Wellington/McArthur Industrial Supportive Housing Good Neighbour Plan and Building Design

Engagement has concluded

Thank you for participating in the online engagement. The online survey and ask a question tool are now closed.

You can still view the questions and answers that were submitted on this page.

A report on what we heard will be available fall 2020. If you have any questions, please contact supportivehousing@edmonton.ca


Because of public health restrictions, the City cannot host in-person public engagement as we normally would. Instead, we are using Engaged Edmonton to gather community feedback until 11:55 PM on September 22, 2020.


Have your say:

  1. Watch the video below to learn more about the project.
  2. Fill out a survey on the Good Neighbour Plan and building design.
  3. Ask a question about the project in the tool below.


Thank you for participating in the online engagement. The online survey and ask a question tool are now closed.

You can still view the questions and answers that were submitted on this page.

A report on what we heard will be available fall 2020. If you have any questions, please contact supportivehousing@edmonton.ca


Because of public health restrictions, the City cannot host in-person public engagement as we normally would. Instead, we are using Engaged Edmonton to gather community feedback until 11:55 PM on September 22, 2020.


Have your say:

  1. Watch the video below to learn more about the project.
  2. Fill out a survey on the Good Neighbour Plan and building design.
  3. Ask a question about the project in the tool below.


Engagement has concluded

  • What investigations have been carried out as to the current amount of crime in the area? I live in the area and see a lot of drug activity. This does not bode well for the recovery of some of the residents. This needs to be addressed or the project will fail.

    Wellington resident asked over 3 years ago

    Publicly available data from the Edmonton Police Service indicates that crime in Wellington has been trending downward since 2015 and is aligned with a citywide downward trend. If you have concerns about the safety of your neighbourhood, you can learn more about the City's Neighbourhood Empowerment Team, which works with communities to create safe and vibrant neighbourhoods: https://www.edmonton.ca/residential_neighbourhoods/fire_safety/neighbourhood-empowerment-team.aspx

  • With the location of the Wellington site, both roads to the site, 136a Ave NW, are pretty much alley ways. The North/South part of this road has power poles in it on the West side, just like an alley would. 1. Will these roads be upgraded to handle the extra traffic in the area? 2.) Will these roads handle the construction supplies and equipment that will need to use this road for construction? 3. If nothing is to be done, will the construction company have to pay for damages to the road?

    Ryan Moses asked over 3 years ago

    The City's Planning department does not require road upgrades as part of the rezoning application. However, Homeward Trust will be required to construct an access road and sidewalk from 136a Avenue to the future development site. A future construction contractor would be required to return any areas damaged by construction activities to their pre-existing condition.

  • What type of support will be offered to the new members of our community?

    Ashley C. asked over 3 years ago

    Supportive housing offers a range of support services, depending on the needs of its residents. Those services will be determined by the site's operator, a non-profit social service agency. Homeward Trust, the non-profit housing developer and property manager, will select operators for each site through a Request for Proposals (RFP). After the operator is selected, it works with Homeward Trust and Alberta Health Services to identify residents and tailor the on-site services to their needs.

    Support can include medication management, mental health services, medical services, cultural, ceremonial and spiritual practices, recreation or support group activities, community-based education, volunteerism and vocational planning, and financial management. Residents will also receive assistance in securing income support or employment to pay their below-market rent.

  • If the city is insisting on adding supportive house to our community which we are all against, i recommended the entrance and exit opens up to the west side of the building towards the cineplex/shopping complex. There is no need to have their access through townhomes where children play in their neighborhood. This will reduce traffic and provide residence easy access to public transportation. In fact there should be closed access to these townhouses.

    H.Ayed asked over 3 years ago

    Thank you for your comments. The supportive housing survey, linked on this page, has a question about your feedback on the design of the building. If you have not already, we invite you to share your perspective through the survey so that it can be captured in the What We Heard Report for this engagement process.

  • The presentation says that each of the supportive housing facilities in the plan will have specific programming to meet the needs of their clientele. What can you tell us about the programming planned for the Wellington facility? Perhaps explaining more about the residents who will live there and kind of staff supporting them will help alleviate concerns. Frankly, simply saying the residents have experienced homelessness raises more questions than answers. Personally, I am very supportive of this project, but more must be done to assure misguided neighbours that the people living there will be no threat to their property or safety. And one more tangential request: Could you stop referring to this project as being in McArthur Industrial? The map clearly shows the site right next to a large townhouse complex, and it will be separated from any industrial/commercial properties by a fenced railyard to the west and 137 Ave. to the north. Regardless of any lines on a map, it's in Wellington and residents will be our neighbours.

    Yegger asked over 3 years ago

    Supportive housing offers a range of support services, depending on the needs of its residents. Those services will be determined by the site's operator, a non-profit social service agency. Homeward Trust, the non-profit housing developer and property manager, will select operators for each site through a Request for Proposals (RFP).

    After the operator is selected, it works with Homeward Trust and Alberta Health Services to identify residents and tailor the on-site services to their needs. Support can include medication management, mental health services, medical services, cultural, ceremonial and spiritual practices, recreation or support group activities, community-based education, volunteerism and vocational planning, and financial management.

    The City has used both McArthur Industrial and Wellington throughout the engagement process. The land parcel is within the boundaries of McArthur Industrial and that is important technical information for the rezoning approval process. We have focused our outreach and engagement on the Wellington community.

  • I live in the Wellington area , and would like to know about the statistics , in regard to the amount of crime in the area with supportive housing , and one without . It is all well and good that the interactions between residents and police dropped the 46% , but i would like to now how much the crime rate rose in the area in general ? I would also like to point out that there is already an abundance of apartments in the area already and i moved into this area because it was residential , and adding more seems to be too much .

    Gordon asked over 3 years ago

    We have no evidence to suggest that supportive housing increases crime. Inspector Dan Jones of the Edmonton Police Service addressed this issue in our September 1 info session. You can watch the discussion on this topic here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRIe8yjgWf0&feature=youtu.be

  • What are they going to do about the increased traffic in the area , as it is already to the max, and i am sure any commercial development is going to bring in more , not to mention the staff needs ?

    Gordon asked over 3 years ago

    The proposed development does not include commercial space. It will be a residential building and the residents are unlikely to have cars. There will be traffic to the site from staff but the impact on the community is expected to be low. The issue of parking was discussed in our September 14 info session, which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIkvH3QtX8U&t=2504s.

  • I live in Wellington area and I worry for my kids. Let’s be honest, how can you guaranty our safety and peace of mind? We have 2 elementary schools and 1 junior high school in the area. Come on City of Edmonton, you can do better than that! We have a ton of space at Kingsway airport, why not use it? A lot of families live here and I am not against supportive housing, the city just needs the right location.

    Rob asked over 3 years ago

    We have no evidence to suggest that supportive housing increases crime, and in fact, supportive housing has proven to reduce residents’ interactions with police. 

    An analysis of a supportive housing site in downtown Edmonton saw a 46 per cent drop in interactions between residents and police in the 2 years after they moved in, compared to the 2 years before. 

    The City has also studied the impact of non-market housing on the safety of five core neighbourhoods and found there was no correlation between crime and non-market housing, including supportive housing. Questions of safety were raised with Insp. Daniel Jones of the EPS during a virtual information session on Sept. 1. You may be interested in a recording of the session, available here.  

    With respect to the former municipal airport land near Kingsway, the City of Edmonton is leading the development of an exciting new community. Blatchford will be home to up to 30,000 Edmontonians. Given the large size of the site (536 acres), the community will be built in many stages over the next 25 years with a diversity of housing options. In this first stage, builders are currently selling townhomes with private backyards and the option for secondary suites. The next phase of development brings the opportunity for stacked condo/townhomes and condo/apartments.

    As the community develops, the Blatchford project remains committed to ensuring there is both market affordable housing (housing that is market priced and meets the general requirements of affordability based on average household income) as well as affordable housing (rental or ownership housing that requires government money to build or operate) in the neighbourhood. The latter will follow City Council's long-term goal of achieving 16% affordable housing in every Edmonton neighbourhood.

    At this time, the Blatchford office does not have precise details on the timing or type of affordable housing that will be offered, but as the City of Edmonton as a whole proceeds with affordable housing projects, this community will be considered as a potential site through continued discussions with City Council and the Affordable Housing and Homelessness team.

  • Can they change the design of the building. It looks too industrial. Not at all friendly and inviting for a building in the community

    Zee flory asked over 3 years ago

    Neighbours of the proposed supportive housing are invited to provide input on the look and feel of the buildings by taking their community-specific survey on Engaged Edmonton. 

    These supportive housing buildings are being built to last and will be well designed and maintained. They are intended to provide an environment that is home-like, functional, safe and secure, conducive to residents/tenants’ stability, and appropriate for the surrounding neighbourhood. 

    Thank you for your input; it will be shared with the Homeward Trust design team.

  • Why are all the 4 sites in the north side of Edmonton. Why not the south side? West side?

    Sherry asked over 3 years ago

    Two of the four proposed sites are located on the south side, in Terrace Heights and King Edward Park. The other two sites are in Inglewood and McArthur Industrial/Wellington on the north side. The City will acquire more sites for supportive housing to reach its goal of building 900 new units in all areas of the city by 2024.