City Council: Recap – June 23, 2026

Red Deer City Council made the following decisions at today’s City Council meeting.

CONSENT:  

Council meeting time change request  

• Council changed the start time for the July 14 Council meeting from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Postponement: Annual Financial Update of Westerner Exposition Association  

• The Annual Financial Update of the Westerner Exposition Association was postponed from the second quarter of 2026 to the July 28, 2026, Regular Council Meeting. The postponement is due to staff capacity constraints and competing priorities associated with preparations for Westerner Days by both The City and the Westerner Exposition Association. 

Montfort Heights Lighting Project Update 

• City Council approved an amendment to its January 2025 resolution related to lighting improvements in the Montfort Heights area.
• The amendment removes the requirement that the project be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2026, while all other provisions of the original resolution remain unchanged.
• The project includes lighting improvements, trail infrastructure upgrades, and replacement of aging staircases. 
• Administration will continue to advance the work and provide updates on project timelines as planning and implementation progress.
• Design work has been completed, and the project is scheduled to go to tender this week. Construction timelines will be dependent on contractor availability; however, Administration is optimistic that the project will be substantially complete by December 2026. 

BYLAWS:  

Kentwood NE Kingsgate Neighbourhood Area Structure Plan 

• City Council approved an amendment to the Kentwood Northeast (Kingsgate) Neighbourhood Area Structure Plan (NASP) that would expand the boundary to include approximately 1.35 hectares of land at 8040 52 Avenue.
• The amendment is intended to support the Highway 11A twinning and overpass project by enabling future access to 8040 52 Avenue from Kingston Drive, while also establishing the planning framework for additional residential development in the Kentwood neighbourhood. 

Zoning Bylaw Amendments 3357/X-2026 and 3357/HH-2026 – Supportive Living Accommodation  

• City Council considered proposed Zoning Bylaw amendments related to Supportive Living Accommodations on June 23, 2026. Administration presented four options for Council's consideration, including making no changes to the existing definition, site-specific amendments, a citywide definition change, and a revised approach applying only to Public Service-zoned sites. Administration recommended Option 1, which would make no changes to the current Zoning Bylaw definition.
• The Supportive Living Accommodation use was introduced through the 2024 Land Use Bylaw Review Project to broaden living options, remove discriminatory language, and clarify that the City does not assess individual care needs. The current bylaw amendments were initiated following a recommendation from the Municipal Planning Commission to Council regarding a proposed development at 4240 59 Street in Waskasoo.
• Council directed Administration to revise Option 4 (3357/HH-2026) and bring forward a definition of Supportive Living Accommodation by the end of Q3 2026, grounded in Alberta's regulatory language. That language describes supportive living as a congregate housing setting where residents live as independently as possible with access to on-site supports, hospitality services, and some level of health and personal care, intended for seniors and adults with disabilities who do not require long-term care but cannot be fully supported by home care alone.

REPORTS: 

Development Permit Consideration: Proposed Emergency Shelter 

• Council has approved a development permit for Phase 1 of Project Nexus at 7740 40 Avenue, enabling the Red Deer Homeless Foundation to proceed with a 24/7 low-barrier emergency shelter and associated supports operated by Hope Mission. 
• The project forms part of a broader campus-based model of care that will co-locate shelter, health, recovery and housing services on a site previously identified through long-range planning and rezoned earlier this year to a Direct Control District to support this use. 
• The approval includes 21 specific conditions related to site operations, safety and community impacts, and applies only to the current phase of development.
• Read more details here: Council approves development permit for Project Nexus Phase 1

RCMP – Q4 Report 

• Council reviewed a Fourth Quarter report from Red Deer RCMP, which includes statistics and key activities of the Community Policing Priorities. 

Recommendation from Municipal Planning Commission 

• City Council considered a recommendation from the Municipal Planning Commission related to monitoring and enforcement of unregistered illegal suites in Red Deer neighbourhoods. The approved recommendation asked Council to direct administration to identify any additional resource needs for enhanced data collection, compliance monitoring and enforcement, with those resource needs to be considered during the 2027 Operating Budget process.
• Council also directed administration to review and report back with options for a process to identify and report non-compliant illegal suites, including safety concerns and associated enforcement matters, such as the Community Standards Bylaw, that does not rely solely on complaints from neighbouring property owners. 
• The recommendation came forward following Municipal Planning Commission discussions about backyard suite applications, where concerns were raised that existing records may not fully reflect the number of illegal suites in some neighbourhoods, which could affect neighbourhood planning, bylaw compliance and enforcement efforts.