Edmonton off-leash dog parks could fill a need in outer city neighbourhoods, pilot shows

Edmonton's growing population could use more space for their canine companions to let loose, a new city report shows. 

The City of Edmonton created 19 pop-up dog parks last year from May to October 2023, and determined that 14 of them were in medium-to-high demand from local residents. 

The sites are mostly in neighbourhoods with no existing off-leash areas. 

The city chose the sites based on population, number of dog licenses, requests from Edmontonians and ensuring they're a 15-minute or 1.25-kilometre walk from residences.

Michael Janz, councillor for Ward papastew, said it's a sign the city needs more off-leash spaces. 

"As a city, we spend millions and millions of dollars on spray parks, on playgrounds, on park benches and beautifying public spaces," Janz told CBC news in an interview Monday. 

"Yet we know in Edmonton there's as many dogs, if not more dogs than there are children. So we know that dogs are really important: that they build community, that they bring neighbours together."

Edmonton currently has more than 50 off-leash areas, the city website says. 

The city's end-of-season pop-up parks evaluation shows on average, 60 per cent of 2,842 respondents to a survey, posted online and done on paper, said they'd like to have the parks in the same location. 

The pop-up off-leash areas were on parkland that's not being used for other programmed recreational activities, the city report said. 

Approval of the piloted sites varied.

The city recommends several sites be turned into fenced, ongoing parks in the following neighbourhoods: Summerside, Charlesworth, Bulyea Heights, Windermere, Secord, Webber Greens, Britannia Youngstown, Jamieson Place and Meadowlark Park.

Others with medium-to-high demand could be made into temporary seasonal or year-round sites, the report says. 

Those include Carlton, Glastonbury, Ambleside, Glenridding Heights and South Terwillegar.