Program History
The Community Sandbox Program grew by more than 400 percent from 2018 to 2023 resulting in Edmonton having the largest number of community sandboxes compared to all other Canadian municipalities. When sidewalks are icy, there is a lot of public demand for sand, resulting in smaller boxes emptying faster than City crews can refill.
Following recommendations from the 2021 Snow and Ice Control Audit Report, public engagement with residents and stakeholders was conducted in 2023 and is summarized in the What We Heard Report and the Public Opinion Research Summary. These helped inform changes to this program.
In October 2023, the City decided to reduce the number of public sandboxes to 100 locations for the 2024-2025 winter season. Sandboxes were redistributed throughout the city to ensure equitable access from residential areas. Additional large bin locations were added to provide more reliable access to sand.
Locations of sandboxes were selected based on several factors and site criteria, including coverage of residential areas, public accessibility, access requirements for maintenance crews, vehicular and foot traffic considerations, safety and visibility, proximity to public locations, and other site-specific details. Some sandboxes may be located at or near a community league.
All community leagues were given the option to request their own sandbox to maintain and keep filled, independent from the City. League-maintained boxes are blue wooden boxes and are labelled to indicate that the league is responsible for refilling them. They are not shown on the public Community Sandbox map.