How did a collection of neighbourhood volunteer organisations come to influence the development of a major Canadian city? Few other North American cities have embraced the community league movement with the vigour of Edmonton. For 87 years, tens of thousands of volunteers from the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL) have often acted as a counterweight to large private and institutional interests, shaping municipal development by providing a voice and a training ground for grassroots civic participation. In its wake, the EFCL has left a host of sports, cultural and civic initiatives for the improvement of Edmonton, and an important lesson on how to create community.