With an increasing population of dogs in cities, there is growing demand for municipalities to accommodate residents and their dogs in public places and provide sustainable and safe off-leash opportunities.

Currently, there are over 50 Dogs Off-Leash sites within the City of Edmonton. The City's initial guidelines for dogs off-leash were created in the 1990s, and over the years most off-leash areas have been created as a result of requests from community groups or citizens.

The Dogs in Open Spaces Strategy created guidelines to help shape and update the City of Edmonton’s current planning, design and management practices regarding off-leash areas. Public consultation will occur with changes to current parks or the planning of future parks.

Upon approval of the Strategy, the off leash project team began to develop the
Dogs in Open Spaces 10 Year Implementation Plan.