This is Edmonton

It’s cold and when temperatures drop in the city many scramble to make sure people can stay warm. Edmonton has been making moves to beef up daytime winter warming spaces to serve a growing homeless population — meanwhile the province says shelters have more than enough room. So what’s actually needed? And who’s responsible for making that happen? CBC reporter Emily Williams joins us to take a bigger look at the recurring challenge.

At the end of the year, it can be hard to remember everything that happened. So for our final episode of 2025, we wanted to help! We enlisted three reporters from the CBC Edmonton newsroom to share a story that defined the year, and why it's sticking with them. Whether it was a big deal, a lot of fun or made a difference. Join us as we look back, and prepare to move forward into 2026.

This time of year, there’s a lot of talk about the food bank. Edmonton’s Food Bank was actually the first in Canada, and what started as a temporary answer to hunger has become a massive support system for community members. We sit down with the executive director of Edmonton’s Food Bank, Marjorie Bencz, to talk about how food insecurity has changed and how the organization has grown.

If you’d like to donate to your local food bank as part of CBC’s Make The Season Kind Campaign, you can go to www.cbc.ca/kind/yeg.

This year Edmonton has had the deadliest year on record since introducing Vision Zero, a plan to prevent deaths from traffic-related serious injuries and fatalities. At the same time, things are changing provincially and locally that affect how we manage our streets. This week we look at why Edmonton’s roads feel more dangerous than before.

In recent weeks the provincial government has used the notwithstanding clause four times, after not touching it for more than two decades. Section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a powerful piece of legislation – so why use it now to put teachers back to work, and to push forward legislation impacting transgender youth? This week we take a deep dive into our province’s history with the notwithstanding clause. Plus we speak to an Edmonton law student about their own deep dive into Section 33, and why they wanted to help others understand it.

Bless you! It’s cold, flu and COVID season in Edmonton — and now measles is also on the radar. As we enter into an infectious time, there seems to be less desire to get vaccinated than ever. We sit down with microbiologist Jason Tetro to talk about the germy season, vaccination hesitancy and what it means that the measles have returned.

Food affordability is top of mind these days and in the last six years food prices in Alberta have increased more than 30 per cent. So how does that affect our diets, and where we choose to shop and eat? This week Clare speaks to Mary Bailey, editor and publisher of The Tomato Food and Drink. She’s been following Edmonton food and restaurants for decades, and weighs in on the impact that rising costs has on our culinary decisions and the city’s food scene.

Hospital safety is a growing concern in Edmonton, especially for health-care workers. Now the Royal Alexandra Hospital downtown is testing out a high-tech weapons screening system in their emergency department, hoping the added security can better protect patients and staff. CBC reporter Liam Newbigging breaks down what health-care workers are facing, and how new technology like AI could improve things.

This week, the Alberta government fast-tracked Bill 2, the Back to School Act, which sends about 750,000 students and 50,000 teachers back to the classroom. It ended a contract dispute and three weeks of job action, invoking the notwithstanding clause to do it. CBC reporter Emma Zhao joins host Clare Bonnyman to break down what’s in the bill and reaction to it. Plus, an Edmonton psychologist talks about taking care of teachers, parents and students during uncertain times. 

Election night in Edmonton was interesting to say the least. Many voters waited in long lines before casting their ballots and new rules put in place by the government meant every vote had to be hand-counted, meaning a winner wasn’t clear until well into the next day. On this episode, host Clare Bonnyman breaks down some of the issues and the reaction to Edmonton’s 2025 Election.