Later serving as a customs officer and real estate man, Walsh would become a prominent voice in advocating for the amalgamation of Edmonton and Strathcona (then two separate cities) in the early 1910s.

[1] He returned briefly to Ontario in 1902 to wed Maude Clara Bell, a former classmate in high school.

[2] Returning to Alberta, he resumed teaching, this time at another school north of the town of Edmonton, then at Strathcona.

[1] In the real estate field, he was known for building the Commercial Hotel, located on Whyte Avenue, in 1912, a structure that still stands presently.

He ran campaign advertisements in the Edmonton Bulletin, noting his involvement with the amalgamation negotiations of the two cities, stating that he "was one worked strenuously and conscientsciously [sic] for it until its final consummation".

Walsh was the second-most popular southside candidate so was elected to a two-year term, while fifth-place finisher James East, a northsider, received only one year.

After his funeral, which was held at St. Anthony's Church and attended by former mayor William Short, former mayor of Strathcona John J. Duggan, Walsh's city council colleagues whom he served with, as well as representatives from the Knights of Columbus and Catholic Mutual Benefit Association;[13] he was buried at the St. Anthony's Church Cemetery, Mount Pleasant.