Welcome to Edmonton! It's a great city to live in and you will enjoy your time here. I agree that it's sometimes difficult to meet people and it does take time.
I've lived here, on and off, for 25 years. I initially moved here after my parents broke up many moons ago. It was a very difficult transition for my brothers and I but we had the advantage of still being in school. Unlike a previous poster, after high school, I lost contact with everyone I met. Don't know where they are or what they're doing.
I found, actually, that the friends I have made I've met at work. While I'm not shy, I do take a while to become comfortable in most situations. It's funny, when I moved to Vancouver one time, I started a job and it took about 6 months or so for me to actually socialize with co-workers. After they got to know me, they told me that they thought I was "stuck up" and knew now that I wasn't - just "reserved". So, maybe there are more of us "reserved" people out there than I thought.
Any hoo - patience is the key. For the most part, people here are really friendly. Often you need to take the initiative (and I find that difficult, thus the "stuck up" thing???) dunno.
I work right down town (Bell Tower) so it'd be difficult to meet u for coffee for for lunch. You'd likely want to meet someone closer to your age in any event
There are lots of volunteer opportunities as well. Edmonton is known for it's volunteers too I might add. You could contact a Edmonton Volunteer Agency by calling 211 for community services and they should be able to assist you. Volunteering, as you know, can put in in touch with like-minded people so you have something in common right off the bat!!
Good Luck!!
Dixie