Alberta Premier Smith calls out federal interference in Edmonton housing rules
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has ordered the reversal of Edmonton's 2024 zoning bylaw changes, citing federal overreach. Smith claims the federal government 'bribed' the city into high-density housing policies that negatively impact established neighborhoods.
Why it matters
This reflects ongoing tensions between provincial and federal governments in Canada regarding housing policy, municipal autonomy, and urban development.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said on a call-in radio show Saturday that federal interference prompted her government to roll back some Edmonton housing rules.
Smith said the province reversed zoning bylaw changes this week that Edmonton made in 2024 because Ottawa influenced the city’s rules.
She said the federal government at the time offered Edmonton millions in funding in exchange for the zoning changes that made it easier to build multi-unit complexes in older, established neighbourhoods.
She called Ottawa’s funding a bribe and said it disrupted the integrity of the home building process in Edmonton.
“In Edmonton, … they didn’t start seeing what it meant until the bulldozers showed up, took down a single family home and put up a (multi-family building) so 16 units go up beside them with no parking,” Smith said on Your Province, Your Premier on CHED and CHQR.
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