District Planning - Phase 3: Gather Input and Edit Draft Plans (Fall 2023)

Engagement has concluded

Engagement on the District Planning project has concluded. This page was used for the final phase (Phase 3) of a multi-year engagement process and is now closed. Please visit our project website for more information on the project and next steps.

About the Project

District Planning is about changing the way Edmonton plans and supports development and growth to move us closer to The City Plan’s vision for a more connected, prosperous, healthy and climate-resilient city of 2 million people.

Deliberate change is required. The District Planning project will support one of The City Plan’s transformative priorities of making Edmonton a Community of Communities where residents can meet most of their daily needs within a 15-minute walk, roll or transit trip from their homes. The District Planning project is not about restricting movement, monitoring people or tracking an individual’s carbon emissions.

District Policy and Plans

The District Planning project is developing 2 new planning tools to guide how 15 districts (collections of neighbourhoods) will redevelop and change as Edmonton reaches its next population milestone of 1.25 million people:

  • District Policy: provides policies that apply across all districts and other planning directions like urban design, energy transition and climate adaptation.
  • 15 district plans: contain district-specific context, area-specific policies and maps showing how the citywide District Policy directions are applied in a particular district

District plans will guide the long-term physical change of Edmonton’s neighbourhoods. Your district plan will say where taller and denser buildings should go and where the City needs to invest to support growth.

Visit edmonton.ca/districtplans to check out the draft District Policy and draft district plans today.

Geographic Plans Proposed to Keep, Change or Retire

As part of drafting district plans, the project team has reviewed existing strategies and geographic plans to understand if they conflict with The City Plan or if they are still needed to guide development. Based on this review, and informed by feedback we received in previous phases of engagement, the project team is recommending geographic plans to keep, change or retire.

Future Work Priorities

District plans will continue to change as future planning work happens across Edmonton. The district plans today will set the foundation for planning and engagement work in the future. More planning direction will be required in order to achieve the phased targets in The City Plan.

Through public and internal engagement, the District Planning project is also identifying areas for future work the City should undertake following the project’s completion. Future work can include ideas such as incorporating climate adaptation and energy transition strategies into district plans or identifying more heritage and cultural places in a district

This list of prioritized future work opportunities will be presented to City Council in 2024.


How to Get Involved

In this phase of engagement, we want to know more about your thoughts on the revised draft district plans and changes to the List of Geographic Proposed to Keep, Change or Retire. Your input will be used to help the City finalize the draft district plans, list of geographic plans proposed to keep, change or repeal and identify areas for future work opportunities to follow after the district plan adoption (pending City Council approval).

Share your thoughts from October 23 until December 3 using the tools below. 


Learn more about the project

Find out more about the district planning project, the City planning process and more.


Find Your Geographic Plan - Map Tool

Use the map tool to find your local geographic plan, and tell us what you think about the proposed retirement or amendment (change) to the existing plans.


Surveys on District Planning 

Share with the City your feedback on:



Public Engagement Sessions 

Members of the public are invited to join staff from the District Planning project to learn more about the draft district plans, what it means for your neighbourhood and to share your thoughts on the project.

Online Sessions
Sign up now to participate in an online session:

  • Wednesday, October 25: 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
  • Thursday, October 26: noon to 12:55 pm
  • Tuesday, November 7: 8:30 pm to 10:00 pm
  • Thursday, November 16: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm

Save the Date: In-Person Drop-In Sessions
Find an in-person drop-in engagement event happening near you, RSVP here to attend.

  • Monday, November 27: 5 to 8 p.m. at the Bellevue Community Hall (7308 112 Ave NW)
  • Tuesday, November 28: 5 to 8 p.m. at the West Jasper Place Community Hall (9620 152 St NW)
  • Wednesday, November 29: 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Inglewood School (11515 127 St NW)
  • Thursday, November 30: 5 to 8 p.m. at Queen Alexandra Community League Hall (10425 University Avenue)
  • Saturday, December 2: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at City Hall in the Heritage Room (1 Sir Winston Churchill Square)

Geographic Plans Proposed to Keep, Change or Retire Engagement Sessions

Attend a virtual engagement session about the changes made to the List of Geographic Plans Proposed to Keep, Change or Retire since 2022. These sessions offer affected communities and members of the public the opportunity to share feedback on their neighbourhood-specific plan. Sign up for a session now.


Questions (Q&A Tool) 

Ask a question to the project team using the Engaged Edmonton Q&A Tool below. Questions will be captured as part of engagement feedback.


Chat with a Planner 

Chat one-on-one with a District Planning project team member over the phone, in-person or via Google Meet about your feedback or questions related to the project. Schedule your session now.


Engagement on the District Planning project has concluded. This page was used for the final phase (Phase 3) of a multi-year engagement process and is now closed. Please visit our project website for more information on the project and next steps.

About the Project

District Planning is about changing the way Edmonton plans and supports development and growth to move us closer to The City Plan’s vision for a more connected, prosperous, healthy and climate-resilient city of 2 million people.

Deliberate change is required. The District Planning project will support one of The City Plan’s transformative priorities of making Edmonton a Community of Communities where residents can meet most of their daily needs within a 15-minute walk, roll or transit trip from their homes. The District Planning project is not about restricting movement, monitoring people or tracking an individual’s carbon emissions.

District Policy and Plans

The District Planning project is developing 2 new planning tools to guide how 15 districts (collections of neighbourhoods) will redevelop and change as Edmonton reaches its next population milestone of 1.25 million people:

  • District Policy: provides policies that apply across all districts and other planning directions like urban design, energy transition and climate adaptation.
  • 15 district plans: contain district-specific context, area-specific policies and maps showing how the citywide District Policy directions are applied in a particular district

District plans will guide the long-term physical change of Edmonton’s neighbourhoods. Your district plan will say where taller and denser buildings should go and where the City needs to invest to support growth.

Visit edmonton.ca/districtplans to check out the draft District Policy and draft district plans today.

Geographic Plans Proposed to Keep, Change or Retire

As part of drafting district plans, the project team has reviewed existing strategies and geographic plans to understand if they conflict with The City Plan or if they are still needed to guide development. Based on this review, and informed by feedback we received in previous phases of engagement, the project team is recommending geographic plans to keep, change or retire.

Future Work Priorities

District plans will continue to change as future planning work happens across Edmonton. The district plans today will set the foundation for planning and engagement work in the future. More planning direction will be required in order to achieve the phased targets in The City Plan.

Through public and internal engagement, the District Planning project is also identifying areas for future work the City should undertake following the project’s completion. Future work can include ideas such as incorporating climate adaptation and energy transition strategies into district plans or identifying more heritage and cultural places in a district

This list of prioritized future work opportunities will be presented to City Council in 2024.


How to Get Involved

In this phase of engagement, we want to know more about your thoughts on the revised draft district plans and changes to the List of Geographic Proposed to Keep, Change or Retire. Your input will be used to help the City finalize the draft district plans, list of geographic plans proposed to keep, change or repeal and identify areas for future work opportunities to follow after the district plan adoption (pending City Council approval).

Share your thoughts from October 23 until December 3 using the tools below. 


Learn more about the project

Find out more about the district planning project, the City planning process and more.


Find Your Geographic Plan - Map Tool

Use the map tool to find your local geographic plan, and tell us what you think about the proposed retirement or amendment (change) to the existing plans.


Surveys on District Planning 

Share with the City your feedback on:



Public Engagement Sessions 

Members of the public are invited to join staff from the District Planning project to learn more about the draft district plans, what it means for your neighbourhood and to share your thoughts on the project.

Online Sessions
Sign up now to participate in an online session:

  • Wednesday, October 25: 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
  • Thursday, October 26: noon to 12:55 pm
  • Tuesday, November 7: 8:30 pm to 10:00 pm
  • Thursday, November 16: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm

Save the Date: In-Person Drop-In Sessions
Find an in-person drop-in engagement event happening near you, RSVP here to attend.

  • Monday, November 27: 5 to 8 p.m. at the Bellevue Community Hall (7308 112 Ave NW)
  • Tuesday, November 28: 5 to 8 p.m. at the West Jasper Place Community Hall (9620 152 St NW)
  • Wednesday, November 29: 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Inglewood School (11515 127 St NW)
  • Thursday, November 30: 5 to 8 p.m. at Queen Alexandra Community League Hall (10425 University Avenue)
  • Saturday, December 2: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at City Hall in the Heritage Room (1 Sir Winston Churchill Square)

Geographic Plans Proposed to Keep, Change or Retire Engagement Sessions

Attend a virtual engagement session about the changes made to the List of Geographic Plans Proposed to Keep, Change or Retire since 2022. These sessions offer affected communities and members of the public the opportunity to share feedback on their neighbourhood-specific plan. Sign up for a session now.


Questions (Q&A Tool) 

Ask a question to the project team using the Engaged Edmonton Q&A Tool below. Questions will be captured as part of engagement feedback.


Chat with a Planner 

Chat one-on-one with a District Planning project team member over the phone, in-person or via Google Meet about your feedback or questions related to the project. Schedule your session now.


Engagement has concluded

  • About District Planning

    CLOSED: This discussion has concluded.

    About the Project

    • District Plan Guide: Learn how to use your district plan and how it informs planning decisions.
    • Making Space Podcast: A five-episode podcast series was created by the City to help educate Edmontonians about the impacts of zoning, planning and land use.
    • City Building Video Series: Three YouTube videos, each telling a different part of The City Plan’s story, including a specific video on districts and 15-minute communities.
  • Phase 3 Engagement - What’s New

    CLOSED: This discussion has concluded.

    A number of changes were made to the 2022 draft district plans, District Policy and List of Geographic Plans Proposed to Keep, Change or Retire in response to feedback from a wide range of Edmontonians and City Council.

    Changes to the Draft District Policy and Plans

    Changes are briefly summarized below:

    • Changed the level of support and direction for proposed development heights and locations within nodes and corridors
    • Added a new height category (Tall High Rise) and removed the Intensification Area policy and map content from the District Policy and 15 district plans
    • Improved document usability and provided clarity on how to use the district plans and District Policy together
    • Individual district plans were also updated in response to specific feedback on their text, area-specific policy and map content

    Changes to Plans Proposed to Keep, Change or Retire

    Changes to the list of geographic plans proposed to keep, change or retire include adding plans to and removing plans from the list of plans proposed for retirement and amendment (change). Read the updated list of plans today.

    Future Work Identified From 2022 Engagement Feedback

    Below is a list of what the project team heard as possible future work. Each theme includes an example of what this type of future work could look like.

    • User-Friendly District Plan Digital Platform – An online mapping tool which allows users to zoom into a specific parcel and select and view different map features or policies.
    • Improved Representation of Heritage & Cultural Diversity – Explore ways district plans can further reflect the heritage and cultural places important to Edmontonians.
    • Watershed Level Drainage Analysis – Conduct additional technical analyses of how more buildings and hard surfaces may impact local watersheds.
    • Enhanced District Identity – Work with communities to understand how district policy and plans could further support or create a district's individual identity.
    • Incorporation of Climate Resilience and Energy Transition Efforts – Work to support and represent climate resilience and energy transition efforts within district plan policies and maps.


    Watch our Overview of Changes video or read the document to learn more about these changes. Read the project’s Phase 2 What We Heard Report.

  • How Decisions are Made and Feedback Used

    CLOSED: This discussion has concluded.

    How Decisions are Made

    The District Planning project is not creating new ideas or visions, rather it is building on the previously Council-approved strategic directions contained in The City Plan.

    Decisions are made on the District Planning project using feedback received during public engagement, along with a policy review of the City’s existing geographic plans and policies (such as The City Plan, Transit-Oriented Development Guidelines, Residential Infill Guidelines and other plans in effect). District plan mapping data is sourced from existing data sources such as data from Open Data, maps.edmonton.ca, EPCOR, the province, The City Plan’s technical analyses and maps, and other City project’s (such as Bike Plan, Mass Transit: Network Implementation for 1.25 Million People and Growth Management Framework).

    Public Engagement in this part of the project is at the ADVISE level of the City’s Public Engagement Spectrum. This means that input gathered helps City Administration know more about your thoughts and concerns on the draft district plans and list of geographic plans proposed to keep, change or retire.

    How Your Feedback is Used

    In Phase 1, one sample District Policy and three district plan prototypes were shared with The City Plan’s core stakeholders – a group of 100 individuals representing more than 90 organizations that represent lots of different communities, like residents, community leagues, business owners, advocacy groups and industry, from across Edmonton. Feedback was gathered on the initial structure, content and level of detail proposed in the prototypes. The project also hosted eight virtual public information sessions to introduce the District Planning project, how it contributes to The City Plan’s implementation and gather questions and initial impressions from residents, community leagues and industry members.

    In Phase 2, feedback was used to refine the draft District Policy, 15 district plans, list of geographic plans proposed to keep, change or retire, and identify initial ideas for potential future work priorities from Edmontonians. Engagement feedback was used to fix errors and/or omissions, clarify language and terms, improve alignment with The City Plan, make revisions to policy and/or plan content and consider ways to improve the overall usability of both the District Policy and district plans.

    The project has also used feedback that was out of the project’s scope to identify areas for potential future work to follow after district plan adoption (pending City Council approval). Feedback was determined to be “out of project scope” and “possible future work” if it involved additional community engagement or technical analysis that could not be completed as part of the District Planning project. This type of feedback was used to draft a preliminary list of potential future work priorities.

    In Phase 3 (current), feedback will be used to make minor changes to the draft plans, further inform proposed plan repeals and amendments, and develop a proposed list of future work priorities that will be presented to City Council with the proposed bylaws in 2024.

    After Phase 3 engagement has concluded, feedback will be summarized into a What We Heard report to be shared publicly and with City Council to support their decision making.

  • How Does District Planning Affect Rezoning?

    CLOSED: This discussion has concluded.

    Zoning sets regulations (the rules) for what can be built on your property through the development permit process, including what activities and businesses can happen there, as well as building height, location and footprint controls (among other things).

    Zoning determines the development potential of a site today. If the zone allows single-detached, duplex or row housing, that is what can be built there. As new homes and businesses are developed to welcome more Edmontonians, the City’s Development Planners will ensure that all proposed developments follow these rules.

    District plans will set the policy direction to guide Edmonton’s gradual redevelopment as our city grows to 1.25 million people. They will provide direction for future development by informing rezoning, which is a formal public process.

    When an application to rezone a property is made, the City’s Development Planner will determine if the proposed development aligns with policies in the relevant district plan (and any other relevant statutory plan) as part of their analysis. They will recommend to City Council whether the rezoning should be approved. City Council makes the final decision.

    The District Planning project is not proposing to rezone any land across the city. This means that your property’s current zone will not change if district plans are adopted at the City Council Public Hearing in May 2024.