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The Zoning Bylaw Renewal Initiative will develop a strategic, simplified and streamlined Zoning Bylaw to enable people, places and businesses to thrive and prosper.
Public engagement on the draft Zoning Bylaw and “Know Your Zone” Rezoning Map has concluded for 2022—thank you to all the Edmontonians who provided feedback. Sign up for The City Plan Implementation newsletter to stay up to date on the Zoning Bylaw Renewal Initiative and upcoming engagement opportunities in 2023.
Edmonton’s Zoning Bylaw is going through its first comprehensive overhaul in over 60 years, rethinking how, what and why the City regulates in terms of land and development.
Renewing the Zoning Bylaw provides the opportunity to align city-building tools to ensure all Edmontonians and property owners have the necessary tools to build and experience the city in a way that allows them to thrive and prosper.
This long-overdue process is necessary to support The City Plan’s building outcomes and streamline the City’s development services.
Zoning is everywhere — from parks and playgrounds to garden suites and the downtown core. The purpose of zoning is to determine what can be built where. It sets the rules for where new buildings should go, what types of buildings they can be and what types of businesses and activities can happen on a property.
Zoning guides growth in an orderly way to minimize conflicts between different activities and can improve the safety, public health, and welfare of its citizens and the environment.
Zoning is about:
Zoning is not about:
Zoning is also the main tool used to implement municipal development plans. The City Plan is Edmonton’s combined Municipal Development Plan and Transportation Master Plan, and includes strategic direction in environmental planning, social planning and economic development.
The Zoning Bylaw does not provide the rules for how a building is constructed, in terms of safety and construction materials — that is the role of the Alberta Building Code. It also does not determine the rules for business licensing — that is the role of the Business Licence Bylaw. The City of Edmonton has a number of other bylaws aimed at ensuring the health, safety and wellness of Edmontonians.
Learn more about zoning:
The City amends the Zoning Bylaw through the year as a part of the bylaw’s regular maintenance and to help keep the Zoning Bylaw responsive. The City will focus on the Zoning Bylaw Renewal Initiative through 2022-2023, but will continue to amend the Zoning Bylaw as part of a response to Council and/or Committee motions.
Visit Zoning Bylaw Text Amendments for recent zoning changes.
Interested in participating in the Land Development Process? Use these resources and key contacts to navigate the housing redevelopment process.
Building a Home: edmonton.ca/permits
Learn about Edmonton’s permitting and construction processes for redevelopment.
Development in Your Neighbourhood: edmonton.ca/myneighbourhood
Find useful, relevant resources to help clarify the redevelopment process, and key contacts to provide additional channels of support.
Residential Infill: edmonton.ca/residentialinfill
Learn about the status of the City’s work plan to enable infill and direct links to relevant resources about the permitting and construction processes for redevelopment.
The City Plan, Edmonton’s combined Municipal Development Plan and Transportation Master Plan, articulates how land use, growth patterns, and transportation and mobility systems can support an additional one million people. It was approved by City Council on December 9, 2020, after years of technical studies and engagements with Edmontonians, industry and stakeholders.
While The City Plan shares with Edmontonians a big-picture-vision for the city, District Planning and the Zoning Bylaw Renewal Initiative turn their gaze towards implementation.
The City Plan identifies districts as diverse, accessible collections of neighbourhoods that contain most of the services and amenities that Edmontonians rely on. District Plans set the policy context (the geography, the systems, and the networks) for the Zoning Bylaw Renewal Initiative’s regulatory changes.
Through District Planning, housing, recreation, schools and employment opportunities are envisioned as being able to be accessed within 15 minutes of one’s home. That is the vision, but where do we start? The first goal post is planning for growth to 1.25 million people and the second is to complete District Plans in parallel with Edmonton’s Zoning Bylaw Renewal initiative.
Visit edmonton.ca/CityBuilding to explore the projects helping bring The City Plan’s vision to life.