Residents in some south Edmonton neighbourhoods near the University of Alberta are sounding the alarm over new infill properties where individual bedroom are being rented out rooming house-style — in some cases by the day and even the hour.

People living in Belgravia and McKernan who spoke to Global News feel some of the developments are deceptive.

“As it’s being built, they’re not advertised that they’re going to be rooming houses,” explained McKernan resident Rhonda Bell.

“They say seven or eight units —a multi-family dwelling. But what they’re actually building is about 32 rooms at a time.

“Each bedroom has it’s own ensuite. So it’s misleading.”

Global News found classified posts on Facebook Marketplace and Kijiji advertising daily and even hourly rentals for individual bedrooms within a newly constructed infill in the McKernan neighbourhood.

“It’s really questionable — who’s going to be included as a tenant?” Bell wondered.

“It can become a revolving door and that’s really not safe.”

The ads say the kitchen, bathroom and laundry is shared. There is no mention of living rooms. Costs range from $35-$65 per night. The number of bedrooms in the building was not clear.

Frustrated community members sent the advertisements to their city councillor, Michael Janz.

“Ultimately, we need more accountability around landlords,” Janz said.

“We need more accountability around property owners. We need to make sure that the ad matches the delivery.”

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Rooming houses, formally called “lodging houses” are a unique development in Edmonton, as they require different safety measures.

The city defines a lodging house as a building, or part of a building, containing four or more “sleeping units” in which each is rented individually.

According to the city, the McKernan property on the online ad is listed as a four-plex and zones for Small Scale Residential (RS), but there is an application in development for a partial change to a lodging house.

There were various numbers to contact on the Kijiji ads, including some saying text-only.

A woman listed as a contact declined an interview, but told Global News she has a short-term rental license.

After Global News reached out to the phone numbers on Monday, the postings on Kijiji and Marketplace were all taken down within an hour.

Councillor Janz said that is suspect.

“I think neighbours deserve a sense of transparency and predictability and fairness about who their neighbours are, who’s in the community, what the nature of your building is.”

1:51
Edmonton man buys neighbour’s house to prevent infill development

He also worries about what impact developments like this have on the subject of infill — something that’s been highly controversial in Edmonton for years.

“I think cases like this, even if they’re one or two off anecdotes, do not help.

“They undermine the social license, they undermine the public sense of surety, they make other neighbours worried.”

Janz has been fielding infill concerns from his constituents for some time now, which last year led to him bringing forward a motion at city hall.

Now, a report will be coming forward outlining exactly what a lodging house is, and where it can be built.

In the meantime, neighbours feel there are loopholes in existing rules being exploited that the city should have caught.

“They approved the plans, knowing full well that there would be 32 bedrooms and 32 bathrooms,” Bell explained, adding the city spokesperson she was directed to said they were shocked to hear properties were being rented by the room.

“That wasn’t the plan and you can see it from the drawings of the buildings. That was never the plan. Don’t pretend it was the plan. Honesty is the best policy,” she said.

The infill home next to her has been renting individual rooms monthly to students. She said that’s created issues over parking, garbage, landscaping and snow removal.

By using unregulated classified sites to rent through, like Kijiji or Facebook Marketplace, as opposed to established short-term rental companies like Airbnb, Bell said there’s no recourse for neighbours or tenants with concerns.

Regardless of the designation, Bell said the actual use of the property is what matters.

“When it walks like a duck and moves like a duck and quacks like a duck — at some point people have to call it a duck,” she said.

“Call it what it is, then that will help the city set out appropriate bylaws for operating it — not just for building it.”

2:06
Edmonton homeowner worries neighbouring 8-plex infill will block his solar panels

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For two days, the city council urban planning committee heard from several speakers about Edmonton’s residential zoning regulations as it reviewed amendments that would see more restrictions placed on infill development.

On the table are a few changes, including dropping the maximum number of units midblock to six from the existing eight, while also increasing the minimum size of a unit.

Over the course of two days, 70 speakers took time to voice their concerns and it became clear the amendments are not popular with some people on either side of the infill debate.

Coun. Aaron Paquette said there are no wrong arguments.

“Whether you’re dealing with the facts and the figures and the needs of the city or you’re dealing with the change of a neighbourhood or the feeling of not knowing what’s going to happen, those are all valid concerns,” Paquette said.

2:11
Edmonton infill debate returns before a new council at city hall

Council has been tasked with balancing the need for more affordable housing that developers actually want to build and people are willing to buy or rent with the concerns of existing residents about property values, not enough parking, predatory developers, quality of builds and housing affordability.

Paquette noted Edmonton is dealing with a massive population catch-up from hundreds of thousands of new people moving to Alberta in recent years, while there are also federal grants for multi-unit builds that developers are being enticed to take advantage of.

“So we see this natural spike based on those artificial or unusual circumstances. When those go away — and they will, like the pressure of the population and the pressure of that grant — we get back into a normal state of development and so what happens there? And should we change policy mid-stream in an unusual time? Or do we see how it plays out over the next six months and then revisit?”

Representatives from Edmonton’s development community argue that further restrictions could impact their profitability, which would in turn drive up the cost of infill housing.

2:05
City of Edmonton receives feedback on proposed infill changes

Meanwhile, owners of mature homes said six units on a single lot that previously contained a single-family home is still too many. Some argued that a unit reduction doesn’t even necessarily equate to smaller buildings.

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“It’s all about the massing,” said Kathy Hawksworth, who lives in the south Edmonton Parkallen neighbourhood and is with the Residential Infill Working Group.

“A huge building is a huge building whether it has one, two, six or eight dwellings in it.”

Hawksworth noted large infills can affect the privacy and sunlight of neighbouring yards, affecting plants and energy efficiency investments, like solar panels.

“The loss of gardens, the loss of solar: these have real impacts for residents that are quite apart from whether it’s six units or eight units, or in fact one unit or two.

“It’s all about the massing size, the sheer volume of these huge buildings.”

2:06
Edmonton homeowner worries neighbouring 8-plex infill will block his solar panels

A handful of presenters at the urban planning committee on Monday and Tuesday were from the Residential Infill Working Group.

They said the issue is largely the size of the multi-family housing buildings popping up next to bungalows or other much smaller existing homes.

“Infill can fit in nicely, we just need to do it nicely. We just need to do it right,” said Beverly Zubot, who is with the Residential Infill Working Group. “We need some tweaks in the zoning bylaw to make that happen.

“We’re hoping we can sit down with city administration and the development industry, builders, to come up with those metrics.

“The kind of things that will work for everybody.”

They presented a number of potential solutions, including lining up front setbacks with existing homes and splitting housing among a front home and back garage suite, with yard in the middle — breaking up big walls that block sunlight.

“The best format is to have four [units] in the front and two in the rear, and I guess that’s why we’re really encouraging the six-unit cap because that creates the building pattern that now exists in our lovely mature neighbourhoods with trees, with large enough space in between the rear building and the front building for landscaping, amenity areas, gardening, et cetera,” Zubot said.

Other speakers expressed a desire to leave the existing zoning rules as they are, feeling they’ve been successful in developing more homes in mature neighbourhoods and more affordable rents.

When councillors on the urban planning committee began questioning city administration Tuesday afternoon, many of their queries surrounded how amendments would effect change that actually remedies problems Edmontonians are bringing forward.

In the end, the committee decided to send the debate to city council, where the public hearing process will start over again.

1:51
Edmonton man buys neighbour’s house to prevent infill development

In 2023, the City of Edmonton changed zoning bylaws to allow for more multi-unit buildings up to three storeys in all neighbourhoods.

The aim was to encourage a variety of development to be built more easily in residential areas.

Since then, there’s been mixed reaction to the increase in multi-unit buildings replacing single-family homes.

Infill ended up being a contentious topic during the 2025 fall municipal election campaign after residents of established communities expressed concerns with property values, not enough parking, predatory developers, quality of builds and housing affordability.

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When Mike Thomas’ elderly neighbour got sick and needed to sell his small bungalow on a wide lot in east Edmonton, Thomas immediately became concerned about the home being torn down and replaced with something much bigger.

Thomas said he has invested a lot into his own bungalow over the years: an addition, gardens, a back patio and solar panels on the roof.

He felt like he had no avenue to stop a developer if they purchased the home to the south and wanted to build a multi-family housing complex.

“I would be losing enjoyment of my entire property,” Thomas said.

“My property value would plummet for resale — even if the house is nice — because I’ve got a monster next to me that completely blocks all the light.”

So, he made a life-changing decision — risking his financial future by buying his neighbour’s home in the Bergman neighbourhood.

Thomas had to come up with $75,000 in three months to make the purchase.

“I’m not special and I’m not wealthy — and that killed me.”

He now rents the bungalow next door, at a discount, to a family of Ukrainian refugees.

7:13
Infill, taxes & public safety dominate Edmonton politics in 2025

In 2023, the City of Edmonton changed zoning bylaws to allow for more multi-unit buildings up to three storeys in all neighbourhoods.

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The aim was to encourage a variety of development to be built more easily in residential areas.

Since then, there’s been mixed reaction to the increase in multi-unit buildings replacing single-family homes.

Infill ended up being a contentious topic during the 2025 fall municipal election campaign after residents of established communities expressed concerns with property values, not enough parking, predatory developers, quality of builds and housing affordability.

1:54
Mixed reaction to Edmonton city council zoning bylaw changes

Some Edmonton homeowners in established, upscale areas like Crestwood and Glenora have even gone so far as to explore placing restrictive covenants on their properties to prevent future development.

The legally binding agreement goes on a property title and limits how a property is used or developed, even after it is sold to a new owner.

Neighbourhoods United has volunteers from 50 mature neighbourhoods who are amplifying their concerns about infill together.

Treasurer Dallas Moravec said their group knows of other frustrated residents doing something similar.

“I’ve heard a few different communities who have started some of these investor groups who put together some money,” Moravec said. “They’re looking to protect their neighbours’ houses that potentially they want to sell.”

“It speaks to the unpredictability of the zoning bylaws.”

1:37
More proposed infill changes headed to Edmonton city committee

Edmonton’s urban planning committee will be reviewing the city’s controversial zoning and infill policies on Feb. 9.

Reports indicate city staff recommend dropping the maximum number of units on a single lot from eight to six mid-block.

For more information, watch the video at the top of this story.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.