At just 31, Puneeta McBryan (Top 40, ’21) became the youngest CEO in the history of the Edmonton Downtown Business Association, stepping into the role in December 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. She knew she was walking into a maelstrom — emptying office towers, toxic drug supply, social disorder — and pursued an ambitious agenda that has fueled initiatives to counter those trends, including the security and outreach service Core Patrol, the revival of the Downtown Farmers Market and the annual Imagining Downtown luncheon, to name a few. Now, as downtown faces the next chapter in its recovery, it will have to do so without her at the helm.
McBryan announced that she was stepping down before the end of the year at the Safety and Vibrancy Summit, co-hosted by the association in June. A couple months later, when I met with her in a small courtyard outside her office — construction all around — McBryan said she’s been running on fumes and the association now needed someone “who has all the optimism and energy that I had when I started.”
The problems Edmonton faces — empty properties, poverty, drug addiction, mental-health challenges and homelessness — are not unique. Virtually every major Canadian downtown experienced a hollowing out and other setbacks over the past five years. But Edmonton has been hit harder. Homeward Trust data shows that Edmonton’s unhoused population has tripled since 2020 and opioid-related deaths for the month of March reached a record high, despite a downward trend across much of the country.
The resulting challenges go far beyond the scope of a business association. They’ll require a whole-of-society effort. “We have to pivot accordingly (in) both the private and the public sectors,” says McBryan, “and reimagine what a downtown is, what value it has and who it’s for.” The challenge now is defining that vision — and finding the path to get there.
On the municipal level, McBryan is supportive of Edmonton City Council’s recent 10-year extension of the Community Revitalization Levy, which allows the City to borrow from the provincial government against future property tax revenue to fund downtown development. In the past, the levy supported the Oilers Entertainment Group in the development of Rogers Place and the Ice District. It will again benefit Oilers owner Daryl Katz, with some of the levy money earmarked for a $250-million event park outside Rogers Place, $166 million of which will come from public funds. “This kind of model only works if you’re making massive bets with billion-dollar private-sector entities like Oilers Entertainment Group,” she says.
But the levy is just one part of a much larger puzzle. McBryan says property owners need to get creative about the potential of their downtown assets and work with private lenders to invest. McBryan points to the example of the former Phipps-McKinnon building on Rice Howard Way, much of which has been converted from office to residential. It received a facelift and was rebranded the Connect Tower. But the elephant in the room is City Centre Mall entering receivership after its ownership defaulted on $140 million in loans. “Whoever purchases that asset will have to be creative and entrepreneurial and really have a vision for it.” Being at the edge of the Ice District, it could naturally evolve into an entertainment hub, says McBryan. Another possibility is as a medical precinct.
McBryan insists there are positive signs of activity and rebirth. Employers have been ordering employees back to the office, which brings vibrancy. The vacancy rate for downtown office space has been trending down since 2020 (although it still sits at an uncomfortably high 19 per cent), with particular strength among the Class A and above buildings (that is, the nicer ones, like HSBC Place and Enbridge Centre).
She also credits several non-profits that are making profound differences. Among them are the Indigenous-led Niginan Housing Ventures, which supports people with complex social needs, and enCompass Community Safety Agency (formerly the Edmonton John Howard Society), which helps people rebuild their lives after time in the criminal justice system. Both deliver the kind of wraparound services essential to moving people out of homelessness. “If we can provide supportive housing, counselling and treatment, cultural supports and supportive employment, then maybe we have a shot,” she says. “But all those things need to be funded and work in tandem.”
She adds, “We’re on a long hard road. There’s a lot that still has to change about how we ensure our downtown becomes what a major city downtown should be.”
This article appears in the November/December 2025 issue of Edify
