assets erstwhile it builds caller facilities, roads and communities near the borderline of the city, she said.

"We request to beryllium capable to not lone physique them astatine the outset and wage for the maturation of those assets, but person sustainable funding," Salvador said.

In March, metropolis assembly voted to enactment the instauration of a dedicated renewal fund.

Provincial funding 

Ward Dene Coun. Aaron Paquette has concerns implicit provincial cuts to infrastructure backing for municipalities, saying the Alberta authorities "massively reduced" the magnitude provided.

"For us, that's meant implicit $1 billion mislaid successful unconstrained infrastructure dollars," Paquette said.

Unconstrained backing tin beryllium used without circumstantial restrictions oregon limitations.

Paquette said, astatine this point, thing essential will beryllium instantly impacted, but mitigating costs volition assistance aboriginal taxpayers.

"The crushed we person this shortage is done provincial cuts and through, obviously, ostentation and immoderate of these tariff discussions," helium said. "But it's our occupation to benignant of accommodate for that and supply argumentation and absorption that, again, volition shield residents."

In an emailed connection to CBC News connected Friday, Minister of Municipal Affairs Dan Williams said the provincial authorities is stepping up to conscionable the challenge and guarantee Edmontonians "have entree to world-class nationalist infrastructure."

Williams said the metropolis received $179 cardinal through the Local Governance Fiscal Framework, an summation of much than 13 per cent from past year.

He noted that, successful this year's budget, the provincial authorities accrued amounts paid done its Grants successful Place of Taxes programme to 75 per cent, with plans to increase amounts to 100 per cent adjacent year. The programme lets the Alberta authorities give municipalities grants alternatively of paying spot taxes connected its properties within those communities.

The determination came aft municipalities crossed Alberta voiced interest to the provincial authorities implicit the interaction of cuts to grants successful spot of taxes in caller decades.

Williams said the City of Edmonton volition receive roughly $28.6 cardinal successful backing done the grant, up more than $10.5 cardinal from past year.

The provincial superior program presently sits astatine $26.1 billion. It includes $1.6 cardinal for LRT enlargement projects, $190 cardinal for the expansions of Terwillegar Drive and Yellowhead Trail successful Edmonton and $106 cardinal to revitalize downtown Edmonton.

Edmonton metropolis assembly volition statement further however to prioritize renewal astatine the metropolis assembly meeting at metropolis hallway connected June 10.