Helping builders by putting an end to housing delays

Alberta’s new Stop Housing Delays online portal will allow developers, municipalities and other housing partners to report red tape and unnecessary home-building delays.

Alberta’s government is focused on ensuring Albertans have access to the housing they need, and that means working to streamline processes, cut red tape and reduce delays that are slowing housing construction down. As part of this work, government has launched a new online portal to help in these efforts.

The Stop Housing Delays online portal is now available for developers and municipal authorities to help identify areas that are preventing fast and efficient residential construction. This portal will help government identify and address barriers to building homes across the province.

“The Stop Housing Delays portal will allow Alberta’s government to hear directly from developers, municipalities and other partners on where delays are happening in the construction process. This will help identify and remove barriers, ultimately getting homes built faster and continuing Alberta’s record home-building pace.”

“Alberta’s government will continue to work with municipalities and find solutions to speed up the home-building process. The Stop Housing Delays portal will give us another tool to inform those discussions and identify areas where we can improve the pace of home building.”

Once developers, municipalities or industry partners have submitted their issue using the online form, government will collect and assess the information provided. Alberta’s government will be taking a collaborative, cross-ministry approach to ensure the appropriate departments are working together to find solutions where possible. Solutions may range from minor changes to policy reform.

Alberta’s government continues to support builders and encourage new residential housing construction by reducing red tape, incentivizing housing construction and supporting innovative strategies to build homes faster than ever.

“This webpage is an excellent opportunity to gather knowledge and further eliminate red tape. Government has been persistent in our approach of cutting red tape and removing roadblocks, and this will help to speed up residential construction. I look forward to hearing from developers and our other partners on how we can help get projects moving and Albertans in homes.”

Alberta continues to see strong housing starts and increases while other provinces across Canada are seeing a reduction in housing starts. The first half of 2024 saw 9,903 apartment unit starts in the province. This marks the highest amount in any half year in Alberta’s history, breaking the previous record of 9,750 set in 1977. Albertans will benefit from 33,577 new housing starts from January through September 2024, up 35 per cent from the same period last year. Alberta’s government remains focused on working with industry and non-profit partners to ensure that the province’s growing population has access to the housing it needs.

“This portal is a valuable tool for industry to highlight gaps, barriers and delays that may need to be prioritized and addressed by either local or provincial governments. Real solutions can only emerge through transparency, open communication and collaboration. This is an important step toward identifying the unique challenges each region and municipality faces in delivering attainable housing.”

Quick Facts

• Housing starts for January – September 2024 compared with January – September 2023
  • Provincewide: 33,577 compared with 24,904 (up 35 per cent)
  • Edmonton: 13,359 compared with 9,099 (up 47 per cent)
  • Calgary: 17,414 compared with 14,141 (up 23 per cent)
  • Lethbridge: 599 compared with 148 (up 305 per cent)
  • Red Deer: 314 compared with 146 (up 115 per cent)
• Data shows Alberta had 10,699 purpose-built rentals, making up 32 per cent of all housing starts.
• Since 2019, Alberta’s government has invested almost $850 million to build more than 5,100 units and close to 900 shelter spaces. This includes projects we have committed to, that are in progress and that are complete.
• Together with its partners, Alberta’s government is supporting $9 billion in investments into affordable housing to support 25,000 additional low-income households by 2031.

Related information

• Stop Housing Delays
• Stronger Foundations affordable housing strategy
• Affordable housing programs

Alberta has cut its methane emissions from the oil and gas sector in half, showing how to reduce emissions and keep powering the world.

As global demand for energy continues to rise, Alberta remains one of the most responsible producers in the world. The province was the first in Canada to set a methane emissions reduction target for the upstream oil and gas sector, and its approach has won international awards and recognition.

This is the message Alberta’s government will take to COP 29. The Alberta approach is working. It is possible to reduce methane emissions and grow the economy, all while delivering the safe, affordable, reliable energy the world will need for generations to come.

According to the latest data from the Alberta Energy Regulator, Alberta has now officially reduced methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 52 per cent since 2014, even as production has continued rising. The province’s common-sense approach is reducing emissions, creating jobs and growing the economy without punitive federal regulations or caps.

“We do not need Ottawa to tell us how to reduce emissions. In fact, the federal government should learn from Alberta’s success. By working closely with industry and focusing on technology, not costly taxes or unrealistic targets, we can achieve rapid emission reductions while delivering the safe, affordable, reliable energy the world needs.”

Under Alberta’s equivalency agreement with the Government of Canada, the province is in charge of regulating methane emissions. Alberta’s approach is working closely with industry and focusing on achievable results, including early action programs like carbon offsets, implementation of strong provincial regulatory requirements in place for all facilities, and improved leak detection and repair. This is estimated to have saved industry about $600 million compared with the alternative federal regulations that would otherwise have been required.

Since 2020, Alberta has invested $78 million from the industry-funded Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction program to improve methane monitoring and management. Almost 15,000 well sites and facilities have been reviewed across the province, preventing nearly 17 million tonnes of emissions from being released.

Continuing this momentum, the province recently announced $15 million in funding for the NGIF Emissions Testing Centre to help companies test technologies free of charge in both laboratory and live settings, attract investors and get methane emissions reduction technologies to market faster. Alberta is also engaging with industry to develop a flexible, forward-looking path that will keep reducing emissions while supporting responsible energy production.

“Tourmaline, like other producers in Western Canada, has been diligently reducing methane emission intensity across our field operations, and we are targeting a 55 per cent reduction from 2020 levels by 2027. We operate a world-leading methane emissions testing centre (ETC) at our West Wolf Lake gas plant near Edson, Alberta. At the ETC site, the latest technologies to better measure and mitigate future methane emissions are being developed.”

Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Schulz will travel to the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 29) from Nov. 10 to 16 to share Alberta’s success with the world. Alberta’s environment minister will use the largest global climate summit to promote the province’s effective approach to reducing emissions while keeping energy reliable, secure and affordable.

Alberta’s government is committed to working with national and international partners to advance shared interests that can lead to new opportunities for people and businesses around the world.

Minister Schulz will attend COP29 with one staff member and three department officials. Mission expenses will be posted on the travel and expense disclosure page.

Itinerary for Minister Schulz*

*Subject to change.

Quick facts

• The Alberta Energy Regulator monitors, compiles and reports methane emissions data by facility type, production type and area. It releases the ST60B report annually to ensure the public and stakeholders have the latest information about methane emissions from Alberta’s upstream oil and gas sector.
• Alberta carbon offset protocols resulted in more than 58,000 low- or no-bleed devices being installed, and more than 7 million offset credits have been serialized.
• Alberta uses a combination of bottom-up and top-down measurement, monitoring and verification techniques as part of methane measurement compliance data.

Related information

• Alberta Energy Regulator ST60B Report
• Reducing methane emissions