Edmonton moves forward with plan to build affordable housing on land once intended for schools

Affordable housing developers in Edmonton have been selected to build homes on land that was originally intended for schools several decades ago.

The City of Edmonton says 10 sites were selected at former surplus school sites, which were reserved to have schools built between the 1970s and ’90s.

However, those sites were later sold back to the city in 2009, when they were no longer required by school boards. They were then designated to become affordable housing locations in 2015.

Now, 10 years later, developers have been selected to begin the process of building those homes.

Edmonton’s mayor and Alberta’s provincial government say the 10 locations will provide 1,300 units of affordable housing.

Alberta Minister of Assisted Living and Social Services Jason Nixon touted a joint provincial-federal $200 million investment to build affordable housing across the province, saying Alberta is looking to work with homebuilders who can get projects started now.

“We’re over 90,000 affordable housing units here in the province already,” said Minister Nixon. “We’re working on another 82,000 affordable households at the moment. So we’re pretty confident that we got the numbers right.

“The real challenge is making sure we can build them in time.”

The developers selected and the parts of the city they will be building houses in are as follows:

• Belmont: Civida, in partnership with Synergy Projects Ltd
• Blue Quill: Bendera Housing
• Caernarvon: Civida, in partnership with the Confederacy of Treaty No. 6 First Nations and Synergy Projects Ltd
• Dunluce: Vivid Homes, in partnership with IslamicFamily
• Kiniski Gardens: Right at Home Housing Society
• La Perle: Beljan Development, San Rufo Homes and Art Homes
• Lymburn: HomeEd
• Miller: WIN House
• Overlanders: Métis Capital Housing Corporation
• Summerlea: Confederacy of Treaty No. 6 First Nations and Chiniki Group of Companies

The city notes some of the affordable housing projects will be tailored for those who experience greater housing needs, including Indigenous people, Black Canadians, newcomers, and women and children fleeing domestic violence.

“Being able to control the rent, but also being able to afford a life in the city is huge,” said Grand Chief Greg Desjarlais of the Confederacy of Treaty No. 6 First Nations.

“A lot of people are struggling for employment, but also to have a roof over your head is huge. I believe in affordable housing and having a range and diverse members of our community living in these homes will be huge to all our nations.”

The surplus school sites will need to offer affordable housing for at least 40 years once built.

“The City of Edmonton has already surpassed our affordable housing goal for this four-year budget cycle,” said Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack. “That was incredible to see.”

–With files from Darcy Ropchan