District Planning is about changing the way we plan and support development by streamlining our planning framework to create a new foundation for local planning and future policy development. Since a plan for every neighbourhood isn’t feasible — Edmonton has over 300 neighbourhoods — District Planning creates an overarching District Policy and a plan for each of Edmonton’s 15 districts.
Together the new District Policy and plans will help guide growth and change in Edmonton, showing where development, and infrastructure and amenity investment should be encouraged in each district. Existing geographic plans, policies and guidelines were carefully reviewed and analyzed to determine if they should be kept, changed, or retired so they can be replaced by, or incorporated into, the new tool of district plans.
District Plans are intended to move Edmonton towards The City Plan vision of a healthy, urban, climate resilient city where everyone enjoys easy access to amenities and services close to home. The plans aren’t about restricting movement, monitoring people or tracking an individual’s carbon emissions, and nothing will be put in place to do so. People will continue to travel however they choose, to wherever they want in the city with district plans helping to support more transportation options within and between districts.
City Council heard from over 100 speakers during the five-and-a-half-day District Planning Public Hearing which concluded on June 26, 2024.
The District Policy and 14 out of the 15 district plans passed first and second readings with City Council voting to advance them with some minor amendments. These included:
The City will make these amendments and take the District Policy and the 14 plans to the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board (EMRB) for approval under the Regional Evaluation Framework. This process takes approximately two months.
The Policy and plans will then return to a regular City Council meeting in fall 2024 for third and final reading. If approved at this reading, the Policy and 14 plans will come into effect immediately.
The Rabbit Hill District Plan was referred back to City administration for more significant changes, including:
Once the changes are made to the Rabbit Hill District Plan, it will return to a full Public Hearing for first and second reading. Edmontonians will be informed when the revised plan advances to Public Hearing, providing them the opportunity to share their thoughts directly with Council by registering to speak or submitting written comments.
The plan will then follow the same process as the other plans. It will be reviewed by the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board (EMRB) and then return to a regular City Council meeting for third and final reading before coming into effect.
Learn more about the proposed District Policy, 15 District Plans and existing geographic plans to change or retire.
Learn more about how public feedback helped shape the final proposed District Policy and plans.
Scroll through the map to find which district you live in.
View the nodes and corridors boundaries to see which are near you.
In 2020, Edmonton adopted The City Plan, Edmonton’s combined Municipal Development and Transportation Master Plan, which sets the vision for how we will become a healthy, urban, climate-resilient city of two million people. One of the key goals of The City Plan, known as Community of Communities, is to create more housing in existing neighbourhoods and make amenities and services more accessible.
To help achieve this, The City Plan introduced a new planning geography called the District Network so we could start planning for the future in a new way. Since a plan for every neighbourhood isn’t feasible — Edmonton has over 300 neighbourhoods — the District Network groups collections of neighbourhoods into 15 districts.
District Planning brings The City Plan’s District Network to life by creating an overarching District Policy and plans for all 15 of Edmonton’s districts. This helps move us towards better governance of the planning system, creating a new foundation for local planning and future policy development to build on.
Together the District Policy and plans use a mix of long and short term horizons to identify the specific places where density and development will be supported and encouraged as Edmonton grows. The intent is to move Edmonton towards The City Plan vision of a healthy, urban, climate resilient city where everyone enjoys easy access to amenities and services close to home.
District Planning is rooted in The City Plan direction and doesn’t introduce any new direction or create any new opportunities for growth and development not already broadly identified in The City Plan. It also isn’t about restricting movement, monitoring people or tracking an individual’s carbon emissions, and nothing will be put in place to do so.
While ideally Edmontonians will be able to meet most of their daily needs close to home, districts will not be self-contained. People will continue to travel however they choose, to wherever they want in the city. In fact, district plans will enable better access and movement throughout the city by supporting more transportation options within and between districts.
Watch the April 17, 2024 District Planning media briefing to learn more.