New survey shows Edmontonians believe City headed in wrong direction

Public Perception: Edmonton is Off Course: Urban Development and Growing Public Discontent

The latest Léger survey (October 3, 2025) reports what Edmontonians have been saying for the past two years: the city is off course. More than twice as many residents believe Edmonton is heading in the wrong direction (64%) as think it is on the right track (26%). This concern is more dramatic among those over 35 and likely voters (78% and 72% respectively). This is not a marginal finding; it is a strong indicator of widespread dissatisfaction with the city’s current trajectory, including how City Council plans and makes decisions.

This interpretation is reinforced by the City of Edmonton’s own Public Satisfaction Survey (2024) that 27% of the public are satisfied with land use planning and 24% with building permitting and development issues. The City has placed this in its primary opportunity category meaning that it is a priority for change.

The paradox is that Edmonton is rated as having one of the fastest building approval systems in Canada. The problem is not speed. It is about substance, trust, and the real life impacts residents experience. The Leger survey does not probe these deeper issues and does not provide context.

According to the City of Edmonton’s 2025 Pulse Report, only 16% city-wide know much about infill development issues. Awareness is highest among homeowners and lowest among renters and lower-income residents.

However, knowledge increases rapidly with direct experience. 83% of Central Edmonton residents report high awareness and place a high priority on this issue. Unlike taxation, infill development is not a household issue until it comes to your neighbourhood. Only then, does the issue climb rapidly up the scale of priorities.

The Leger survey must be viewed in this context. When it asked the public for their immediate 3 priorities from a long list of 21 items, taxation naturally headed the list (43%) because it is an issue every household understands.

The next most important issues were safety downtown (28%) and addressing poverty (25%). The third tier or priorities was a mixed bag (14% to 19% importance) where infill was mentioned in the company of road construction, government size and basic services.

Given that the infill development has the lowest public knowledge (16%), it scored surprisingly high on the list overall and significantly ABOVE economic diversification, climate change and improving public transportation: issues that top the media and have high public awareness.

The most surprising finding is that respondents put a very low priority on attracting more people to their community. In fact, it was ranked at the very bottom of residents’ priorities (3%). This is revealing as it suggests that most Edmontonians are not asking City Council to pursue rapid population growth or aggressive expansion as a priority. It is asking for stabilization: safety and a hold on increasing taxes, even at the expense of services being cut (47% agreeing).

The messages are clear: the city is moving in the wrong direction causing the public to feel instability, uncertainty and concern about costs. The public feels it is losing ground. ENU’s own studies reveal factual losses:

• Single Family housing: where the stock in established neighbourhoods is shrinking as properties are picked up by speculators, torn down and redeveloped into condos and rental apartments.

• Opportunities for Youth: to purchase older starter homes at traditionally affordable Edmonton rates as fixer-uppers.

• Affordability with rising prices: through City policies that are turning homes into investment products rather than places for families to get a foothold into housing that fits their needs.

• A Population displaced: Instead of adapting to higher density, many families are turning away from Edmonton’s mature neighbourhoods due to uncertainty and electing to move to the suburbs where they can find single family homes. Over 60% of new building permits for housing are in the suburban areas, according to city reports.

• A growing imbalance between housing and incomes: Alberta’s purchasing power has fallen by 13% since 2014, and real wages have dropped by 3.6% since 2019 (while rising 3.3% nationally) while cost of housing has increased.

These are the structural consequences of poor policy choices on urban growth and planning. It doesn’t have to be this way.

If the next Council is serious about reversing direction, it must treat infill not as a technical planning question but as a systemic issue that impacts affordability, livability, and governance. This means rebalancing zoning to preserve a mix of housing types, aligning growth with infrastructure safety, and rebuilding public confidence in development decisions.

Only then will Edmonton begin to feel like a city heading in the right direction.