City’s plan to spend $550M on downtown improvement hinges on tax-levy extension

The City of Edmonton plans to spend $553 million on the downtown area over the next five years, a plan some councillors believe is vital for the city's future.

The City of Edmonton has a plan to spend more than $550 million downtown over the next five years.

Some city councillors believe the investment is vital for Edmonton’s future success.

The plan is to put public money towards projects and events that could, in turn, inspire private investment downtown.

City planners want to raise property values, which would generate more tax dollars, and attract business tenants to vacant office towers.

They also want to build enough housing so more people can live downtown.

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Mayor Amarjeet Sohi says Edmonton was seeing results from previous investments but the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted that progress.

“COVID has impacted our downtown severely, as it has impacted downtowns throughout North America,” Sohi said Tuesday. “We need to continue to have a focused effort to bring more life to downtown.”

Most of the $553 million in funding for the plan would come from existing budgets, but it assumes a special tax program downtown will be extended.

Deliberation on that Community Revitalization Levy is ongoing.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson