‘A huge undertaking’: West Edmonton community centre celebrates revitalization groundbreaking

The groundbreaking ceremony for Canora Community League's retrofit and revitalization efforts was held on Oct. 18, 2025. (Galen McDougall/CTV News Edmonton)

A community league in West Edmonton has completed the fundraising for a years-long endeavour that will see the revitalization of their centre in an effort to make it as net-zero as possible.

“We’re going to get it as close as we can … and then I can retire,” Tony Lovell said. Lovell is a committee member and past president for the Canora Community League Retrofit and Revitalization project, which he set in motion in the mid-2010s.

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“Our power bill was so high, and I said, ‘We have got to do something about it,’” he said at the groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday.

Since then, the ball has been rolling toward an effort to upgrade the centre completely. Saturday’s ceremony was to mark the completion of fundraising for the project and ask the community for further input as the project progresses.

Both the federal government and the city itself is contributing to the task, which will eventually see energy-conscious retrofits like solar panels and improved insulation, aiming to almost completely negate the amount of greenhouse gases produced by the building.

It will also include interior renovations like a widened entryway, upgraded bathrooms and new flooring, according to the Government of Canada website.

In September, the federal government announced almost $700,000 would go to the Canora Community League. The groundbreaking ceremony featured MP Eleanor Olszewski, MLA Sarah Hoffman and Philip Campiou, an Elder advisor.

“[We’re] upgrading the entire hall and becoming self-sufficient to make it a better and more accommodating place for our residents and the community,” said current Canora Community League president Joanne Heft.

“It is a huge undertaking.”

Heft added that the go-ahead on renovations is coming at a time when Edmonton’s population is shifting. The last two years, she said, they’ve noticed younger families moving into the neighbourhood.

“Our community is very different today than it was when we started the project … It’s dynamic, and we’re getting more and more people involved now that they can see it coming,” she said.

Lovell said the ceremony was the completion of step one.

“We got the money, and now we’re ready to go,” he said.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Galen McDougall