EDMONTON METROPOLITAN REGION GROWTH PLAN

The plan has established an innovative path to plan and manage growth across the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which was made up of 24 vibrant rural and urban municipalities.

Client: Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board

Location: Edmonton, AB

Project Type: Community Planning

About This Project

As the prime project consultant, ISL prepared the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Growth Plan (EMRGP) for the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board (EMRB), formerly the Capital Region Board. The plan has established an innovative path to plan and manage growth across the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which was made up of 24 vibrant rural and urban municipalities (in 2016), abundant natural assets, rich resources and high quality agricultural lands. With a slogan of Reimagine. Plan. Build. the EMRGP was the basis of a 30-year growth plan and a 50-year vision for the City of Edmonton and surrounding cities, towns, villages and counties. The EMRGP set the path for sustainable growth and development in the Region through organized, evidence-based and systematic planning. The Board approved the EMRGP in late 2016 for delivery to the Government of Alberta, which gave it final approval on October 26, 2017

ISL has been involved with the EMRGP since 2010, when the provincial government mandated a five-year review and update of the then 2010 Capital Region Growth Plan. The Board, along with ISL, Urban Strategies and other sub-consultants, embarked on a three-year planning process in 2014 to clarify opportunities, the Region’s growth challenges, and a path to resilience and adaptability to sustain continued population and economic growth that advances regional prosperity.

The 2016 EMRGP is a culmination of that planning and engagement process, resulting in a shared commitment of the Board’s diverse municipal membership to regional thinking, collaboration, coordination and growing responsibly.

The EMRGP provides a comprehensive and integrated policy framework that plans for population and employment growth to 2044. It includes a 50-year vision, guiding principles and a regional structure consisting of three policy tiers: a rural area, a metropolitan area and a metropolitan core, which reflect the diverse municipal membership. It also includes six interrelated regional policy areas that respond to the policy tiers, addressing the different urban and rural contexts and unique growth challenges in the Region.