Edmonton City Council makes U-turn, hits pause on residential parking program

Residents in Edmonton’s core neighbourhoods concerned about major changes to the city’s residential parking permit program can breathe a sigh of relief as the City Council on Thursday decided to pause the rollout of the new Residential Parking Program (RPP) and revert to the original form that was in effect until May 31, 2024.

The proposed changes to the program, initially approved in March included the introduction of $120 in annual parking fees in some neighbourhoods. Council’s reversal on their decision means the 19 participating neighbourhoods, including Garneau, Commonwealth Stadium, and Boyle Street,  will continue to be a part of the previous program with their existing hours and temporary/visitor permitting requirements.

“There remains the need to update the residential parking plan as one of several actions under the curbside management strategy to effectively manage curbside use,” said Shewkar Ibrahim, Director of Traffic Operations. “We will take the time to parse through recent public feedback on the program and will be back with a refined plan in 2026.”

“Actually, the entire neighbourhood was really not happy,” said one Edmontonian CityNews spoke to.

City administration had proposed the new fees to help manage parking in select neighbourhoods with high on-street parking demand, and further prioritize curbside parking as a public asset for widespread use was to have gone into effect June 1. However, on June 18, council’s urban planning committee recommended that the program be paused.

“We will engage with them to better understand what the concerns were and alleviate those concerns. So I don’t think this is a really high priority at this time for city council,” said Mayor Amarjeet Sohi.

The pause will give administration time to conduct additional focused public engagement, integrate feedback received during the initial program rollout, and bring forward a new program that revisits the fee structures, boundaries, and hours of operation.

After speaking with those who would be affected by the program, which forces residents to pay for street parking permits across 19 different communities, they say they’re relieved, but are also concerned paying to pay to park in front of their own homes could still be possible.

“I get it, nobody should feel entitled to street parking. But it did feel very targeted to this neighbourhood where there are more vulnerable people and theres a higher chance people wouldn’t notice that it was happening.”

All residents in the 19 RPP areas, whether they applied for a digital permit or not, can continue to display 2023 permits in vehicles. Digital permits will no longer be issued. Residents who have lost, discarded, or damaged physical permits or recently moved to an RPP area can apply for a new one at edmonton.ca/residentialparking.

Enforcement will not ticket vehicles with a 2023 permit. If residents receive a parking ticket, they can call Bylaw Ticket Administration at 780-496-5161.