In Stony Plain, Alberta, a powerful shift is underway. The Community and Social Development (CSD) department has catalyzed a significant change: landlords—once seen primarily as market actors—are now being recognized as essential partners in building safe, connected, and equitable communities.
This transformation was sparked by the Landlord Link Tenancy Information Event, a Lunch & Learn gathering that brought together landlords, RCMP officers, municipal staff, and community connectors. Though only seven registered, thirteen attended—an impressive 186% turnout. The event was designed not just to inform, but to connect, empower, and reframe.
Stony Plain’s poverty reduction strategy—anchored in four guiding principles and 16 key priorities—envisions a community where every resident has access to a safe home and the opportunity to thrive. In a local context marked by housing affordability challenges and high tenant turnover, engaging landlords as proactive allies was both a strategic and essential step. The Landlord Link event addressed a longstanding gap: the absence of meaningful municipal-level engagement with private landlords, who are central to fostering housing stability. By convening this group in a collaborative, solutions-focused setting, the town laid the groundwork for future partnerships with a broader range of stakeholders, including non-profits, planners, funders, and property managers. This initiative is more than a one-time gathering—it’s a seed for regional systems change, affirming the municipality’s vital role in cultivating relationships that shape the housing landscape.
Using the Waters of Systems Change framework, the event catalyzed shifts across multiple levels:
Explicit Systems (Policies, Practices, Resource Flows)
Introduced a new municipal practice of engaging landlords.
Increased awareness of rent subsidies and tenant supports.
Shifted how resources are accessed through referrals and program navigation.
Semi-Explicit Systems (Relationships & Power Dynamics)
Built trust between landlords, RCMP, and municipal staff.
Invited landlords to co-create future events, legitimizing their voice.
Fostered cross-sector collaboration, breaking down silos.
Implicit Systems (Mental Models)
Reframed landlords as community builders.
Humanized tenant-landlord relationships through storytelling and shared goals.
Encouraged empathy and reduced adversarial thinking.
These changes have already produced tangible benefits for individuals and the broader community. Feedback from an event survey indicated landlords left the event feeling more informed, supported, and connected, while community partners gained valuable insight into the challenges landlords face. Most importantly, a shared understanding began to emerge—one that recognizes housing stability not as an isolated tenant issue, but as a collective responsibility shared by landlords, service providers, and the community at large.
“I know more about how to access the community resources that might help my tenants.
“I have gained more information about tools and topics that can help me in my role as a landlord.”
“I feel supported in my community.”
The Community and Social Development (CSD) team made meaningful progress across several Community Pathways milestones by strengthening cross-sector relationships through the engagement of new stakeholders, building capacity for systems-level work via intentional planning and reflection, and advancing priority domains such as housing stability, social inclusion, and belonging. Key local contributors played vital roles in this success: CSD experts brought leadership in inclusion and poverty reduction, RCMP officers added context around community safety, and municipal staff acted as bridge-builders between sectors. Several elements contributed to the effectiveness of the initiative, including engaging presentations, open discussions, and a neutral, welcoming Lunch & Learn format. The strengths-based messaging, which positioned landlords as partners in community-building, resonated strongly. Critical success factors included the presence of trusted local facilitators, clear communication and coordination, and a focused, locally relevant scope.
Provided the Waters of Systems Change framework for strategic planning.
Encouraged cross-sector collaboration and inclusive engagement.
Offered tools to reframe complex issues in strengths-based language.
Created space for reflection and learning through Western Canada Leads communities of practice.
Boosted the team’s confidence to lead systems change locally.
Not everything went as planned during the Landlord Link event. Regional interest was limited, which highlighted the importance of focusing efforts locally in future initiatives. Participation from large property managers was lower than anticipated, indicating a need for more targeted outreach to engage this group effectively. Additionally, several attendees arrived without registering, creating last-minute logistical challenges around space and food—underscoring the need for improved registration processes. Time constraints also meant that roundtable discussions and experience-sharing were cut short, suggesting that future events should allow for deeper, more meaningful conversations.
The ripple effects of the Landlord Link event are already taking shape in Stony Plain. Landlords are beginning to see themselves as integral members of the social fabric, and trust between sectors—particularly among landlords, municipal staff, and community partners—is steadily growing. Momentum is building for recurring forums and collaborative planning, signalling a shift toward sustained engagement. Looking ahead, these early changes could lead to transformative outcomes, such as the creation of a regional network of landlords and community stakeholders, policy shifts that formally embed landlord engagement in municipal housing strategies, and the emergence of a more resilient, inclusive rental ecosystem. To realize these impacts at scale, Stony Plain will continue convening diverse voices, expand its planning groups, and maintain strong support from Tamarack and other partners. By reframing tenancy as a shared community responsibility, Stony Plain is not only improving housing outcomes—it is redefining what it means to belong, contribute, and thrive in a small town.