Lack of city building inspectors delaying Edmonton housing construction during boom

Edmonton is in the middle of a home construction boom that could be the biggest it's ever seen.

With the city's population surging, experts say it's still not meeting demand and it's also causing delays for building permits and inspections.

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"Eight months into 2024, I'm pleased to report that our combined effort has put Edmonton on track to setting a record year in terms of both housing starts and total building permits," Kim Petrin, the city's deputy manager, told media uring a presentation on Thursday.

The city has seen more than 9,800 housing starts across all sectors of new builds, and keeping the momentum going is key, but the boom is not without issues. It is automating many permitting processes, but that isn't stopping another backlog: a shortage of building inspectors.

"Are there longer wait times for building inspections this year than there was last year? There are and part of that is that increased time, the increased applications, but we are doing what we can to manage that," Lyla Peter, the city's director of approvals and inspections, told media on Thursday.

Kalen Anderson, the chief executive officer of BILD Edmonton – which represents the real estate development industry in the area – said building inspection backlogs are "currently an issue."

"I know there are frustrations with it, I know there is some understanding with it that we are going through a very high growth time, but on the other hand, we have to meet the moment," Anderson said.

A memo sent out by the city earlier this month to the homebuilders association says a 34 per cent increase in building starts and applications has meant drops to service levels from the city.

Anderson gives one current wait-time scenario:

"Typically, the target for a plumbing inspection would be something in the range of three days, and we are seeing up to weeks that we are waiting, so yes, that is one of the issues we were seeing during summertime," she told CTV News Edmonton.

Anderson says if these wait times continue, it could put a hitch in the step of the housing boom. The city says it's working on finding enough highly skilled inspectors.

"We are having longer service levels than we have had in the past due to this building boom," Peter said.

"We do post our service levels online. We are one of the few cities that do that as part of our transparency, and we are responding as we can through these other improvements as well to speed through the process."