Edmonton’s mayor says the city is set to become the first city in Canada to, essentially, ban the sale of knives in convenience stores, after several community groups raised concerns last year.
On Monday, the community and public services committee voted unanimously to recommend bylaw changes — brought forward by city administration — be approved by city council as a whole at an upcoming meeting.
“This is, I think, a step in the right direction,” Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said.
“Edmonton is the first city in Canada to explore restricting sharp-edged, harmful knives that do cause a lot of harm to our community and give an additional tool to EPS and our bylaw officers to make our community a safer place for everyone.”
The changes follow an October vote to begin the work of administration drafting a new bylaw.
Councillors made the decision after hearing from community members, business owners and the Edmonton Police Service about safety concerns.
In the past year, officers have seen a disturbing trend of convenience stores openly selling drug paraphernalia, weapons and contraband tobacco and then dabbling in the sale of illicit drugs — threatening the safety of Chinatown and other central Edmonton neighbourhoods like McCauley.
Edmonton police raided Food Mart 97 (10666 97 St.) in the McCauley area on Dec. 17, 2024 and found dozens of prohibited butterfly and spring-assisted knives, along with thousands of illegal cigarettes.
Edmonton Police Service
“Some of these problem convenience stores, they do sell prohibited edged weapons which are a little bit different than just your standard knives,” said Edmonton Police Service Supt. Keith Johnson.
“These are actual large, edged weapons that are used for specific purposes, whether it’s used in a crime or used to intimidate. If we’re able to just remove some of them off of the streets, it’s a plus.”
Last spring, a group of central Edmonton residents called on the city to introduce restrictions because they said some weapons are too easily accessible, citing knives available for purchase at convenience stores.
Arts on the Ave executive director Christy Morin was one of the people who raised the concerns and is pleased with how thorough the city has been with drafting the bylaw changes.
She said the city has looked at all the possible loopholes in an effort to close them — and did so quickly.
“We are going in the right direction, 100 per cent. It was great having this robust discussion,” Morin said Monday at city hall.
“We are thinking this is something that’s going to be effective and that we can flag things and the community can say, ‘We’re really scared of what’s happening in this business right now.’”
It was last April when Morin waked into a corner store in central Edmonton and purchase some candy — and two knives.
On Monday, she said that store and others community members are concerned about are still selling inappropriate knives — the kind people can tell are meant to do harm, not be used in the kitchen.
Sohi said hearing those stories is invaluable.
“I am really pleased to how community organizations from Alberta Avenue, from Chinatown, brought their knowledge and experience to us,” Sohi said.
While discussing the issue this past fall, city councillors heard in 2023 there were 532 knife-related events in the downtown core alone, but knife issues have been reported city-wide.
City council ended up voting unanimously to ban the sale of knives in convenience stores — but the change wasn’t immediate.
Because the federal government has jurisdiction over criminal matters when it comes to knives and prohibited weapons, options at the municipal level are limited to changing business licence rules and lobbying higher levels of government to change the law.
City administration was directed in October to create a new convenience store category within the business licence bylaw.
Administration told councillors that was the only path for a municipality, as convenience stores aren’t breaking the law by stocking them.
Under the Criminal Code, most of the knives being stocked are not considered prohibited weapons — even if they were then being used for criminal purposes.
Edmonton police raided Food Mart 97 (10666 97 St.) in the McCauley area on Dec. 17, 2024 and found dozens of prohibited butterfly and spring-assisted knives, along with thousands of illegal cigarettes.
Edmonton Police Service
On Monday, councillors heard the bylaw changes will include a new fine for convenience stores selling knives that starts at $2,000.
“There’s a doubling of that fine baked in to the business bylaw already to further deter this behaviour,” said city councillor Ashley Stevenson.
City staff were asked to add additional clarity to the changes in situations where a major retailer that normally sells knives has a gas bar or conveinence store attached to it, or on the property — such as a Canadian Tire.
It won’t be up to police to enforce the ban, but Johnson said if police happen to be investigating a crime at a convenience store and spot the problem knives, they can then take action.
Administration talked about the challenges of trying to regulate the sale of knives as a municipality, and on Monday, councillors agreed the bylaw’s definition of “knife” should be all items where a blade is affixed to a handle.
Community members are pleased with the solution the city has come up with, in the face of its limited jurisdiction.
“It’s quite brilliant,” Morin said. “I think it’s all about the grassroots of community as a whole group of us coming from the west, north, south, central, east — saying that this is a need and what’s the best tool.
“Being able to use business licensing, I think, is something that will be very effective.”
The bylaw will immediately take effect if council votes in favour at its next meeting.
According to city administration, it will then take two years for the bylaw to be fully implemented as licences come up for renewal, as the city said that is the only way they can be applied.