In his final months as Edmonton’s mayor, Amarjeet Sohi championed a multi-million dollar deal with the Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG) to develop property around the downtown arena.
Sohi is again advocating for public funds to be directed to the project, this time as a lobbyist for OEG.
On Aug. 26, 2025, Edmonton city council approved a $400 million deal with OEG to expand the Ice District around Rogers Place. Part of the agreement includes support for the Village at Ice District, an urban development planned to include shops, restaurants and housing.
The City of Edmonton is contributing $138 million, Alberta’s government is spending $183 million OEG is covering the remaining $87 million.
A briefing document prepared for Canada’s deputy minister of housing, infrastructure and communities, made public in the IJF’s Open by Default database, <a href="https://comicvibe.com/5-tv-shows-you-probably-didnt-know-betty-white-guest/” title=”5 TV Shows You Probably Didn't Know Betty White Guest”>shows OEG is now seeking grants and funding from federal
On April 1, 2026, Deputy Minister Paul Halucha met with Tim Shipton, OEG’s executive vice president of external affairs and gaming, and Sohi, who is named in the document as a senior advisor for the lobbying firm New West Public Affairs.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss potential funding for the Village at Ice District, and the briefing document notes potential interest in programs that support “housing-enabling infrastructure (ie. transit, utilities, public spaces), housing-related public-private partnerships, and downtown revitalization initiatives.”
Prior to being elected as mayor in 2021, Sohi served as the federal housing and infrastructure minister during his time as the Liberal MP for Edmonton Mill Woods.
Sohi is also listed in the federal lobbying database as a consultant for Arena North Development Corp., an OEG affiliate company involved in the downtown development. Monthly communication reports show Sohi has met with at least 18 government officials to discuss housing this year, mostly from the housing ministry and the Department of National Defence (DND).
In February, DND and the Canadian Forces Housing Agency announced plans to add thousands of military residences across Canada, including building more than 1,000 new units for members at Canadian Forces Base Edmonton. In addition to building new apartments in Edmonton Garrison, the government is also looking to acquire or rent housing in the surrounding area.
Sohi did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC) said in a statement that it does not provide details on potential, future or pending funding decisions for specific projects, or details on its discussions with stakeholders.
“As part of HICC’s work to gather insights on federal investment strategies and initiatives to accelerate housing supply, there are regular and ongoing discussions with stakeholders that take place through a range of different channels,” the statement reads.
As part of advancing its vision for the Village at Ice District, Shipton said OEG has met with representatives of the federal government to discuss “how it could help address future housing needs, and explore potential alignment with federal housing priorities and programs.”
“No federal funding has been received for the village at this time,” Shipton said.
Housing was a major part of the pitch to develop the Village at Ice District, and as early as 2024 OEG had floated the idea of building up to 2,500 residential units downtown.
The plan to include student housing, affordable housing and units for seniors and families was a selling point for city council, but commitments in the final agreement between Edmonton and OEG stopped short of legally binding language requiring these housing units to actually be delivered.
The final agreement states that OEG “will endeavor to develop” the Village at Ice District in a way that contributes to downtown revitalization, “while taking into consideration” commitments to provide different types of housing. This housing “may include below-market housing and student housing.”
As for actual numbers of housing units, OEG must “use commercially reasonable efforts” to “advance and progress the development” of the first 354 units by the second half of 2028, with no specifics about the type of housing. Following the construction of this first phase of housing, OEG will use “commercially reasonable efforts” to add approximately 420 units within five years, “based on demand in the Edmonton downtown market.”
City council members supportive of the project and those opposed voiced concerns that the tight timeline to sign the deal imposed by the province gave them no room to negotiate.
Current Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack, then a councillor, expressed frustration at the lack of binding commitments on housing in the agreement. He said council was presented with two undesirable options: accept the proposal as-is and not accomplish most of the city’s goals, or make amendments and jeopardize the whole deal.
