Edmonton ranks number one in the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) 2022 Municipal Benchmarking Study. The report examines how local development processes, approvals and charges affect housing affordability and housing supply in major housing markets across the country.
“I am not surprised by Edmonton’s ranking,” said Mayor Amarjeet Sohi. “Edmonton is a great place to live with an exceptional quality of life and we are committed to fostering a healthy and affordable housing market necessary to welcome young and highly skilled talent and for those already living in Edmonton.”
The report evaluated 21 municipalities across Canada in several areas that have direct links to issues related to housing supply and/or housing affordability, including:
- Approval timelines
- Charges and fees on new development
- Planning approval processes and features
Edmonton ranked number one in planning features, sixth in approval timelines and sixth in charges and fees to capture a combined first place ranking. This represents an improvement from the 2020 study, in which Edmonton ranked second overall in Canada.
“The City of Edmonton has worked very hard in the past few years to streamline and improve our permit and license processes,“ said city manager Andre Corbould. “These improvements save applicants $5.3 million and 67,600 days collectively each year. We know these improvements have contributed to our ranking and we continue to push for improvements that will help maintain Edmonton’s housing affordability.”
Edmonton continues to innovate in its approaches to reducing red tape and delivering better, more predictable service to customers, including investment in the online customer experience, process automation, and integration of artificial intelligence.
Intergovernmental and industry collaboration also played an important role in Edmonton’s number one ranking. The study also highlighted municipalities who are taking innovative approaches to working with other levels of government or developers to set targets, standardize reporting or establish timelines.
Edmonton had an overall score of 91 per cent. Edmonton’s typical approval timeline for development applications is less than half of what it is in either Vancouver or Toronto.
