When you think about the 13 municipalities of the Edmonton metro region – the cities of Beaumont, Edmonton, Fort Saskatchewan, Leduc, Spruce Grove, and St. Albert; the counties of Strathcona, Sturgeon, Parkland and Leduc; and the towns of Stony Plain, Morinville, and Devon – you may consider their locations on a map. But what about their development, business, or even population growth?
Last year, housing starts were up – way up. During the summer of 2024, the province of Alberta experienced a 32 per cent increase in housing starts thanks to large amounts of migrants moving into Edmonton. And for the region specifically, a record number of housing starts were made possible by faster permitting and a reduction in red tape, which meant more residents and workers, and a higher demand for new developments.
Now, in 2025, this housing demand is expected to continue to climb, fueled by an influx of new residents. While this is welcome news, growth is not without its complexities. Balancing rapid development with sustainability, affordability, and availability for homebuyers and renters remains a pressing concern for policymakers, developers, homebuilders, and community leaders.
For these stakeholders, understanding growth starts with identifying the issues.
In Edmonton, city-builders are actively collaborating to implement new initiatives for promoting sustainable and attainable housing options. From prioritizing energy efficiency and renewable resources to adaptable, socially inclusive communities, and missing middle housing, these elements all play a part in the growth process that the region is experiencing today.
Metro Municipalities are Open for Business
In recent years, many people in the region have chosen to settle in mid-sized cities like Leduc, Sherwood Park, St. Albert, and Spruce Grove. As the region’s population rises, costs and availability play a huge role in residents’ decisions about where to live. For many, finding your dream home to purchase while staying within your budget might just mean considering factors like neighbourhood safety and shorter work commutes. And in Leduc and St. Albert specifically, that’s what residents have been doing.
“We’ve seen a big shift in growth over the past few years,” said Akash Homes President Dhruv Gupta. “Different needs and household types are being accommodated in many municipalities outside of Edmonton, so we’re seeing more high-quality, thoughtfully designed homes that meet the needs of families.”
“With that being said,” he added, “we still need to continue to strive for affordability.”
One of these hot spots is the City of Leduc, located just 30 kilometers outside of Edmonton. The city of 37,000 residents has a diverse population, centred around growing families wanting to own an affordable home.
With its strategic location, residents and workers of Leduc benefit from its proximity to both the City of Edmonton and Edmonton International Airport. “Leduc is a blue-collar community, and there’s a lot of trades,” City of Leduc Mayor Bob Young said.
“Almost 60 per cent of the people who live in Leduc also work in the surrounding areas,” so things like transit, a sense of community, and accessibility are all factors for residents, workers and business owners.
The disadvantage? “Planes, trains and automobiles,” he said. The Queen Elizabeth II highway runs through the community, there are consistent trains steaming through town, and there are hundreds of planes taking off and coming into the airport throughout the day. “So, you deal with all of those things, but you also get the lower prices and other benefits,” he said. “It’s a balance.”
Mayor Young’s “Open for Business” campaign during his first term has contributed to this. “We’ve tried to make it easy to build and develop in the City of Leduc recently, so more people can live and work here, and I think we’ve been extremely successful at that,” he said. “We’re in the middle of simplifying our land use so that it’s more flexible, and trying to build neighbourhoods and communities people want to live in.”
In Leduc, the permitting average is three days, according to Mayor Young. “We’ve realized that what’s good for us is what’s good for the region. We’re partners with developers and homebuilders, so we’ve built that relationship and made it easier for them to carry on.”
It’s easy to think of Leduc as a bedroom community; but its growth shows just the opposite. “We used to be a sleepy little city, but we’re not anymore.” He joked, “We actually have traffic now!”
“You used to have to go to Sherwood Park if you wanted to do something,” Mayor Young said. “Now, the city has everything you’d ever need or want.”
Currently, the average age of residents is 41. “So, we’ve tried to build out a community that would attract young families,” Mayor Young said. “And to do that, you must have a lot of recreation and good schools.”
With one of the best school populations in the province, as well as public areas and playgrounds, the city has been able to attract a never-before-seen demographic of residents, those who are first-time home buyers and are around to stay. Attracting people to a community isn’t just about putting up boxes and hoping people move there because it’s cheap; it needs to have convenience, as well as a community element like dog parks, recreation amenities, and multi-ways.
“We don’t look at it as “this is the first purchase of your housing,” because we want to offer products so that when people come here, they want to stay forever, and I think we’re very successful at that.”
Aside from the city’s business parks and trades sites, the downtown area has also been evolving, including more affordable housing options and a range of niche and local businesses.
As of late 2024, the City of Leduc has approved 303 permits, which is a 50 per cent increase over 2023, where only 202 were approved. Of those approved residential permits, nearly 30 per cent were for secondary suites. More recently, the City also launched a major annexation plan to accommodate rapid growth moving forward. By expanding its municipal boundaries into the south, this strategy is designed to ensure sustainable growth, address development issues, and prevent higher housing prices over the next 50 years.
One big driving factor for new residents of Leduc has been their community involvement.
“It’s a very caring community; people love getting involved and we have many volunteers. We also have a lot of healthy active lifestyles, as well as running trails and recreation, which helps bring groups of people together. Over the past year, there was also an increase in the number of visible minorities, with one-in-five residents identifying as a visible minority.”
With ever-changing developments, demographics are being met through good public space and infrastructure investments to attract businesses and capital.
Over the past years, Leduc has experienced substantial growth in both terms of infrastructure, from new roadways, schools, parks, and commercial developments to its economic growth, like its industrial areas and business parks.
Who’s home? Whose home?
Housing affordability takes the lead when it comes to choosing a place to live. To many, the idea of more spacious homes with a lower cost is key. “When comparing to Edmonton, it’s at least $50,000 cheaper for the same product,” Mayor Young noted. “We actually have the lowest price per square foot out of all 13 municipalities.”
In the City of Leduc, the average price for single family homes sits at around $490,000, whereas apartments are in the $240,000 range.
Although it may be different than its highly populated competitors, Leduc offers a diverse range of townhomes, single family homes, and commercial spaces. “Everybody is struggling with the cost of living these days, so one of the most important things we can do is increase the amount of affordable housing that’s available,” Mayor Young said.
Leduc may have small lot products, but “there’s nothing wrong with that,” he said. “It doesn’t mean that this isn’t a beautiful community to live in.”
Meeting Evolving Needs
Similarly, the growth rate of St. Albert has risen significantly. The city’s mayor, Cathy Heron, has been on council since 2010, and seen the community change first-hand.
“My role is about enabling housing development, understanding the industry and market, and making sure that we balance market demands and good planning for the municipality.”
For the past seven years as mayor, she’s been focused on making St. Albert a community that people from all backgrounds and lifestyles want to be a part of.
“We’re not trying to build a suburbia. We’re trying to evolve to be more complete, so residents can have more work opportunities and don’t have to drive into Edmonton,” she said.
“We have a strategic plan that speaks to community wellbeing,” which Mayor Heron defines as including recreation beyond sports, and providing more restaurants, arts, higher-end experiences, and fitness opportunities. And, in a less walkable city than its surrounding communities, there’s been a lot of investment in roads and trail systems to encourage cycling and running.
“We also have a strong belief in supporting local, and we have many mom-and-pop shops. We’ve done our fair share of getting the big guys like HomeSense and Costco, but revitalizing our downtown and providing more amenities takes time. It relies on the residents to support those businesses.”
“The demographics in St. Albert tend to be older residents who are post-secondary educated, so they have the type of income where they are able to get a mortgage, because, really, it is more expensive to live here,” Mayor Heron said. “And because of this, it’s a car-driven city, where the average rate of cars per household is over two.”
With the average home price set well over $500,000, St. Albert’s housing market is already higher than other municipalities. So, what’s their driving factor for growth? Return to the community and creating a sense of belonging.
“I see people who grew up here wanting to return,” she said. “Over past years, we’ve grown a lot. Places like Edmonton always had high rises and condos or multi-family (developments), whereas St. Albert didn’t. Now, we can offer these types of developments. Last year, we actually had record permits for new builds, and more than half were for multi-family.”
“We have had some drastic changes, probably bigger than other cities in Alberta, but we’re now more of a vibrant community group and have more diversity than ever.”
She noted that there is much more Indigenous and other ethnic inclusion and representation, as well a focus on disabled residents and an allotted budget for jobs for people with developmental disabilities.
“Inclusivity in a community is huge,” she added. “I’ve spent so much time analyzing what makes St. Albert so special, and it’s hard to put your finger on it. But, we’re very welcoming and friendly, and the community is very close. People will even come out and volunteer to do things around the city, like paint the pride flag on our crosswalks. We really are one of the safest communities, and we have the metrics and rankings to prove it.”
As the region continues to grow, municipalities like Sherwood Park, Beaumont, Leduc, and St. Albert are shaping their identities to meet the evolving demands. Whether through strategic development, affordability, or community-driven initiatives, these areas are proving that growth isn’t just about physical expansion — it’s about creating places where people want to live, work, and spend their time, and collaboration among policymakers, developers, and residents will be key to maintaining this balance. As Mayor Young so perfectly put it, “It’s a competition, but for everybody’s best interest. We’re really all just working towards the same goal.”
Written by Payton Phillips