Child-care centres are popping up all over Edmonton. But not everyone is in favour

When Wanda Johnston first learned that a home in her quiet Canossa neighbourhood in north Edmonton would be converted into a child-care centre, she was upset.

The approved permit allows for a facility serving up to 34 children inside a 1,486-square-foot home. But Johnston worries about the extra traffic in a community she says is already strained for space.

"We're a quiet neighbourhood, you've got 26 houses, 13 on each street. Parking is already an issue," Johnston said in an interview.

"You can't have 40-plus vehicles plus eight staff trying to find parking, you just can't."

Johnston filed an appeal against the development, citing major concerns over traffic, noise, waste disposal, and parking congestion. That appeal was denied last month by the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board.

CBC reached out to the owner of the proposed daycare site but he declined to comment.

Zoning bylaw renewal

The number of child-care centres approved for residential neighbourhoods in Edmonton has sharply risen in 2024, due in large part to the city's zoning bylaw renewal, which came into effect in January 2024.

Under the new bylaw, child-care services are now permitted use in most standard zones — including small-scale residential areas. That marks a major shift from the previous bylaw, which treated such developments as discretionary, subject to longer review times and more opportunity for resident objections.

In 2024, the city approved 26 child-care centres in residential buildings in small-scale residential zones. The city said in total, 204 development permits were approved for child-care services last year, which is about double the number approved in each of the previous five years

'We need more spaces'

Coun. Michael Janz, who chairs the city's urban planning committee, said expanding neighbourhood-based child care is essential to meet demand.

"We've been short child-care spaces," Janz said in an interview last week. "Some families have been having to go outside of their neighbourhood to find child care." 

Janz supports smaller, locally rooted options as opposed to massive "mega-centres."

"Eventually, what I hope we get towards is less of the big mega child-care centres, and more small neighbourhood-based opportunities so that wherever you are in Edmonton, wherever your family is, there can be a child-care option that's accessible and affordable and close to you," he said in an interview.

Krystal Churcher is the co-chair of ACE National — a movement that promotes and advocates for affordable and accessible child care. She said the province has a big need for more child-care spaces. 

"Alberta has seen substantial growth," she said in an interview last month. "I believe that there are families desperately needing child care."

Parking, noise, and waste: a growing debate

Johnston's concerns go beyond parking and traffic. According to a proposed site plan, waste bins for the child-care centre may be located along the side of the property, right by her walkway to her backyard.

She also worries about noise from outdoor play disrupting neighbours, especially those who work from home or do shift work. 

Erin Rutherford, city councillor for the Ward Anirniq, which includes the Canossa neighbourhood, said the property follows the guidelines needed to develop the centre.

"That one was specific to what was allowed in our zoning bylaw and what we have done is we said that those child-care centres when they're in residential areas are really limited in size so that is where the mitigation factor has come in," she said.

The city commissioned a traffic study, conducted as part of a one-year review of child care services.

It found that "less than half of pick-up and drop-off spaces were used during peak periods", and that "17 per cent of trips to and from centres were made by walking or cycling".

Still, the report noted that corner lots are the most suitable for day homes due to traffic flow.

Limited options for appeals

Under the new bylaw, many child-care centres that meet zoning regulations are considered permitted use, leaving residents with fewer avenues to formally oppose them.

Once Johnston had filed her appeal, she typed up a newsletter and went door-to-door to residents in her neighbourhood, encouraging them to appeal or submit their comments.

"There's not one person I spoke to that was in favour of this child care, simply the parking, the noise, the waste, it's just too big."

Johnston said Edmontonians need to have their voices heard on these types of developments.

"To say in that [zoning] renewal that they want to give Edmontonians what they want, how can you give Edmontonians what they want if you're now having all these permitted uses which takes away the voice of Edmontonians, so how do you know what they want?"