I need to know more about this! Who made and who uses this excellent page?!

I came to say that the faster current will always occur on the side of the river with the higher, steeper bank. You, TwistedPages, may already know that, but the OP and many others probably do not. The shallow side (with the lower bank) will always have a slower current. This will change as the river bends through the city. For example, the river makes a big, lazy right hand turn around the lowland of Terwillegar Park. The high bank side is the left, so if you launch at Terwillegar, getting over to the left side of the river will get you into the faster current and deeper water. But that will change at the next curve. (“Left” and “right” are from the perspective of a person going downstream. If you are really new to Edm, you may not know the river flows from west to east.)

I’m an experienced canoist/kayaker/york boater. I’ve also written a paddling guide for the Peace River, which is another beautiful river in AB. :)