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City of Red Deer

Red Deer keeps winning: ParticipACTION grant unveiled

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Check out how Red Deer won the 2022 Community Better ParticipACTION Challenge and how you can access some of the $100,000 winnings if you are a Red Deer resident! We encourage everyone that wants to get people active in our City to apply for these mini grants. Deadline to apply is March 15th, 2023.

From We Are Red Deer

What’s the best way to help a community become more active? A team in Canada’s Most Active Community can tell you the secret is to get your neighbours directly involved.

Last July, Red Deer was chosen from more than 1,700 participating communities across Canada to win the $100,000 prize in the third annual ParticipACTION Community Better Challenge.

Denise Fredeen with Alberta Health Services (AHS) took part in the successful bid and, as she explains, the win came from a true community effort. Part of the work began with a ParticipACTION Saputo Signature grant to the AHS program, Move Your Mood, which encourages physical activity to improve everyone’s mental and physical health.

“We created mini-grant opportunities through Addictions and Mental Health for programs that reached the community directly,” says Fredeen. “We asked that participants track their activity for the City of Red Deer.”

While the AHS Move Your Mood program made connections through Addiction and Mental Health, the Red Deer Wellness Alliance — a team made up of The City of Red Deer, the Primary Care Network, Red Deer Public Library, Red Deer Polytechnic, the YMCA and several AHS partners from Public Health and Nutrition Services and the community — helped promote the overall Community Better Challenge to the people of Red Deer.

Supporting and building capacity in local programs proved a winning approach, one that helped find and remove barriers to exercise and got people across Red Deer active in many different ways. In addition to this strategy, the link to how physical activity improves mental health through the Move Your Mood program was cited by ParticipACTION as a factor that distinguished Red Deer’s entry.

The key to winning was also to find health champions in our community to help spread the word, and encourage people to get involved. That has been Fredeen’s mission over the past three years of championing this challenge. One of those key champions for the 2022 challenge was Mayor Ken Johnston. He got involved from the very start encouraging kids and families to get active in our community and join the challenge. Other key champions include both the Red Deer Public and Catholic School health champions, The City of Red Deer, Red Deer Polytechnic fitness staff, local businesses and gyms, community associations, service clubs and local citizens that always step up to encourage physical activity like Val Jensen and Bre Fitzpatrick to name a few of the amazing champions in our community!

“We won this challenge by coming together as a community – and now you can come up with your own amazing ideas and put these winning funds to work right here in our community, shared with the people that made it happen,” said Mayor Ken Johnston.

The Community Better Advisory Committee has created mini grants that individuals and organizations can apply for and use to promote exercise in their community.

“Anyone can apply for a grant, so a community can have a lot of applications — but we succeeded when we found each other and worked together,” added Fredeen.

Applications for these grants are open now, and details can be found on The City’s website here: Community Better ParticipACTION Grant – The City of Red Deer

The ParticipACTION Community Better Challenge is an annual competition and Fredeen encourages all Alberta communities to become involved. See more information on their website.

City of Red Deer

Nominations are in for the by-election to replace beloved citizen and City Councillor Michael Dawe

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Nominations are in for the 2024 By-Election

The nominations are in for the historic By-Election that will take place in Red Deer on April 22, 2024.

“This is history in the making,” said Jessica Robinson, Returning Officer for The City of Red Deer. “For the first time, Red Deer residents will take to the polls to fill a vacant Councillor seat, and these 10 candidates have added their names on the ballot.”

The 10 candidates running for Councillor in the upcoming By-Election are:

  • BUCHANAN, S.H. (Buck)
  • CHILIBECK, Jason
  • COLLINGS, Mark
  • CULLEN-SAIK, Linda
  • HUIZING, Hans
  • KRAHN, Chad
  • MACDONALD, Ashley
  • MILANEY, Liam (The Level)
  • TWEEDLE, Jaelene
  • YZERMAN, Calvin

By-Election Day is Monday, April 22, 2024, with advance voting days on April 18, 19 and 20.

Residents are encouraged to visit elections.reddeer.ca for information about the Election including the full list of candidates, voting opportunities, and frequently asked questions.

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City of Red Deer

Land Use Bylaw changes to promote more housing options and more overlap between commercial, industrial and residential

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Public Hearing on updated Land Use Bylaw on April 15

At Monday’s regular City Council meeting, City Council passed first reading on the Land Use Bylaw, also known as the Zoning Bylaw, triggering a legislatively required public hearing to be held on April 15.

Notable proposed changes include:

  • Reducing 11 residential districts to 9 zones
  • Reducing 7 commercial districts to 6 zones
  • Reducing 5 industrial districts to 3 zones
  • More permitted uses in each zone
  • More gentle density options to provide increased housing options, including house suites, backyard suites, tiny homes, and duplexes
  • Increased building heights, that considers sightlines and privacy of existing dwellings
  • Greater flexibility for development applications
  • New regulations to gently transition existing neighbourhoods to maintain characte

A summary of all proposed changes can be viewed online at reddeer.ca/LUBreview.

Items not changing in the proposed Zoning Bylaw include:

  • Waskasoo and Woodlea Character Statements
  • Signage regulations
  • Any property with existing regulations

With the passing of first reading, the public is invited to provide additional input at the Public Hearing during the regular City Council meeting on April 15, 2024. Following the Public Hearing, City Council can consider additional amendments to the proposed bylaw.

“The changes won’t result in drastic changes to our cityscape overnight, but instead will lead to slow and gentle changes, including making development easier and allow for more permitted uses,” said Emily Damberger, Manager of City Planning & Growth. “We invite our public to read the proposed bylaw, including the summary of potential changes in advance of the Public Hearing on April 15.”

The proposed Land Use Bylaw or Zoning Bylaw can be viewed in its entirety on reddeer.ca/LUBreview.

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