Housing and affordability were at the top of the agenda as municipal leaders from across Canada met in Ottawa issues to discuss common issues and share strategies with their counterparts.
St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron and councillors Wes Brodhead and Ken MacKay attended this year's Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) conference and trade show, held from May 29 to June 1.
The annual conference and trade show gathers elected officials from over 2,100 municipalities across Canada to discuss policy and take part in workshops and study tours.
Brodhead said the conference is always enlightening because municipalities are "all experiencing similar issues." He said housing and the affordability crisis were big topics at this year's event, a sentiment Heron echoed.
"It was, as always, exhausting and busy, but it was a really good one this year," Heron said.
Heron said the timing for this year's conference was good with the federal election being decided a month ago, and Prime Minister Mark Carney present at the conference.
During his address, Carney talked about working with municipalities to further build and develop affordable housing in communities across Canada. This included doubling down on the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), which grants municipalities money for affordable housing initiatives. St. Albert received $11.8 million from the fund in March.
Getting that kind of federal money in the future is going to be more difficult since Alberta's Bill 18 took effect on April 1, 2025. The Provincial Priorities Act requires provincial entities to obtain permission before entering into agreements with the federal government.
When asked if this came up during the conference, Brodhead said Carney spoke about the need to work with provinces, mostly in the context of reducing provincial trade barriers, but not much came up about the added difficulty for Alberta municipalities to obtain federal grants.
"It's the environment in which we live, and we may not particularly like it," he said. "But that's the way it is and we're going to have to work it out so that we can get our needs addressed."
"[Carney] seems to recognize the value of municipalities," Heron said.
She said the conference being in Ottawa also gave her a chance to touch base with St. Albert-Sturgeon River MP Michael Cooper and Senator Kristopher Wells.
MacKay said a notable workshop he attended was one of Ottawa's "digital twin," which is a 3D digital mapping of the buildings and deep infrastructure such as the pipes of Ottawa. He said one of the values of the conference is seeing workshops and tours like those and seeing how they can help your own municipality.
"Obviously something not on that scale, but the technology is scalable," MacKay said.
From discussing technological advancements to issues such as affordable housing, MacKay said "it's important we get information as to what is impacting other communities. Are they the same things impacting us? Which I find that they are, and then how are they dealing with those challenges and opportunities?"
