TCS Presents Mosque Project during Canora Community League AGM

On March 18, TCS Treasurer and External Relations Coordinator Sim Senol attended the Canora Community League's Annual General Meeting to present our plans for our mosque project to the community league members.

Our plans were met with great enthusiasm by the community members as a way to revitalize the community. Councillor Andrew Knack was also in attendance and shared his support for our project shortly after the event. We thank him for his continuous support for our project.

It should be noted that there are efforts for many other volunteers that help move our project forward. For this presentation our resident baklava expert in Edmonton, Ercan Kaya, made his wonderful delicacies to share with the Canora Community League members. Needless to say, they were a culinary hit!

This presentation was made as a part of our community engagement plan. We will continue to reach out to the community members to seek their feedback for our project. We hope that this website will also serve as a venue for all interested parties to share their comments with us.

Small Fundraising and Promotional Tour for TCS Mosque at Pakistani Association Event

We continued our efforts to promote our Mosque Project with a small fundraising activity thanks to the Pakistani Canadian Assocation of Edmonton's Women's Day Event.

On March 11, 2018 TCS External Relations Coordinator Sim Senol was joined by our President Ahmet Topal and his generous wife Sevgi Topal at the PCAE Hall.

Sevgi donated hand made scarves and shawls and Sinem made some home made Turkish food to sell at the event. Though the funds raised were just a drop in the bucket for this $1.5 million project, we were still able to make great connections within the Edmonton Muslim community.

Development Permit Application Submitted!

 After receiving feedback and direction from the CoE Planning team, TCS Project Consultant Suat Demirer went to work and finalized the drawings for the TCS Mosque with our architecture firm, Camred Architects, Inc. They have finally completed all the necessary plans required for the development permit in early March. On March 9 2018 our President Ahmet Topal, Vice-President and Project Consultant Suat Demirer, and Treasurer Sim Senol submitted the development permit application to the City of Edmonton.

Now the waiting begins.... We should hear back from the City in a month or so about whether we have formal approval to build our religious assembly building in this mature neighbourhood.

Parallel with the development permit application we are also launching our community engagement plan to present our project to the Canora Community Members, so that we can get their feedback and support.

TurCanora Phase I - Project Presentation meetings held this week

The plans and documentation for our development permit application are ready, so we are taking them on a tour!Turkish Canadian Society Board Members were busy making presentations about our TurCanora Phase I - Mosque Project this week as a part of our community engagement plan.

On Tuesday, February 27th we first presented the finalized conceptual designs and site plan to the Turkish Canadian community.
On February 28th, several community members that live in close proximity to our Cultural Centre joined us for a project presentation at the TCS Gym. Our Treasurer and External Relations Coordinator Sim Senol gave a brief presentation about the Society's plans and the projected timeline of the project.

A similar presentation was made after the Friday Prayer service by Project Consultant Suat Demirer.

Overall the community has been very supportive of the project. No objections were raised. Through these presentations we have informed the community members that we'd be using the www.turcanora.ca website for project updates and for collecting feedback.

Camred Architecture Inc. Selected as Project Partner

After reaching out to several architecture firms and receiving quotes from 4 companies TCS Mosque Project Development and Construction Committee (Ahmet Topal, Suat Demirer, and Sedat Çıplak) selected Camred Architecture Inc., as the design company for our project.

Camred agreed to work with our volunteer designer Suat Demirer as a project consultant. Mr. Demirer continued to do all the CAD drawings of the project as a volunteer.

With the addition of Camred to the project team, project started moving faster towards formal Development Permit application.

TCS Received Written Confirmation from AGLC About the TCS Mosque Addition

At a special membership meeting held on December 10, shortly after the pre-application meeting we attended at the City of Edmonton, a few of our members who had also raised objections to the Mosque Project in the November 2016 meeting raised the issue that AGLC might not approve the building of a mosque at the current TCS property.

Our Externatal Relations Coordinator Sim Senol submitted a formal message to the AGLC to get their approval, explaining to them that TCS has no intention to use any gaming funds during the construction of the mosque project. Today, we received confirmation from the AGLC that no prior approval is required for such a building project, provided that we do not use any gaming funds. This is yet another hurdle that was presented to the TCS Board by a few dissenting voices among the Turkish Canadian community. We were able to clarify the regulations and put everyone's minds at ease within the Turkish community. Despite past failed efforts, we are hopeful that a mosque can be built in this location. 

Successful Pre-Application Meeting on second try!

Our volunteer designer and Board Director Suat Demirer returned from a visit to his ailing mother in Turkey with new ideas to make the mosque plans work. After many hours of hard work, preparing new drawings, TCS Board Members Sinem Senol and Suat Demirer met with the City of Edmonton planners for a second time on November 22, 2017 to get feedback on our development plans. With most, if not all, the major issues identified in the February 2017 pre-application meeting addressed, the City of Edmonton gave TCS the green light to finalize and submit our Development Permit application.



The planning officers confirm that we will need to hire a licensed architect to move forward with the project.

This was a possibility previously presented to and approved by the TCS members at a general meeting, so TCS President Ahmet Topal instructed our volunteer designer Suat Demirer and Treasurer Sinem Senol to search and get quotes from local architects to join the design team.