In 2019, Edmonton Rosenthal, Chappelle and Big Lake became the 158th,159th and 160th Community Leagues in Edmonton, respectively. Community leagues are incredible; they define what grass-roots government truly is and how this type of ground-level leadership can positively affect the growth of a neighbourhood and the growth of a city.

Our city’s community leagues continue to live up to the mandate that was set down by the original nine of building better, stronger communities through inclusion, social action, by-partisanship, recreational and cultural development, and by providing the united voice of their community in the development of their neighbourhoods.

From the beginning, the very nature of community leagues has provided, and continue to provide, a wonderful training ground for future leaders in a wide variety of industries, including government. Several of our current city councillors, including Mayor Don Iveson, all got their start as community league board volunteers.

What is truly amazing is leagues are all still run by volunteers. Consider learning more about the community league in your neighbourhood and ask yourself, “What can I contribute to my league that will help it to continue building the community where I live and that I am proud to call home? How can I become part of this wonderful 100-year-old tradition?”

– Resources: Edmonton Archives, EFCL Archives, Edmonton’s Urban Villages (Ron Kuban), Volunteers (Vaughn Bowler, Michael Wanchuk)