What’s next for the leader of the world’s greatest city
As he lounges back with his legs crossed, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi grips the armrests of his easy chair. By this point in the day, I’m one of many interviews with the local media, one after another, who have barraged him with questions today. I wonder if he’s feeling fatigued yet and bracing for the next one — or just bracing for what comes next in general.
He just announced the recent budget, including a property tax hike of 6.1 per cent, which has left a sour taste in the mouth of Ward pihêsiwin city councillor Tim Cartmell, who criticized the budget. But it was hard fought.
The first proposed increase was 13 per cent, Sohi says, which got sent back to city planners who worked it down to 8.1, before he personally motioned a gut-sucking omnibus motion to fit the budget into the current hike.
Sohi says the council made the decision not to cut services or “cut corners” on labour, and that has led to higher than projected, anticipated property tax increases.
“And people have not been happy about that, and I acknowledge that,” Sohi says to me. “That has always been a difficult balance. And that’s what I have been trying to strive for over the last three years.”
However, if Sohi’s Fair Compensation Project campaign to get the provincial government to pay its property taxes works, the budget might begin to look digestible.
I have to wonder if what I’m noticing is fatigue — or if it’s fight.
He has been pushing the province to retroactively pay what it cut in 2019 (to the tune of $80 million) over the past three years. If that happens, Sohi now says he can bring that number down to 5.3 per cent and even replenish some of the city’s rainy day fund.
The province accesses “municipal services, and they need to pay the cost of accessing those municipal services with provincial buildings,” he says.
So, with this budget, along with many other issues Sohi has faced over the past three years, much of his success is dependent on the UCP government.
“I’m confident that [the] province will step up, pay their taxes to the city,” Sohi says.
We’re students, of course, so an interview with His Worship Mayor Amarjeet Sohi (his official title) isn’t exactly a regular Monday, and the last time I was in City Hall was before I’d even learned long division.
Between the construction, icy roads, and downtown one-ways, our editor’s 2007 Honda Civic missed the parkade entrance, but we found a spot in front of the art gallery. We sat waiting in City Hall feeling out of place, dressed either formally, in business casual, or plain casual, while our digital content editor Zach wore work clothes and a bright orange toque.
Churchill Square was dusted with snow, under a cloud of hazy warm(er) air spitting from the Stanley Milner Library. It looked arctic and serene, with no folks braving the weather for a skate on the glassy-looking rink at the base of city hall. The heart of winter in a winter city — perfect for our date with the mayor.
Security was kind enough to hold onto a pocket knife for us (whoops, how’d that get in there?) and still let us see the leader of the city. When we were done, we left, forgetting our notes and clipboard while also earning ourselves a parking ticket. . . from the city.
Politicking
Sitting with us in his office, parallel to the window vista of a frozen Churchill Square, Sohi won’t say what his plans to run again in the October election are, or even if he’d consider forming or joining a political party.
Municipal parties, which now exist thanks to new legislation from the province, could offer a major political advantage over candidates who don’t, Sohi says. But it comes at a price.
He says, “The beauty of local government is that it’s so non-partisan,” adding that he’s worried that parties could make municipal issues hotbeds for partisan politics, distracting from the issues of the city.
Buses running on time, police officers and firefighters showing up, clean and safe ways of getting around town, infrastructure, libraries, and rec centres — this is what the City of Edmonton is in charge of. According to Sohi, it shouldn’t have much to do with Canada’s big political parties.
Aside from his colleague on council, Tim Cartmell, and the new mysterious Principled Accountable Coalition for Edmonton (PACE) party, we don’t really know much about the competition for mayor. Even if they’re not the big parties we’re used to, they’re here, and Sohi is down in the polls.
He says, “The beauty of local government is that it’s so non-partisan,” adding that he’s worried that parties could make municipal issues hotbeds for partisan politics, distracting from the issues of the city.
Last summer, Edmontonians told pollsters they were uncertain about four more years of Sohi, with only 16 per cent saying they’d vote for him again. In the fall, another poll from Citynews had 60 per cent saying Sohi should be replaced, and only a quarter said this council should be re-elected.
“The last few years have been very difficult for Edmontonians,” Sohi says when I ask him about how he’s been responding to the polls. He mentions COVID-19, high inflation, and the multi-affordability crisis.
“[It’s] not unique to Edmonton alone; every municipality and every person in Canada, the U.S. and others are facing that.” He relates it back to his balancing act — the struggle to keep stable services and ensure sensible spending.
Unique to Edmonton, however, are some of the legacy issues Sohi says this council inherited — an $88 million dollar deficit over COVID-19 and underfunded public services. Since coming into office, he’s spent more funds on transit, the fire department, and policing to fill the gaps.
The spending, which the council has argued is necessary, has left Edmonton with larger than normal, year-after-year tax increases.
The police budget accounts for the largest portion of the city’s expenses and has swelled in recent years. When Amarjeet Sohi promised safer streets for 2024, he delivered.
Overall, crime in Edmonton has dropped by 13 per cent from last year to this year. Violent incidents on ETS are down 21 per cent as well, thanks to more funding. There are 50 more transit officers, and the EPS is making more active arrests on outstanding warrants.
The trend is moving in the right direction, but Sohi says there is still room for improvement.
While 2024 saw safer streets, it still started rough.
Ours was the only city hall in the country last year where bullets shattered glass and firebombs scorched the marble when a gunman attacked, seriously injuring no one before being arrested. A day after, Sohi called it a “traumatizing event” for city hall, and the city council spent much of the early months working via video cameras.
Weeks prior to the attack, Edmonton was in the throes of a housing crisis as rapidly growing encampments were torn down over the winter holidays. The situation bloated into a disaster as temperatures plummeted in January, and city council voted nine-to-four to call an emergency, proposed by the mayor.
The city took down over 9,500 encampments last year, which was a 40 per cent increase over 2023. It also cost Edmontonians 240 per cent more to clean the camps up. Since January 2024, the number of people without a house has nearly doubled, according to Homeward Trust.

When I mention the numbers, he knows the score. Nothing I run by Sohi is news to him.
“We are seeing increased amputation. We are seeing increased hospitalization,” he says. “We are seeing an increased number of people dying because they are unhoused.”
When I ask him what might be different this year with encampments, he doesn’t give a direct answer and hasn’t changed his stance since last winter.
“We all know that encampments are not desirable places, places for anyone to live. But, people make those very difficult choices because they have no other choices,” Sohi says, echoing a statement he made in January, which prompted criticism from provincial ministers Mike Ellis and Jason Nixon.
Aside from his strive for balance, Sohi has also been bullish on getting more houses built. For him, the conversation on housing affordability rests on getting more supply. That effort also showed results in 2024.
At an international level, Edmonton is praised for having quick development timelines. So when I ask Sohi about his biggest accomplishment in 2024, he points out how Edmonton saw the highest number of houses built in 2024 and built them faster than any other major urban centre in Canada.
However, the two biggest gaps in the city’s housing portfolio are arguably where it could make the biggest difference in homelessness. There is a lack of urban density in downtown Edmonton, a lack of lower-end affordable rentals (with rental prices increasing), and a lack of supportive housing, which Sohi agrees are problems.
“Without affordable, supportive housing for people to stabilize their lives and get better and seek help, you cannot end houselessness,” he says.
“And that has been lacking. We need about 200 temporary interim housing options units that we can build, and we were hoping that the province and the federal government will have that agreement set up very quickly,” Sohi says. “But unfortunately, it’s been delayed.”
In September, the federal government announced $250 million to address encampments and help homeless folks access support and transitional housing. Provinces were able to access it by agreeing to match funds. In October, the federal government reached an agreement with Alberta, but cities are still waiting for the money.
“We are already there. Let the provincial and federal governments step up and leverage ministerial resources to build more homes and create more opportunities downtown.”
Now that the federal government is on ice until March, it’s unlikely that Sohi will see the money before the next city elections.
Aside from the needed affordable housing, Sohi sees potential for more student-oriented housing downtown near MacEwan and Norquest in what’s being referred to by a Downtown Investment Plan as an “education district.”
According to the mayor, that work is already underway and there might be potential for more student housing to come out of it. Sohi has made a motion for city planners to work alongside the two downtown schools to create more housing options.
“The system needs to change in order for us to be effective, in order to deliver on those expectations. But I don’t know when that system will change,”
Mayor Sohi
Of course, it’d be much more likely if there was more federal or provincial funding. As with everything, the city is very dependent on the other levels of government.
Towns and cities in Alberta only fund themselves in two ways: service fees and property taxes. Unlike income taxes, neither grows as the economy does. It creates a limited amount of revenue without relying on tax hikes or on the bigger governments to step in.

And over the years, Edmonton has grown. Over 100,000 people moved here in under two years, and the intake isn’t slowing down. People expect more from the city as well. As the city grows, we require more complex and effective transit systems, more funding for housing, and increased budgets for policing, all within a limited budget.
“The system needs to change in order for us to be effective, in order to deliver on those expectations. But I don’t know when that system will change,” says Sohi.
As we chat, it’s hard not to notice his energy. He leans back and speaks in his usual calm and collected manner. He grips his chair when something seems to strike a chord. I have to wonder if what I’m noticing is fatigue — or if it’s fight.
After all, before we get to ask ourselves if we want another four years of Mayor Sohi, the man himself needs to ask that question first. While he hasn’t made the commitment yet, he’s certainly been battling these past few months. He hasn’t acted like a man who’s ready to go down.
He’s suing three private citizens for defamation in an effort to protect his public image. He sent Danielle Smith a letter last April listing ways the province could help with the city’s finances.
And whether it’s his personal effort to wrangle in increases to taxes or his campaign pleading for proper funding from the province, he hasn’t been going peacefully into the night.
Sohi says he’ll have a talk with his family over the coming weeks and reflect on his time in office and whether he plans to give it another go or not — he says we can expect to hear about it in the first quarter of 2025.
Photos by Amanda Erickson
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