Tenant FAQs

Civida is committed to helping you access affordable housing. This includes providing services in a language that best meets your needs. As of September 1, 2022, Civida offers all in-person and over the phone visits with interpretation services in over 200 languages. See the available languages here.

You can reach us:

• By email: [email protected]
• By phone: 780-420-6161
  • Maintenance emergencies: 780-420-6161 extension 2
• By fax: 780-426-6854
• By mail: Civida, 10232 112 Street NW, Edmonton AB, T5K 1M4
• In-person at our office: 10232 112 Street NW, Edmonton AB
• By leaving mail in our dropbox: Located to the left of our main office doors

Additional information, including forms and information sheets, are available on our website, civida.ca, in the Tenant Resources section.

If your phone number, sources of income or family size changes, please update us by phone, mail or email. The Change of Contact Information, Change of Household Information and Change of Income Information forms are available in Tenant Resources.

Yes, a support worker, family member or friend can contact Civida on your behalf. However, you must first complete a Consent to Release Personal Information form, available in Tenant Resources. To protect your privacy, we will only speak to people you list on this form. This includes any MLA or City Councillor office that may be helping you.

You can pay your rent by issuing a cheque, money order, e-transfer or pre-authorized debit withdrawal. You can always drop off a cheque or money order in the dropbox to the left of our main doors. Make sure your cheque or money order is in a sealed envelope with your name and t-code inside the envelope.

You can also e-transfer funds to [email protected] (include your t-code, full name and address in the note section).

You can find the pre-authorized debit withdrawal form in Tenant Resources.

For our near-market tenants, rent is fixed at 10 to 20 per cent less than market rent for the surrounding neighbourhood. Our near-market tenants are not eligible for a rent adjustment.

For our community housing tenants, rent is calculated at 30 per cent of your gross household income, or by using the Social Assistance Rate for those on Social Assistance or Alberta Works Learners.

If you think your rent is too high, please submit verifying documents to confirm the current gross monthly income for all household members to see if you are eligible for a rent adjustment.

We must follow the Social Housing Accommodation Regulation (SHAR) to define who counts as a member of your household. A member of your household includes:

• Your spouse or adult interdependent partner
• A person related to you by blood, adoption or marriage
• A person who lives regularly with you as part of your family unit
• Any dependents that live with you, including children for whom you have sole custody or at least 50 per cent joint custody
• A live-in aide
• A person who is usually a member of your household but is temporarily absent due to:
  • Military service
  • Hospitalization
  • Employment
  • School attendance
  • Other special circumstances

If you wish to move to a new home, you must apply for a transfer using a Transfer Request Form and Transfer Request Bedroom Listings form available in Tenant Resources. Transfer Request Forms will be reviewed and assessed for eligibility the same way that new applications are processed. Please contact us for more information about the transfer process.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we are unable to offer emergency transfers. Transfers are processed in the order that they are received, assessed based on need and placed on a priority list.

Unfortunately, we do not currently offer any social housing that is primarily allocated to seniors. For seniors housing options, contact GEF Seniors Housing at 780-466-0038, Sage Seniors Association at 780-423-5510 or call 211 Alberta by dialing 211 from your phone.

In our Community Housing and Near Market programs, only one cat or small dog is permitted. A non-refundable pet deposit of $150 will be charged to our near-market tenants.

Certain breeds are not permitted, including but not limited to: Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers, Blue Heelers, Pit Bulls, German Shepherds, Chow Chows, Shar-peis, American Eskimos, American Staffordshire Terriers, Pit Bull Terriers, American Pit Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Mastiffs, Dogos Argentinos (Argentinian Mastiffs), Rhodesian Ridgebacks and crosses of those breeds. Excessively noisy birds, as well as snakes, spiders and any other animals deemed to be dangerous or vicious in nature, will not be permitted under any circumstances. Civida’s discretion in this matter is final.

Please refer to our Pets and Service Dogs Information Sheet, available in Tenant Resources.

Service dogs specially trained to assist individuals with disabilities are permitted. Provide Civida with a copy of your identification card, displaying the Alberta government logo and photo of you and your service dog. If you do not have an identification card, provide us with a letter from your physician to verify your need for a service dog and written confirmation from an Assistance Dogs International (ADI) accredited school that the dog has been trained and is qualified as a service dog.

Please refer to our Pets and Service Dogs Information Sheet available in Tenant Resources.

We require a notice in writing, sent to us by email or mail, if you will be away from your home for more than 14 consecutive days. Please provide us with the name and phone number of an emergency contact who will be able to reach you while you are away. This is required so that if something happens to your home while you are away, Civida can contact you.

No matter how long you are away, you are responsible for paying your rent on time and arranging for someone to check on your home regularly.

If you wish to have guests stay in your home for more than 14 days in a row, you must submit a written request to Civida. This request must be submitted at least two business days before the guest arrives. The request is subject to Civida approval.

A guest who is a resident of Canada can stay for no more than 30 days in a year. The 30 days may be consecutive or non-consecutive. A guest who is not a resident of Canada may stay for no more than 90 days in a year. The 90 days may be consecutive or non-consecutive.

If someone in your household has a baby, please submit a Change of Information form, available in Tenant Resources. Alternatively, you can submit a signed and dated letter that provides the baby’s full legal name, gender and birthdate. The form or letter can be submitted by email, mail or left in our dropbox.

Call 311 (non-emergency line). They will alert the City of Edmonton’s Capital City Cleanup program which is responsible for safe needle collection and disposal from public property.

Provide the crime number and your Edmonton Police Service contact details to [email protected]. The recording would be forwarded accordingly ONLY if we have it available.

Effective March 1, 2019, Civida enforced a strict no smoking policy. Tenants are not permitted to smoke, burn or vape tobacco, cannabis, incense or other substances anywhere on Civida property. This includes inside private units, on balconies, in common areas, parking lots and outdoor areas of the property unless there is a designated smoking area indicated.

However, if a tenant has a medical card for cannabis use, they are exempt from this no smoking policy. For privacy reasons, we cannot disclose if a tenant has a medical card or not.

If you smell cannabis coming from a particular unit, we advise you to call Paladin Security at 780-420-6161 after office hours and on weekends. Paladin can:

• Document and verify your complaint.
• Go out and address the problem as it is happening in real time.
• Provide us with a third party, unbiased report of what they see and hear while at the unit.

Provide us with additional supporting evidence of a complaint if no other tenants in the building are coming forward with the issues you are experiencing.

Call 311 (non-emergency line). You will need your driver’s licence, lease agreement and parking stall number on-hand when you call to show proof of ownership. You will also be asked to provide the model, make, colour and licence plate number of the offending vehicle and 311 will dispatch an officer.

Water is included in your rent up to a maximum of $60 a month per authorized tenant. Any overages will be charged back to you. It is important to call our maintenance team as soon as possible if toilets are continuously running or faucets or pipes are leaking to keep your water bill under $60.

One of the terms of your lease is that you are required to put the electricity in your name as soon as you move in. When this does not happen, the power charge will be charged back to our office and you will be required to pay this charge with an administration fee. It is important to know that maintaining the utilities is a requirement of your Lease Agreement.

If you are a Community Housing tenant, you do have to contact us. We can review your file to see if you are eligible for a rent adjustment. Please find the Change of Income form in Tenant Resources, complete it and send it to our office with the relevant documents listed on the form. You will need to provide a complete month of income verification from the first to the last day of the previous month.

Possibly your income support has changed due to a change in your household, such as a child has turned 18 or someone has moved out. Please contact your Income Support Worker and provide a copy of your current Income Support Budget to your Housing Clerk.

Please see this overview from the Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta.

It takes us several days to process payments, review mail and prepare and post notices. Sometimes a notice will be posted in error. If you believe an error has occurred, please contact us at 780-420-6161 to check your file.

Please submit a letter of appeal to our office explaining why you believe you should not be responsible for this bill. It will be reviewed by your Maintenance Clerk.

We encourage all tenants to have tenant insurance. We have a partnership with Westland Express (formerly ZipSure), who offers discounted rates to all Civida tenants. Please call us at 780-420-6161 for more information.

Please contact our maintenance team at 780-420-6161 extension 2 to discuss the specifics of your building.

Unfortunately, these items are not allowed on Civida properties for safety reasons. Contact us at 780-420-6161 for further clarification.

Please see our Outdoor Spaces Information Sheet in Tenant Resources for more information.

Submit the Move Out Notice form available in Tenant Resources or send a full one-month notice in writing to our office by email or mail. The notice must include your full name, t-code, address, move out date and signature.

You can submit your Annual Income Review by email, fax, mail or in-person or by leaving it in the drop box to the left of our main office doors at 10232-112 Street.

Complaints must be in writing and sent to us by email, mail or dropbox. Please provide as much detail as possible so we can keep record of the complaint on file. Contact us if you would like more information.