City Achievements

Edmonton named Canada's Most Open City for 2019

The City of Edmonton continues its run as Canada’s Most Open City, according to the Open Cities Index Report 2019 released by Public Sector Digest on December 4, 2019. The index report details Edmonton’s performance compared to 55 other Canadian municipalities.

Public Sector Digest stated in their news release, “the City of Edmonton has demonstrated that their open data program continues to grow in maturity and is an example of how adequate resources can foster open data work.” Those resources include an open data committee that meets monthly, a formal city-wide open data policy, a strategic plan for open data with a guide for its implementation and an online portal for the public to access over 1,130 open data sets. 

City wins national CAMA award for ecosystem mapping tool

An urban-based land and vegetation inventory framework created by the City of Edmonton to better understand Edmonton’s natural assets has been awarded the 2019 Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA) Willis Award for Innovation. The award was presented in the category of cities with populations of over 100,000.

Natural assets form a valuable part of a municipality’s landscape by providing essential ecosystem services. As such, Edmonton is committed to “understand[ing] the ecosystems and ecosystem services upon which it depends, valuing and protecting them as Edmonton grows.” 

Communities in Bloom, Heritage Conversation Award goes to Edmonton

The 25th Edition of the Communities in Bloom National & International Awards Ceremony honoured municipalities across Canada, the United States, Belgium, Hungary, Ireland, Croatia, Italy, Slovenia, and United Kingdom.

Edmonton was recognized in the Heritage Conversation category. Heritage Conservation includes efforts to preserve natural heritage within the community with focus on the integration of landscape and streetscapes in built heritage: preservation of natural heritage pertaining to monuments, memorials, artifacts, museums and history, archives, traditions, customs, festivals and celebrations in relation to parks and green spaces in the community.

Edmonton Declared Best Canadian City For Youth To Work

 A ranking by the YouthfulCities Canadian Urban Work Index has named Edmonton the best place for young people to work in 2019. The Youthful Cities organization ranks based on census data, municipal statistics and a youth survey.

Edmonton was chosen as the overall winner for youth to work based on its top ten finishes in four themes including affordability, education, employment and entrepreneurship.

Edmonton Nominated for UN Sustainable Development Goals Action Award

This nomination recognizes the transformative legacy of the CitiesIPCC Cities and Climate Change Science Conference. Edmonton hosted the inaugural conference March 507, 2018. The event welcomed more than 800 municipal representatives, scientists and academics from around the world to share the latest scientific research on climate change, and inspire global and regional action within cities to address this complex issue.

The UN SDG Action Awards are organized by the UN SDG Action Campaign, a special inter-agency initiative of the UN Secretary General mandated to scale up, broaden and sustain the global movement of action for the Sustainable Development Goals.

City of Edmonton wins Organization of the Year for public engagement efforts

The International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) awarded City of Edmonton International Organization of the Year for our new Public Engagement policy.

Through a collaborative based process that involved City Council, Administration and Edmontonians, the Council Initiative on Public Engagement has defined and set the stage for innovative and inclusive public participation practice for years to come.

Edmonton’s Green Network Strategy receives Award for Planning Excellence

The Canadian Institute of Planners awarded Breathe: Edmonton’s Green Network Strategy with the 2018 - Award for Planning Excellence (Recreation Planning).

The jury was impressed by the plan’s support of environmental sustainability and resilience by ensuring ecosystems are protected, building community, and encouraging stewardship of the lands.

The Canadian Institute of Planners' Annual Awards honour planning projects judged on their excellence, innovation, impact on the profession, implementation potential and overall presentation.

Breathe - Edmonton’s Green Network Strategy receives National Award of Excellence

In the category of Planning and Analysis, Breathe received the 2018 National Award from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA). 

The Strategy introduces an innovative framework for the effective management and strategic development of the City’s open-space network. 

The CSLA Awards of Excellence celebrate work that is inspiring, exhilarating, and remarkably diverse. The Awards of Excellence honour distinctive design, ground-breaking research, sustainable landscape management and much more. 

Edmonton's Open City receives Distinction Award

The City of Edmonton’s innovative approach to open government received a coveted Medal of Distinction at this year’s GTEC Conference and Exhibition in Ottawa.

Open City encompasses all of the innovative open government work within the City of Edmonton. This includes the release of open data as well as the development of analytics,which transition the data to information for the public.

Canada’s GTEC Conference &Exhibition is an internationally recognized forum for excellence in innovation and government service delivery.

Make Something Edmonton - Best Place Identity 2016 Award Winner 

The Edmonton Economic Development Corporation and Make Something Edmonton received an award for their exploration on Edmonton's brand identity. Through this initiative, they captured what makes Edmonton special. This was achieved through a platform of engagement with the citizens who contributed to the expression of the brand and a strategy to attract talent and investment that delivered results.

The City Nation Place Awards benchmark and celebrate best practices in place branding and marketing.

City of Edmonton's Eco Station wins international award
The City of Edmonton's Eco Station program received  the Gold Excellence Award in the category of Special Waste from the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA). 

Edmonton internationally recognized as a "Community in Bloom"

The City of Edmonton is the winner of the Communities in Bloom International Challenge in the very large community category for its environmental and beautification efforts. Edmonton’s Mosaic Centre, Alberta’s first net-zero commercial building, also received a special mention.

Municipalities around the world were judged on how local industry, businesses and governments work to provide environmental solutions that benefit the community. Communities in Bloom is a Canadian non-profit committed to fostering civic pride, environmental responsibility and beautification through community involvement.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) names Edmonton as Canada’s National Earth Hour Capital

Edmonton was selected as the national winner by an international jury of sustainability experts for impressive city actions on climate change. Cities must enter their data on climate action on the carbon Cities Climate Registry to be considered for this award.

City of Edmonton recognized for Design Excellence with five Prairie Design Awards

The City of Edmonton brought home 5 of the 10 design excellence awards at the 2016 Prairie Design Awards. The winning projects were chosen by the architectural associations in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The awards celebrate new standards of creativity and skill in architecture, landscape architecture and interior design across the prairie provinces.

In the categories of excellence and merit, Edmonton received the following awards:

Award of Excellence
Commonwealth Community Recreation Centre
John Fry Sports Park Pavilion

Award of Merit
Borden Park Pavilion
Mill Woods Park Pavilion
The Edmonton Military Commemorative Monument

City receives 2016 Sustainable Communities Award for Brownfield Redevelopment Program

The City’s plan for redeveloping contaminated fuel sites has been recognized with one of the country’s top honours for local environmental practices.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) awarded the Brownfield Redevelopment Grant Program an FCM Sustainable Communities Award in the Brownfields (Plan) category. These awards recognize municipalities that demonstrate leadership in environmental protection and deliver innovative solutions that contribute to making Canada more sustainable.

Edmonton Events named Sport Tourism Organization of the Year

Edmonton Events won the Sport Tourism Organization of the Year Award from the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA). The award recognizes the community or organization that best influenced sport tourism in their region in 2015. A partnership between the City of Edmonton and Edmonton Tourism, Edmonton Events works to attract major sporting and cultural events to the city. One of the major events Edmonton hosted in 2015, the FIFA Women's World Cup Canada was also a co-winner of the CSTA International Sport Event of the Year Award.

Edmonton Fire Chief Receives International Award
Edmonton Fire Chief Ken Block was named Fire Chief of the Year for 2015 by the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association. Chief Block has been commended for his leadership and work in earning Edmonton Fire Rescue Services a reputation as one of North America’s most progressive and respected fire departments.

City of Edmonton is Recognized for Wildlife Initiative
The City of Edmonton has been recognized with an Alberta Emerald Award for its Wildlife Passage Guidelines, the second award for the program in the past week. The wildlife passage guidelines enable animals such as moose, fish, rabbits and deer to travel from one area of the city to another. The program encourages the City to consider wildlife needs as part of its transportation and drainage projects.

City of Edmonton one of Alberta’s ‘Most Loved Brands’
Out of 55 Albertan brands, the City of Edmonton has been ranked the 10th most-loved brand in Alberta for 2015, outranking West Edmonton Mall and the Calgary Stampede. This is the second year that Ipsos, a global market research company, has conducted the poll. In 2014, City of Edmonton was ranked at 11th place.

City of Edmonton's Corporate Culture Receives National Recognition
The City of Edmonton was honoured with Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures award, by Waterstone Human Capital. This award recognized the top Canadian organizations with corporate cultures that contribute to increased employee engagement and enhanced organizational performance.

Edmonton tops list of Canadian sports cities
Edmonton took the national spotlight again. Released by Around the Rings, an internet publication that has become the go-to source for Olympic host-city speculation, Edmonton jumped 33 spots and took the 11th place of the 2014 Ranking of Sports Cities from around the world, ahead of Vancouver, the next highest-ranking Canadian city.

City efforts recognized with sustainability award
The City of Edmonton was presented with the prestigious 2013 Sustainability in Action Award from the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association. This was in recognition of the City's 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness.

City Facebook recruitment efforts receive award of excellence
The City of Edmonton was recognized for the success of its Facebook recruitment page at the 2014 Transforming Local Government conference with the Thomas H. Muehlenbeck Award for Excellence in Local Government.

City Wins International Award for video campaign Last week, the US-based Institute of Transportation Engineers awarded the City of Edmonton a major award for its creative outreach and communications campaign featuring Lego videos about bike safety.

Edmonton’s WinterCity Strategy Earns National Award for Innovation and Leadership
The City of Edmonton has won an award for its leadership in planning excellence, innovation, and implementation potential. The award, presented by the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP), honours Edmonton’s WinterCity Strategy in the category of City and Regional Planning.

Edmonton Public Library takes top honour The Edmonton Public Library (EPL) has been named 2014 Library of the Year by Library Journal magazine and Gale Cengage Learning. EPL is the first Canadian library to receive this prestigious award.

Blatchford Receives 2014 National Urban Design Award The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, the Canadian Institute of Planners, and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects awarded the Blatchford Redevelopment project a National Urban Design Award in the Urban Design Plan category. The Blatchford Redevelopment is a showcase urban redevelopment project in Edmonton that will see the former City Center Airport lands transformed into a vibrant and sustainable world-class neighbourhood. This award recognizes the important role architectural excellence and design play in maintaining and enhancing the quality of life in Canadian cities.

Citizen Dashboard wins IPAC/Deloitte Silver Medal
The City was presented with a silver medal in municipal leadership for the Citizen Dashboard – an online tool which publishes data related to numerous City services – at the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC) / Deloitte Public Sector Leadership Awards 2014 gala in Toronto. The Citizen Dashboard is a resource for Edmontonians to view a visual representation of the City of Edmonton’s service goals and achievements.

City Councillor receives award for diversity and inclusion work
The Edmonton Interfaith Centre for Education and Action honoured Councillor Amarjeet Sohi for his contributions in fostering understanding and respect between Edmonton’s diverse faith communities. Through his work on Racism Free Edmonton and as the lead of the Multicultural Special Council Initiative, Councillor Sohi has worked to end discrimination, promote gender equality and encourage diversity and inclusion within the city.

Earth Hour City Capital
The World Wildlife Foundation named Edmonton its 2014 Earth Hour City Capital to recognize the City’s vision for a carbon neutral future and the practical steps it’s taking to achieve its ambitious goals.

City of Edmonton Jobs page recognized for excellence
The City of Edmonton Jobs page was awarded the Thomas H. Muehlenbeck Award for Excellence in Local Government at this year’s Transforming Local Government Conference.

AACL awards City of Edmonton with Community Inclusion Award
The Alberta Association for Community Living awarded the City of Edmonton with a Community Inclusion Award for the City’s Abilities@Work program. This program has helped employ over 10 people with intellectual disabilities since the summer of 2013.

City of Edmonton ranks as one of Alberta’s top employers
Eluta.ca, the official search engine of the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project, ranked the City of Edmonton as one of the Top 65 Employers in Alberta for 2014.

The McKernan/Belgravia Station Area Redevelopment Plan receives Award of Merit 
The Alberta Professional Planners Institute  honoured the plan which provides a template for the future evolution of the two communities as they support transit and change in tandem with the LRT station.

Designing New Neighbourhoods Guidelines receives Award of  Merit 
The Alberta Professional Planners Institute recognized Designing New Neighbourhoods: Guidelines for Edmonton's Future Residential Communities, a plan created collaboratively with city builders (development, planning and operations).

The Neon Sign Museum project receives Award of Merit 
The Alberta Professional Planners Institute recognized the creative and collaborative effort that resulted in an art installation that enhances Edmonton's downtown and recognition.

NAFA recognizes the City of Edmonton Fleet Services with safety award
The City of Edmonton Fleet Services received NAFA’s 2013 Fleet Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Public Service Fleet Management and Excellence in Public Fleet Safety.

Edmonton named Money Sense’s 11th Best Place to Live
Money Sense named Edmonton the 11th best place to live in Canada. This selection takes into account 10 contributing factors, including commuting, housing, wealth, health care and culture.

Edmonton named most attractive city in Canada in which to live
Mortgages Inc. ranked Edmonton as number one on its Most Attractive Cities in Canada in which to Live list.

City of Edmonton Facebook page received New Media Award
The City of Edmonton’s “Jobs” page on Facebook was a winner in the Web Awards category of the New Media Institute’s (NMI) 2013 New Media Awards. The NMI is a research and fact finding organization whose mission is to improve public understanding of issues surrounding the Internet and other forms new media communications.

Small business haven
The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses tax index named Edmonton the friendliest city for small businesses in Canada

City Market named world’s best by National Geographic
National Geographic’s Digital Nomad listed Edmonton’s 104th Street City Market as its best farmers market of 2013.

Transit Oriented Development Guidelines recognized with multiple awards
The Guidelines were recognized with an Award of Excellence from the Alberta Professional Planners Institute (2013) and an award of merit from the Edmonton Urban Design Awards (2011). The Guidelines communicate the expectations for integrating land use and development around LRT stations in Edmonton for citizens, planners and developers. 

Edmonton received national awards for Financial Reporting
The Government Finance Officer’s Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) awarded the City of Edmonton a Canadian Award for Financial Reporting. This award recognized the City for its financial report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012. The GFOA also awarded the City an Award for Distinguished Budget Presentation for the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2013.

Edmonton’s Environmental Strategic Plan Garners National Award
The Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA) has awarded the City of Edmonton with its 2012 Environment Award for The Way We Green Environmental Strategic Plan.

City of Edmonton presented with Procurement Award
The City of Edmonton was once again the only government agency in Canada to receive the National Purchasing Institute’s Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Award in 2012. This award recognizes excellence in a number of areas including innovation, professionalism, and leadership attributes. This is the 13th consecutive year the City has won this award.

City Office of Infrastructure and Funding Strategy Takes Honours for Infrastructure Approach
Canadian Society for Civil Engineering recognized the City of Edmonton with a special award for governmental leadership in sustainable infrastructure.

City's 311 Service Garners International Recognition as #1 Medium Sized Call Centre in North America
BenchmarkPortal - an international organization and leader in call centre expertise, recognizes Edmonton as the call centre with highest ratings for efficiency and effectiveness when compared to other centres with staffs between 101 and 250 agents.

Edmonton Ranks Third in Quality of Life
Edmonton ranks number three in a recent study that looked at quality of life, finishing behind Berlin, Germany and Zurich, Switzerland. The review, compiled by Numbeo – the world’s largest database of user contributed data about cities and countries worldwide, looked at cost of living, housing indicators, health care systems, traffic, crime and pollution. To review the ranking, visit numbeo.com.

Edmonton named a world-class economy
Brookings Institution Leading ranked Edmonton as the 60th economy worldwide in its Global Economies Index

ETS Concert-in-Motion Campaigns Wins National Marketing Award
Canadian Urban Transit Association recognizes ETS marketing excellence with a 2012 Corporate Leadership Award in the category of Marketing and Communications.

ETS Youth Violence Prevention Initiative Wins National Transit Safety Award
Canadian Urban Transit Association recognizes ETS' Youth Violence Prevention Initiative with a 2012 Corporate Leadership Award in the category of Safety and Security.

North LRT to NAIT Project Wins Award
Consulting Engineers of Alberta recognizes LRT project team for collaborative approach in building two major infrastructure projects in the same location at the same time.

Edmonton ranks in top 50 sports cities
Edmonton is one of four Canadian cities included in a recent international ranking of sports cities. Edmonton finished in 37th place in the ranking compiled by Around the Rings and TSE Consulting. Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal were the other Canadian cities that made the list. Read the full story and see the rankings at aroundtherings.com.

Fort Edmonton Footbridge & Trails Project receives Award of Merit
City Project receives recognition in the Community Development category at the Consulting Engineers of Alberta 2012 Showcase Awards Gala.

Edmonton’s Capital City Downtown Plan receives numerous awards
Award of Excellence, Edmonton Urban Design Awards
Merit Award - Planning, International Downtown Association
Award of Merit, Alberta Professional Planners Institute
Emerald Award for Architectural Excellence, Government Institution Category, Alberta Emerald Foundation
Canadian Institute of Planners Award of Planning Excellence – Honourable Mention, Neighbourhood Planning

These awards acknowledge the vision, approval and implementation by Edmonton City Council of the Capital City Downtown Plan.  The Plan aims to create a Downtown that is sustainable, vibrant, well-designed, and accessible.

Edmonton wins in IBM's Smarter Cities Challenge
Edmonton is the first Canadian city to receive an IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grant of up to US$400,000.

Edmonton gets international recognition as “Age-Friendly City”
World Health Organization's honour based on City's goals and actions in nine strategic areas.

Edmonton one of Canadian tourists’ favourite destinations
Edmonton was ranked 5th on Hotels.ca’s Most Popular Destinations for Canadian Tourists list.

City Recognized for Terwillegar Rec Centre Accessibility
Canadian Paraplegic Association (Alberta) honours innovative accessibility with Percy Wickman Accessibility Award.

City sweeps up Tidiness Award at Communities in Bloom
The City of Edmonton’s Capital City Clean Up and Great Neighbourhoods programs were praised at Communities in Bloom (CiB). CiB is a national initiative that recognizes flourishing communities and includes a national competition to foster civic pride, local beauty and environmental responsibility.

City's environmental initiatives capture three Federation of Canadian Municipalities awards
Three major environmental were awarded to Edmonton projects by the FCM at their first Municipal Awards of Excellence. The City of Edmonton was awarded the FCM’s National Watershed Award. The award recognizes municipalities that have demonstrated leadership in their efforts to adapt to climate change by reducing their vulnerability to flooding and water damage. Director of the City of Edmonton Office of the Environment and Energy, Mark Brostrom, was also recognized with the FCM’s Individual Award for Sustainability for his work.

South LRT wins civil construction award
Project complexity and ability for large number of contractors and suppliers to complete intricate work on time and on budget praised.

Edmonton prospers
The capital city placed 3rd in the Conference Board of Canada’s economic prosperity index 2009 (3rd)

Edmonton named best metropolitan area
Site Selection Magazine’s number one metropolitan area.

FDI North American Cities of the Future list ranks Edmonton in 3rd place
Edmonton was listed as one of the most promising cities in North America by Federal Direct Investment.