‘People are pissed’: Edmontonians protest infill housing rules
Posted September 28, 2026 11:54 am.
Infill was again in the spotlight in Edmonton this weekend, with small rallies in different locations throughout the city Sunday.
Protesters were taking aim at the city’s rules allowing small eight-unit multiplexes to be built anywhere there’s a house right now.
“People are pissed, to be honest with you,” said protest organizer Jill Bladon. “People do not like this zoning bylaw. We’re getting a lot of support from people honking around here. They want change.”
In the Parkview neighbourhood, more than 60 people attended Sunday afternoon’s protest, with many indicating they live near a new infill or one under construction. They say city council isn’t listening to them.
“We don’t agree with what’s going on,” one woman said.
“This bylaw was not necessary,” added another.
Protesters say they are concerned with the new buildings popping up in their neighbourhoods, arguing they are too big for quiet streets, and there’s not enough room for parking and extra garbage bins.
“They’re coming for us. They’re coming for my neighbourhood,” said protester Jill Didow.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, Dovercourt is safe, they haven’t found us yet.’ And then just slowly, we’ve got five or six of them in there now.”
Among the protesters Sunday were even some who live in infill, like Corisandra Leyton-High. The trees and a mix of homes brought her to the Parkview neighbourhood a year-and-a-half ago, but now she’s concerned with plans for seven small apartments coming up on her street.
“It’s not that we don’t want to welcome people into our area,” said Leyton-High, who lives in a new single-family home. “I’m a new neighbour, right? I would’ve been resentful if they didn’t welcome me. But we want to have the right number of people in a small area like this.”
Residents say they don’t feel heard by city council and are frustrated by the lack of information about what’s happening around them. They feel unable to stop any changes, even after taking legal action in some cases.
The protesters are hoping to see something like what happened in Calgary, after city council there repealed their blanket rezoning bylaw this spring.
“Everything is in favour of the developers, and the homeowners get nothing,” Didow said. “We weren’t told. We have to fight. We have to go up against the SDAB (Subdivision and Development Appeal Board). We have to be prepared. This is something we never knew about. Who knows how to do this?”
–With files from Lauren Boothby
