City services and 311

Canadian municipalities concentrate non-emergency contact in a single service line. Where a city runs 311, that number reaches every municipal department, and the people answering can route a request to the right one. For Edmonton that is City of Edmonton.

Numbers and contacts

• City services (311)311, or 780-442-5311 from outside Edmonton (TTY 711)

  311 answers Monday to Saturday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and is closed Sundays and statutory holidays.

  Official page

• Police non-emergency (Edmonton Police Service)780-423-4567, or #377 from a mobile phone inside Edmonton

  Thefts, mischief and some frauds under $5,000 can also be reported online; 911 is for emergencies.

  Official page

• City hall1 Sir Winston Churchill Square, Edmonton, AB T5J 2R7 — 780-496-8178

  This is the Office of the City Clerk on the 3rd floor of City Hall, the number the City publishes for City Hall.

  Official page

• Edmonton Transit Service (BusLink)780-496-1600

  Listed by the City among the services that sit outside 311; DATS is 780-496-4567 and Transit Watch is 780-442-4900.

  Official page

• Arc fare card call centre1-888-302-0001

  Arc is the Edmonton region fare card; refunds and lost-card issues go through this line.

  Official page

Official city services

These go directly to the municipality’s own pages for the services residents use most. Fares, fees, hours and collection schedules change, so each link is the live source rather than a snapshot copied here.

• ETS fares and passes — Arc card, Arc tickets and cash fares, including the airport route 747.
• ETS trip planner — The City links this trip planner from its 311 page; it also shows service alerts.
• ETS alerts and service impacts — Detours, bus stop closures and LRT elevator outages.
• Waste collection and recycling — Curbside and apartment collection, missed pickups and the collection calendar.
• Snow clearing service levels — Includes the live snow clearing maps and the seasonal parking ban phases.
• Building and development permits — Permit questions are handled by phone through 311 or by a booked appointment at the Edmonton Service Centre.
• Edmonton Public Library — The library is an independent board, not a City department.

Getting a request acted on

A municipal request is only as useful as its location. Whatever the issue — a pothole, a broken streetlight, missed collection, a water main leak, an unshovelled sidewalk — the details that get it fixed are the same:

• The exact address, or the nearest intersection, plus which side of the street.
• What the problem is and when you first noticed it.
• A photo, where the problem is visible — most cities accept attachments online.
• Whether it is on public property or private. Cities can only act on what they own, and this is the most common reason a request is closed without action.
• A reference number. Keep it: it is what you quote when you follow up.

What is not the city’s job

A surprising share of complaints go to the wrong body. In most Canadian cities, the following are handled by someone else entirely:

• Police, fire and medical emergencies — 911. Not the city service line.
• Highways and provincial roads — the province, not the municipality. City crews maintain local roads only.
• Electricity, natural gas and telecoms — the utility or the provider. See the driving and utilities information for who regulates them in Alberta.
• Landlord and tenant disputes — a provincial tribunal, not the city.
• Schools and hospitals — school boards and regional health authorities.