The Downtown ARP is a Council-approved plan that sets a vision and policy direction for revitalizing downtown Fort McMurray.

As part of the plan, eight distinct downtown areas were identified, each based on existing land uses, its role within the downtown, and opportunities for redevelopment and revitalization.

The document was built on public engagement held in 2019, 2020, and again in 2023, which confirmed the top priorities of residents and businesses are:

• safety
• year-round accessibility
• urban design
• beautification

Alberta's Municipal Government Act requires that all municipalities in the province adopt a land use bylaw (LUB) to regulate the use and development of land and buildings within each region.

The purpose of the LUB is to:

• Divide the Municipality into land use districts.
• Determine the set of rules for each land use district, including permitted and discretionary uses.
• Establish the development permit and rezoning process.
• Regulate standards for the height, size, and location of buildings.
• Determine parking, signage, landscaping, and urban design standards.
• Implement the vision of the Municipal Development Plan and Area Structure Plans.

After years of public engagement, the Land Use Bylaw was updated in 2025 to align with community needs, with the exception of the downtown section. Land Use Bylaw No. 26/001 came into effect on Jan. 1, 2026.

Given the importance of downtown and numerous different land districts and uses, it was decided to make downtown-specific updates after the new LUB No. 26/001 came into effect, so we could focus more time and resources on the project, including running a public engagement entirely focused on downtown land uses.

While identified as an area in the Downtown ARP, MacDonald Island Park is designated as a direct control district. This means that the uses for the area have been approved directly by Council.

As a result, we have not included the MacDonald Island Park area in this engagement.