Hope Mission seeks permanent 120-bed south Edmonton shelter; council hearing Monday

Hope Mission will ask Edmonton city council Monday to rezone a south-side industrial property to run a permanent 120-bed emergency shelter, after operating a temporary facility there since 2023.

The charity's application will face a public hearing at city hall. If approved, the zoning change would allow Hope Mission to operate the shelter at its logistics centre near Argyll Road and 75th Street around the clock.

"We see this as a really critical need in Edmonton," said Tim Pasma, Hope Mission's senior director. "Each year a new record is set for the number of people seeking emergency shelter. We've seen a significant need for emergency housing on the south side." The organization also wants to decentralize support services by placing shelter spaces outside downtown.

Local businesses are pushing back. The city received 33 responses to the rezoning notice in April; 32 opposed it. Seventeen raised concerns about public safety, security, and crime. Sam Ranawaka, director at Alberta Wheels, a nearby business, told the city: "We are concerned that bringing an emergency shelter into this industrial area will increase these incidents and create additional security and safety concerns for local businesses."

Pasma said Hope Mission has engaged with over 40 businesses and groups in the area and held an open house. He compared the planned shelter to the charity's CarePoint Wellness Centre, which opened on November 27, 2024, in West Edmonton with 120 beds, meals, laundry, medical care, and ID services. "It's intended to be calmer and quieter," he said.

Sarah Tickiq Long, a CarePoint client who has been homeless since May, urged compassion. "Not everybody who is homeless is somebody who is going to negatively impact the community," she said.

Hope Mission secured provincial funding for the shelter but would need to renovate before opening, potentially as early as this winter. The province has not yet publicly stated the funding amount.