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Edmonton ranked
January 13, 2023

Edmonton ranked top Canadian city for easiest housing construction rules by industry group

A review commissioned by the Canadian Homebuilders Association (CHBA) found Edmonton overall had the least red tape in its planning processes and systems, permit approval timelines, and building fees. It ranked first for having the most planning features and sixth for both shortest timelines and lowest fees.

Housing development and construction industries have long argued that onerous and expensive approval processes slow down how fast new housing supply can be built, and increases costs which ultimately increases prices for homebuyers. Other experts, however, point out that supply alone won’t solve the housing crisis, and that the financialization of the housing market and a history of neoliberal policies in Canada are significant contributors.

City manager Andre Corbould said Edmonton has been working hard on improving the ease of navigating the city’s home-building rules for a long time — automating most development permits, removing minimum parking requirements, and abolishing single-family-home-only zones contributes to this ranking, he said. Corbould estimates changes amount to savings of $5.3 million and 67,000 days of work for developers and builders per year.

“Moving forward, it’s critical we continue to create a business-friendly and a family-friendly environment that provides a clear and consistent picture of requirements, timelines, best practices and, of course, costs,” he said at a Wednesday news conference. “Equally important is our continued collaboration with our housing industry partners like CHBA to address adequate housing supply and speed to market for development.”

Keep reading on edmontonjournal.com


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