‘Record-setting’ number: Edmonton celebrates increase in housing starts

A record-setting number of new homes was built this year. That’s according to the City of Edmonton.

“We are on track to meeting our Housing Accelerator Fund targets with more than 11,000 approved building permits since we signed our funding agreement in late 2023,” said Christel Kjenner, the director of City’s Housing Action Team.

From January to August this year, there have been more than 8,000 housing starts compared to 2023. In terms of approved building permits, more than 9,800 were recorded this year which is up 65 per cent from last year.

One home builder says he’s thankful the City has moved to automate permitting.

“In some municipalities, you would have to mail them the original documents and you have to print it out and send it to them. So that was a little frustrated because you’re delaying seven to 14 days there to the mail system,” explained Anil Somaia, the operations manager at Coventry Homes.

A spokesperson for the City says they have increased the number of affordable homes by approximately 30 per cent or 121 million in taxpayer dollars between 2023 and 2026.

The increased number of homes being built comes as the City of Edmonton is expected to double its population to 2 million in the next 50 years, with recent Stats Canada data showing a record-setting population growth in Alberta.

“We’ve been working to accelerate the permitting timeline and process timelines … because we’ve been doing that for the last ten years, Edmonton has been well-positioned to meet the demand,” said Kjenner.

For builders like Conventry Home, they hope to see more cities speed up permitting, but say there are other challenges with meeting growing demand.

“With the projections … not enough good land.”