The municipal government’s role should be to make that investment easier, not slow it down. The City’s approach should reflect the risk of time and money taken by those who want to build things in our city, while also upholding community interests and high standards of quality. 

Edmonton’s development community, from infill developers to non-profit housing providers to budding small entrepreneurs to well-established commercial and residential builders, are an important segment of our economy, and one that needs to be better supported by the City. 

I have heard concerns about ambiguous permitting and inspection timelines, difficulty in planning construction schedules around City processes, and a lack of customer service. Extended construction timelines, which increase costs and delay revenue from operations, most impact the small businesses that can least afford them. 

Permitting delays are barriers to investment from businesses and property owners, and if elected mayor, I will work to remove them. 

It’s time for Edmonton to invest in the modernization of our Development Services Office, to achieve the following commitments:

• Permit & Inspection Delivery Guarantee: Developers’ confidence in Edmonton will increase through guaranteed delivery timelines for all major permits and inspections. Predictability is especially important for construction, where one unexpected delay can have a cascading effect. For businesses waiting for permits or inspections, reliable timelines allow for better forecasting of cash flow, hiring, and promotion leading up to opening. We will develop benchmarks to measure our permit delivery time against other big Canadian cities, and work towards year-over-year improvement, ultimately meeting a goal of providing the fastest average permit delivery time among these cities.
• Average Permit Timeline Publication: Once permit delivery and inspection guarantee timeliness is established, an annual public report will highlight the average days to permit delivery, increasing transparency and the ambition to improve results each year.
• Development Services Liaison: This City role will be specialized to assist small, non-profit, and equity-seeking groups that are entering the development and home-building business. This will complement the work of the new Business Advocacy Office.

To ensure we achieve these goals, I will strike a permanent Mayor’s Council on Business Growth to gather experienced perspectives on the bottlenecks in the City’s processes. This group of leaders and experts will help the City uphold important safety and land use standards, while also advising on proactive opportunities and areas where the city can catalyze investment and growth. It will also look at creating incentives for development that support the city’s strategic goals, such as supporting green growth, affordable housing, and 15-minute communities.

Overall, I want to establish a culture of enabling businesses to succeed. City administration should see its role as facilitating business development while ensuring that development meets appropriate standards and respects community interests. We need sustained focus in Administration and City Council to establish a culture of service. The Mayor’s Council on Business Growth will be one important step towards this goal.