Calgary city council has voted in favour of repealing citywide rezoning after weeks of public feedback and debate.

Council voted 12 to 3 in favour of repeal with councillors Nathaniel Schmidt, Myke Atkinson and Andrew Yule the sole votes against.

The vote comes after eight public hearing sessions over two weeks where 411 Calgarians addressed city council, and nearly 3,300 written submissions were also received.

“This vote was about restoring the voice in the community, understanding that change will continue to happen,” Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said following the vote. “But on a go forward, Calgarians will have more of their voices heard and respected through that process.”

The move means 306,774 residential properties across the city will be redesignated back to their original low-density residential districts.

Approved back in 2024 by the previous city council after the longest public hearing in city history, citywide rezoning made residential grade-oriented infill (R-CG) the default residential zoning district across the city.

It allowed a variety of housing types to be built on a single property, including rowhouses and townhouses.

“Blanket rezoning does not reduce the cost of building, it hasn’t sped up development timelines, it does not get homes built faster or cheaper,” said Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean in his debate. “What it has done, however, is divide communities.  It has created uncertainty, it has eroded trust and it’s attempted to fundamentally change the character of communities across our city.”

2:01
Calgary city council wraps up citywide rezoning public hearing

Previous Video

Next Video

According to city administration, there have been 639 development permits enabled through citywide rezoning including 386 rowhomes, 41 single detached homes, and 53 semi detached homes.

Get daily National news

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.

City data shows most of those permits, 165, were approved in Ward 7, followed by 86 in Ward 11, 83 in Ward 9 and 78 each in Wards 1, 4 and 6.

Wards 2, 3 and 12 had zero development permits enabled by citywide rezoning, according to city data.

“Too often we spoke of housing like it’s pollution, something that needs to be relegated to places that are less desirable and kept away from places we value now,” Schmidt said during the debate. “That’s not how we build a vision for the future and that’s not how we build communities.”

Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot, who introduced the motion to repeal citywide rezoning, said council’s decision opens the door to a new plan to enable housing in growth in a more targeted way.

“Ultimately, we need to increase our intensity of use to make our city more affordable and more sustainable,” he told reporters. “We can’t just continue to grow out, we have to grow up as well so a made-in-Calgary solution, I think, is going to be the best path forward and that’s going to require a lot of work.”

Calgary’s mayor also ran on a platform to find a replacement for citywide rezoning.

Some city councillors expressed frustration the housing policy was being repealed without a replacement plan.

“I believe in good governance,” Atkinson said. “This wasn’t good governance. You don’t repeal and then figure something out later.”

After nearly two years of concerns around the impacts from citywide rezoning, the group Calgarians for Thoughtful Growth was encouraged that city council “really did listen” to the feedback from residents.

Chris Davis, a representative from the group, told reporters Wednesday that they recognize there needs to be meaningful planning work to get housing built.

“I don’t think any of us are so naive as to think we don’t have to respond positively and effectively to density, it was all about how we did it,” Davis said. “This is an opportunity now for all Calgarians to come together and work collaboratively to find solutions.”

Housing advocates like More Neighbours Calgary said there wasn’t much surprise by council’s vote, but there remains disappointment and concern over the impact the repeal will have on housing.

“We should be trying to build as much as we can… we should be letting the market meet the housing needs of Calgarians,” said the group’s co-founder Kathryn Davies. “We just seem committed to restraining that as we can.”

According to city administration, the changes and repeal won’t take effect until August.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Calgarians will once again pay more on their property tax bills this year, however, the increase is mostly due to another provincial request for an increased share of property taxes from Calgary homeowners.

Calgary city council finalized the property tax increase Tuesday, which included an 8.1 per cent overall residential property tax increase, a combination of both the municipal and provincial portions.

The jump comes after city council whittled down the proposed property tax increase to 1.2 per cent for both residential and non-residential properties during budget deliberations last year.

However, the provincial portion of property taxes is increasing by 19.8 per cent for residential properties this year, and 8.8 per cent for non-residential properties.

“Our city council team did the hard work, we lived within our means, we spent responsibly,” Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas told reporters Tuesday.

“To see that massive increase in property taxes due to provincial government decisions is extremely jarring.”

For the typical single-family homeowner with a median assessment of $706,000, the changes result in a nine per cent property tax increase, or an additional $32.25 per month.

The changes will also mean an increase of four per cent for condo owners, which is an extra $7.41 per month for the typical residential condo assessed at $347,000.

The typical multi-residential property is set to see a 16.2 per cent hike this year, while the median assessed non-residential property will pay an extra 2.5 per cent in property taxes this year.

Get daily National news

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.

In total, Calgary will remit over $1.2 billion in property taxes to the province after a $200 million increase to the education property tax requisition from the city in this year’s provincial budget.

According to the city, it’s the highest amount of any Alberta municipality classified as a city on a per capita basis.

“There was a loud cry for more teachers, more schools, more supports, which comes at a cost,” Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean said. “I can’t support that but I know a lot of my residents wanted those things.”

The move means 42 cents of every dollar in property taxes collected in Calgary is sent to the provincial government, city officials said.

Farkas said he is looking for flexibility from the provincial government to allow Calgary to issue two property tax bills to reflect “which portion of the taxes are going where,” but the city must legally send just one bill to property owners.

However, Farkas noted he is hoping for more provincial funding given higher than budgeted oil prices, which is expected to generate additional revenue for the province this year.

“The provincial government indicated that the lack of support for municipalities and infrastructure time around was based on the lack of resource royalties,” Farkas said.

“We’re hoping now, based on what’s happening, that we’ll see a significant increase in infrastructure.”

According to a spokesperson for Alberta’s finance minister, higher oil prices can strengthen the province’s fiscal position and “hypothetically” help offset deficits.

However, the province said nothing in this year’s budget has been impacted by the current high oil prices.

“The higher oil prices, up until April 1, go toward offsetting the 2025-2026 deficit, not the current projected $9.4 billion deficit for Budget 2026,” read a statement from a provincial spokesperson.

“Even with the high price of oil over the last few weeks, fiscal year 2025-26 is still projecting a deficit due to sustained low oil prices over an entire fiscal. A few weeks of strong oil prices is not enough to offset an entire year.”

The statement added provincial officials look forward to seeing Farkas’ submission during the 2027 budget consultation period.

Other city councillors said they plan to keep an eye on the response from residents and businesses to the latest property tax increase.

“A lot of our established communities need paving on our roads, recreation centres, new playgrounds, those things all cost money,” Ward 4 Coun. DJ Kelly told reporters.

“Certainly if we don’t see Calgarians getting upset about the province increasing their property taxes, that maybe gives us a little bit of licence to do things a little bit faster than what we originally thought.”

According to the city, property tax bills will be mailed out in May and payments are due by June 30 for those who pay a lump sum once a year.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The City of Calgary is proposing an overhaul to the zoning district at the centre of the citywide rezoning debate, as a public hearing into the policy’s repeal continues at city hall.

Citywide rezoning, often referred to as blanket rezoning, saw the city’s base residential zoning changed to Residential Grade-oriented Infill District (R-CG) in August 2024 after an historic public hearing earlier that year.

R-CG was first introduced as a zoning district in 2014, and allows the development of rowhouses, townhomes, semi-detached and single-detached homes with up to four units as well as four secondary suites on a single property.

Redevelopment using the R-CG district would still be allowed even if citywide rezoning is repealed, but it would require property owners and developers to obtain a land-use change at a public hearing.

The changes to the R-CG zoning district up for debate were proposed by Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness when council voted in favour of kickstarting the process to repeal citywide rezoning back in December.

Those proposed changes include prohibiting mid-block rowhouses and townhouses, limiting where they could be built to the first three parcels at the end of a block.

Wyness’ motion also seeks clawed-back density from 75 to 60 units per hectare, which would reduce the maximum number of units to three with an additional three secondary suites.

A reduction of lot coverage from 60 per cent to 55 per cent, as well as limiting building heights at 10 metres, adding a requirement for contextual setbacks, and eliminating zero lot lines are also proposed.

Get breaking National news

Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won’t miss a trending story.

“When we listen to everyone speaking today, these are the commonalities of the frustrations of what is being built,” Wyness said in council chambers Friday.

Many of those frustrations are prominent in Ward 4 communities, according to area councillor DJ Kelly.

Kelly said corner lots can have ample parking and can “fit a four-plex for the most part,” while mid-block R-CG developments are “the big problem” in his area.

“Especially when you add in the secondary suites, the four-plus-fours, where are people going to park?  It’s absolutely ridiculous, it doesn’t make any sense,” Kelly said.

1:46
Calgary political party vows to repeal citywide rezoning

Previous Video

Next Video

Although the majority of Calgarians speaking to council during this week’s public hearing are focused on whether citywide rezoning should be repealed, Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas told reporters Thursday he is surprised the proposed changes to the zoning district itself aren’t getting more attention.

While in line at the start of the public hearing Monday, Chris Davis with the group Calgarians for Thoughtful Growth said he’s hoping for more consultation.

“I’m concerned about getting into the weeds and starting to amend the R-CG district on the fly without doing what we needed to do all along, which was go out and consult with the community,” said Davis.

Local builders are also warning that making changes to the district “on the floor of council” could result in “unforeseen consequences” that could stifle development and disrupt the city’s approvals process.

According to an analysis by the Calgary Inner City Builders Association (CICBA), a three unit R-CG development isn’t viable and could result in an increased cost of $143,000 per unit for the end user.

“This is a result of spreading the fixed costs of a similar four-by-four project across a unit and a suite in three-by-three project,” CICBA president Grace Lui told city council Monday.

CICBA requested city council strike a stakeholder committee to look at the proposed amendments and the city’s approvals process.

A similar proposal in Edmonton, which would’ve capped the number of units in a midblock redevelopment at six instead of eight, was defeated by council in that city in February.

Around 475 people have signed up to speak at the public hearing to repeal citywide rezoning at Calgary city hall.

If city council approves a repeal, the city’s land-use bylaw would be reset to what was in place prior to the previous city council approving citywide rezoning, with the exception of properties that had development permits approved or any currently under review in the permit process.

City data shows citywide rezoning enabled 1,655 units in 2025, which made up 63 per cent of units through low-density development permits, but 4,500 units have been enabled since the policy took effect in August 2024.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Calgary’s daily water use increased to a level deemed unsustainable for the first time since restrictions on water consumption were imposed last week.

On Sunday, Calgary and surrounding communities used 504 million litres of water, ending a six-day streak of water use under the city-imposed daily threshold of 500 million litres.

According to city officials, “a small uptick” was anticipated as Sundays typically see higher use.

“We get it, and one day in the red does not undo the excellent work we all did through last week,” City of Calgary Infrastructure Services general manager Michael Thompson said Monday.

“We still have three weeks to go before the feeder main is back in service, so today, I want to ask you to start week two strong.”

The latest round of water restrictions took effect on March 9 as city crews shut down the Bearspaw feeder main for a series of reinforcement repairs following two catastrophic failures in less than two years.

While the feeder main is out of service, as it typically carries 60 per cent of the city’s treated water supply, city officials are urging Calgarians to find ways to save 25 litres of water per day.

Get daily National news

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.

Officials recommend skipping toilet flushes, shortening showers to three minutes or less and only running dishwashers and washing machines with a full load.

At YMCA Calgary, staff are taking a number of measures to reduce water consumption with 85 per cent of the facilities’ water use attributed to showers.

“We’re saving about 15,000 litres a day and we’re doing that mostly by taking to our members,” said YMCA Calgary’s operations vice-president Nick Wiggins.

“That three-minute shower recommendation the city has provided, that’s what we’re encouraging our members to do.”

According to city officials, there were two incidents over the weekend that highlighted the importance of water conservation during the feeder main repairs, including a now lifted boil-water advisory in Spruce Cliff and parts of Wildwood and Rosscarrock.

Thompson said crews needed to flush water through pipes and fire hydrants before the advisory could be lifted, which used two million litres of water over three days.

A large fire in the Manchester Industrial Park early Monday morning also required about seven million litres of water to extinguish, Thompson said.

“These are the kinds of situations that make it so important that we have a sufficient supply of treated water in our underground storage tanks,” Thompson said.

“Because of the actions you took last week to save water, we had enough available in our underground storage tanks to deal with these two issues.”

4:26
Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas on city water restrictions due to reinforcement of Bearspaw South Feeder Main

Previous Video

Next Video

Meanwhile, repairs continue on nine segments of the Bearspaw feeder main along 16 Avenue near Sarcee Trail, as well as in Point McKay Park.

City officials said the pipe is now drained, and trench boxes have been installed along the nine segments of pipe that need reinforcement. The first two concrete encasement pours began on Monday, with more planned throughout the rest of the week, city officials said.

“This is difficult work, it’s precise work, and it’s work that is happening around the clock,” Calgary mayor Jeromy Farkas told reporters.

“Even in weather like we’ve seen recently, crews are out there every day making progress and moving this project forward.”

Work is expected to last until April 9 — a “temporary inconvenience,” according to Farkas, until the feeder main’s replacement is complete by the end of the year.

City administration has budgeted $40 million for the repairs to the feeder main as part of a request for $609 million in additional funding for water infrastructure.  That funding request will be decided by Calgary city council during a meeting on Tuesday.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Calgary city council has revealed its main priorities for its upcoming four-year budget, but concerns over a lack of specifics in the plan have some on council questioning the path forward.

The priorities, unveiled during a strategic council meeting Tuesday, will be used by city administration to craft what’s included in the upcoming 2027-30 city budget.

The six main focus areas council chose include: reliable and sustainable infrastructure, a safe city, a functional transportation network, community livability and well-being, balanced growth and evolving neighbourhoods, as well as a trusted and collaborative government.

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said he heard a desire from Calgarians during last year’s municipal election campaign for council to focus on the basics, like potholes, snow removal, and garbage pickup.

“I think the broad consensus of our council is to be known as the infrastructure city council, to really be focusing on those fundamentals,” he told reporters.

Although city council voted in favour of the six priorities, some members of council were critical of the “broad” outcomes listed for administration to interpret while building the budget.

Get daily National news

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.

Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot took issue with the wording used for the outcome on transportation, which said “there is ambitious investment in transit and economic corridors.”

“That, to me, is the epitome of give an inch and take a mile,” Chabot said to council. “Increased investment in transit, I think this council could support that, but ambitious investment in public transit implies we’re going to meet all the objectives identified in RouteAhead, which is a significant investment.”

Chabot was among the four councillors who were opposed to the priorities, as well as Ward 7 Coun. Myke Atkinson, Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness and Ward 4 Coun. DJ Kelly.

According to Kelly, he agrees with “all the content” laid out in council’s budget priorities, but felt they don’t include “real focus or real direction” to city administration.

“We don’t get into the details in terms of where we need to prioritize the infrastructure of the city.  Safety is in there but we don’t get into the real details about downtown, CTrain lines, pedestrian safety,” he told reporters following the vote.

“Those are the kind of things we should’ve been giving to administration as direction for them to bring back specific programmatic ideas.”

1:59
Calgary’s budget applauded, but ‘sustainability’ of spending questioned

Previous Video

Next Video

City council will debate the next four-year budget and its impact on Calgarians in November, but Wyness is concerned the strategic direction for city administration will result in a large proposed property tax increase.

“This document that is before council today says, ‘Do everything,’” she said. “Every one of the departments in this city will say, ‘I need a budget increase because this is a strategic priority of council.’”

According to Les Tocher, the city’s chief financial officer, council will get an update on the costs of the upcoming budget in May.

That update, he said, will include the base costs of delivering services as well as any additions that used one-time funding in the 2026 budget, and the priorities outlined by council on Tuesday.

Budgetary impacts for the Calgary Police Service, Calgary Fire Department, Calgary Transit and other city services will also be included in that update, Tocher added.

“These overlays will be high level and designed to provide directional costs and provide information with the goal of receiving council direction to either include this work and continue with more details, or remove from the overall budget documents as we prepare to move into the fall,” he told city council.

David Duckworth, the city’s chief administrative officer, said that update is council’s opportunity to “dial up or dial down” certain aspects of the budget.

Another update is planned in July for city council to review proposals in the four-year budget, before it is unveiled in October.

“At this point in time, we’re not deciding on a budget,” Farkas said. “We’re just at an extremely high level in terms of what city administration needs to hear from us in order to be able to sharpen their pencils and come up with more detailed proposals.”

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas is floating the idea of a city-wide plebiscite on the amount of property taxes the city sends the provincial government, as city council mulls its options to respond to the latest provincial budget.

Farkas made the comments during a special meeting of council Wednesday, in which city councillors discussed the impacts of the provincial budget on Calgarians.

“Asking any question of Calgarians is very serious, but we want to continue to fight for our fair share,” Farkas told reporters following the meeting.

Last week, the provincial government tabled its 2026 budget, which included a $9.4 billion deficit as well as a $200 million increase to the amount of property taxes it collects from Calgarians to cover the education budget.

The province expects to generate $3.6 billion from the education property tax this year; $1.2 billion of that has been requisitioned from the City of Calgary and $639 million from the City of Edmonton.

When combined with the reduced 1.6 per cent property tax increase approved by city council last year, the typical homeowner in Calgary will pay an additional $388 this year, while the average commercial property will face a hike of $2,945 in 2026.

“The fact that Calgarians are paying double what the City of Edmonton pays, there’s something wrong there,” Ward 6 Coun. John Pantazopoulos said. “I think it’s a bit disappointing.”

According to data presented to council Wednesday, the provincial property tax requisition from Calgary has increased by 58.6 per cent over the last four years.

“We’ve seen nowhere near a 60 per cent boost in the services or the infrastructure that the City of Calgary receives from the province,” Farkas said.

City officials told council that many of the funding requests from the City of Calgary went unfulfilled in this year’s provincial budget, including cost-sharing for utility and transportation infrastructure for Prairie Economic Gateway, an increase of support for the low-income transit pass, and matching funding for the city’s mental health and addictions strategy.

Get breaking National news

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

However, officials said the province did boost funding for the Affordable Housing Partnership Program, as well as to build 14 new schools in Calgary.

In response, a spokesperson for Alberta’s education minister said both major school boards in Calgary will receive $2.24 billion in operating funding this year, and the new schools bring the total to 45 projects underway in the city.  They also noted a $144 million investment for Calgary charter schools in the budget.

“So clearly the province is investing far more than it receives from Calgarians, back into the city’s school system,” Garrett Koehler said in statement.

The statement went on to say the province understands the mayor’s “desire to ensure that property taxes are transparent and that Calgarians understand how they are used to improve the services they receive.”

“I’m not here to defend the province,” Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean told reporters. “But everybody asked for more teachers, more schools, more supports, and that comes at a cost.”

To help differentiate between the municipal and provincial property tax increase, Farkas suggested the City of Calgary send out two separate bills to homeowners and businesses.

City officials said the provincial property tax increase will be larger and bolded on upcoming bills, but legislation prevents the city from sending multiple bills.

Some on council questioned the purpose of Wednesday’s special meeting, which ended with few actions to respond to the provincial property tax increase.

“Just performative, we didn’t really accomplish anything today,” Ward 14 Coun. Landon Johnston said. “A lot of questions could’ve been sent through an email.”

However, experts suggest the city is limited in its ability to respond to the budget because municipalities fall within provincial jurisdiction.

“There’s a lot of latitude for the province, and not much, at least jurisdictionally in terms of actual powers that belong to the municipal government,” said Lori Williams, an associate professor of policy studies at Mount-Royal University in Calgary.

“But I think there’s something that can be done politically, and that’s exactly what I think (city council) is trying to do.”

During the meeting, Farkas asked about the potential for a plebiscite on the issue, and made the comparison to the referendum question from the province to remove equalization payments from the Canadian Constitution during the 2021 municipal election.

However, no formal motion was introduced to start the process or craft a question to be considered for a vote.

City chief returning officer Kate Martin said Elections Calgary would require six months from the time a question is determined to hold a vote, which could cost upwards of $12 million.

“At this point, we’re just asking questions,” Farkas said.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Alberta’s newly-tabled budget, and its impact on local property taxes, is facing criticism from Calgary council and the city’s mayor, who is calling for more transparency around how the money will be spent.

On Thursday, the provincial government unveiled its budget with a second straight increase to the education property tax rate to generate $3.6 billion; $1.2 billion of that has been requisitioned from the City of Calgary.

New city data shows the move means that 42 cents of every property tax dollar collected in Calgary will go to the provincial government.

At a press conference Friday, Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas expressed his disappointment in the budget’s impact on city taxpayers.

“It is looking a lot like Calgary’s deal in Alberta is very similar to what Danielle Smith says Alberta’s deal is in Canada,” Farkas said. “But, for us, we want to come to the table, we want to be collaborative, we want to work with the provincial government.”

Although Farkas noted some “positives” in the budget, including funding for affordable housing and for maintenance for seniors homes, he questioned what Calgarians are getting back from the money sent to the province.

The increase is expected to cost the typical Calgary homeowner an extra $340 this year.

In comparison, city council whittled down the property tax increase in its budget back in December to 1.6 per cent, which is expected to cost the average homeowner an extra $54 in 2026.

Get daily National news

Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

“We did the work,” Farkas told reporters. “To have a scale of increase 10 times the tax increase being lobbed by the provincial government in a single year without any kind of head start or notice, that is just incredibly egregious.”

The provincial budget does include billions of dollars in continued and previously-announced investments for Calgary, including ongoing funding for the Green Line LRT, upgrades to Deerfoot Trail, and the infrastructure around the new event centre, as well as $67 million over three years for the city’s court of appeal, and $10 million for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Other provincial facilities in the city also saw a boost, including the Foothills Medical Centre Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the Calgary Radiopharmaceutical Centre, the Alberta Kidney Care, Bethany Continuing Care Centre and the Bridgeland Riverside Continuing Care Centre.

However, Farkas said it was “sobering” the budget didn’t include a mention of the Prairie Economic Gateway project, or the Bearspaw feeder main, which has prompted an emergency replacement after two critical ruptures in less than two years.

“If there wasn’t a huge tax increase, I wouldn’t be expecting add-ons for the City of Calgary,” Farkas said.

Finance minister Nate Horner defended the tax hike during a post-budget address to an audience of the city’s business community at a luncheon hosted by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.

Horner said the increase is to help fund a third of the education ministry’s operating budget, which was telegraphed in last year’s budget.

“We didn’t want to put it all onto folks in one year, so we staggered it over two,” Horner said. “I’m surprised that everyone is this surprised, to be honest.”

Horner told the audience that the education budget is $10.8 billion this year, and the construction of new schools is “dominating” the provincial capital budget.

He said out of 40 new schools announced this year, 14 will be in Calgary.

While the investment and new schools are welcomed,  Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot, who was also in attendance at the event, said the funding is addressing matters that fall under provincial jurisdiction.

“The majority of the things he was talking about are things that fall under provincial obligations, not municipal obligations,” Chabot said. “He didn’t talk about water infrastructure for the City of Calgary, he talked about infrastructure, alright, but provincial infrastructure.”

Chabot said the budget is “seriously lacking” in support for municipal infrastructure.

Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean said the property tax increase will be challenging to stomach for some residents.

“This is going to be a really tough sell to Calgarians,” McLean said. “I think it’s very important that we let our residents know what the province is requesting from them and what the city is taking from them, because this is a large increase.”

Farkas said city council will be discussing measures to respond to the property tax increase, which could include sending two separate property tax bills to Calgarians.

Late Friday, Farkas called a special council meeting on March 4 for that debate.

In comparison, the education property tax requisition is nearly $640 million in Edmonton, which is expected to cost the typical homeowner in that city an extra $154 this year.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Calgary Transit’s downtown free fare zone will be the subject of an in-depth review, months after city council narrowly voted against its elimination.

Late Tuesday, Calgary city council voted unanimously in favour of a motion from councillors John Pantazopoulos and Andrew Yule, which asked for “a comprehensive review” of the downtown free fare zone, including the implications of eliminating it.

“There’s no predetermined conclusion on this report, we just need the data,” Yule told reporters. “This could make the free fare zone longer, it could be shorter, it’s hard to say unless we have the data to make those decisions.”

According to the motion, administration’s review will include analysis on the “operational, financial, ridership, and safety impacts” of reforming the downtown free fare zone, including the implications of establishing the area as a “fare paid zone.”

It comes just months after city council narrowly voted 8-7 against eliminating the free fare zone during budget deliberations, which was prompted by TD announcing it was pulling out of its sponsorship of the zone in late November.

“During last year’s budget, Coun. Yule and I voted differently on whether we need to eliminate the downtown free fare zone,” Pantazopoulos said to council. “But instead of staying in our corners and sulking, we sat down and asked ourselves a very simple question: what are we both trying to achieve?”

Get daily National news

Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

The councillors argued changes in downtown activity, transit usage, safety concerns, and fare compliance warrant a review.

The review is expected to include analysis on fare revenue changes, enforcement and fare compliance, the potential for a tiered or alternative fare structure as well as cost implications for Calgary Transit.

According to David Cooper, principal at Leading Mobility, free fare zones are “becoming more unique,” with many being eliminated in recent years across North America.

“There’s not many examples anymore of free transit,” Cooper told Global News. “I think one of the challenges we have when it comes to transit is there’s still always a cost even if it’s provided for free within the downtown.”

Cooper said there’s “a lot of emotional attachment” to the free fare zone, which has been around in Calgary since 1979, when it was a pilot project on a bus route along 7 Avenue.

“We’re going to have a lot of opinions and insights on this and who it impacts differs depending on who you ask it,” he said.

“I think it will be one of the biggest conversations council will have this year when it comes to Calgary Transit.”

1:59
Calgary’s budget applauded, but ‘sustainability’ of spending questioned

Previous Video

Next Video

The motion calls for administration to gather feedback from transit users, including downtown employees, residents, students and visitors, as well as city partners, like the Calgary Downtown Association, the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Calgary and Vibrant Communities Calgary.

An amendment from Ward 4 Coun. DJ Kelly added the Alpha House to the lengthy list of stakeholders, while an amendment from Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot saw the inclusion of transit peace officers, bylaw officers and the Calgary Police Service in the upcoming engagement.

“We need to involve the enforcement folks as well… to find out whether or not they think there would be an advantage to the elimination of the free fare zone,” Chabot told reporters.

However, Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said he isn’t in favour of eliminating the free fare zone, and has no concerns in doing due diligence with a review.

“Our free fare zone, if anything, I think it should be expanded,” Farkas told reporters. “We should be looking at ways, maybe even on game day, extending service to our new event centre, or even during (The Calgary Stampede) or cultural festivals and events.”

City administration’s review comes at the same time Calgary Transit is undertaking its own customer feedback survey on the free fare zone until March 8.

“We weren’t planning on coming up with alternatives to the free fare zone yet, but we wanted to have a sense of how it’s being used and why,” Calgary Transit director Sharon Fleming told city council.

The downtown free fare zone runs along the CTrain line along 7 Avenue between Downtown West/Kerby and City Hall/Bow Valley College stations.

City administration is expected to come back to council ahead of the summer with recommendations and “potential implementation pathways” for council to consider.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

After two pedestrians were killed over the Family Day long weekend, Calgary city councillors are awaiting a response from the provincial government to find new measures to help improve traffic safety.

A toddler in a stroller was killed after being hit in a marked crosswalk in the city’s southwest Sunday afternoon, and a senior was also struck in a marked crosswalk less than 24 hours later in northwest Calgary.

They were Calgary’s seventh and eighth fatal collisions in 2026 — a concerning trend, according to the Calgary Police Service, after 38 fatal crashes were recorded in 2025 including the deaths of 15 pedestrians.

“We did see an increase overall last year so to see the year start at this volume is definitely concerning for how the rest of it is going to go,” said A/Insp. Shelby Stewart told reporters Monday.

1:53
New photo radar rules in effect in Alberta

During city council’s meeting Tuesday morning, Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Yule asked the mayor about any progress in advocating the provincial government to restore photo radar enforcement.

Get daily National news

Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said he spoke with Alberta Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen late last year about improving traffic safety, but is waiting for a response to a formal letter he sent the minister on Feb 12.

In that letter, Farkas said the removal of photo radar “has led to an upswing in speed-related collisions,” noting there were more than 900 pedestrian collisions and 27 fatalities between 2024 and 2025, which he said is a “critical public safety crisis.”

Farkas called on the province to restore the municipal share of traffic fine revenue, which was clawed back in 2020, as well as a review of the decision to restrict photo radar enforcement.

According to Farkas, any restored revenue would be allocated to traffic-safety improvements, including safer intersections, crosswalk upgrades, school-zone protections, and traffic-calming measures.

“That’s the way I think this solves the problem, it takes the politics out of the issue and lowers the heat,” Farkas told reporters. “If the fine revenue is being earmarked specifically for road safety improvements, it makes a lot more sense to me as a Calgarian, and I think we can help build the case with the public that this isn’t just another cash grab.”

Farkas said the move could unlock upwards of $30 million annually for the city to invest in traffic safety.

In a statement to Global News, Dreeshen said the province, “has no plans to expand photo radar beyond the current framework.”

“I am scheduling a meeting with Mayor Farkas in the coming weeks to discuss support for safer streets through targeted infrastructure improvements,” Dreeshen said in a statement.

“Our government established the $13 million Traffic Safety Fund, which municipalities can access to improve high-risk intersections through measures like better signage, signal timing, lighting, and road redesign.”

During budget deliberations last year, city council approved funding for each ward to install two new rectangular rapid flashing beacons at a location of their choice.

Another $7.5 million was also approved to fund traffic and pedestrian safety improvements in the city’s Vision Zero plan, which aims to reduce traffic injuries and fatalities by 25 per cent by 2028 through street design and crosswalk improvements.

Yule told reporters that city council is aligned in its goal to invest in pedestrian safety

“We’ve got our four-year budget coming up and you’re going to see a lot of investment from our side,” Yule said.

“Definitely looking for other levels of government to make sure that we have all the tools at our disposal.”

1:58
Calgary police issue nearly 26,000 fewer speeding tickets since photo radar ban announced

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has written to the City of Calgary to provide clarity on how council’s upcoming decision to repeal citywide rezoning could impact federal housing funds.

It comes as the city’s Infrastructure and Planning Committee meeting was presented a report Wednesday that said CMHC “may deem” the City of Calgary to be non-compliant with the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) Contribution Agreement if city council fully repeals citywide rezoning.

Calgary was awarded $251.3 million, including top-ups, from the federal Housing Accelerator Fund, with $122.9 million allocated so far. The next instalment of the fund is set for the end of March 2026.

In the statement sent to city administration and councillors, obtained by Global News, CMHC said Calgary agreed it “would eliminate exclusionary zoning city-wide,” and enable a variety of missing middle housing types.

“In order to remain compliant with the agreement, any updated zoning must not reintroduce exclusionary (single family only) zoning, allow for at least four units on a lot across the city without additional approvals, and must not reintroduce approval processes or other barriers that slow down development,” CMHC said in its note to the city.

CMHC said it looks forward to working with Calgary on “options to achieve this” in the coming weeks.

Calgary city council is set to hold a public hearing March 23 on whether it should repeal citywide rezoning, but the issue has created an ongoing back and forth about whether the city’s federal housing funding would be affected by the decision.

City councillors are interpreting CMHC’s statement differently, with Ward 4 Coun. DJ Kelly saying he believes Calgary’s HAF funding will be terminated if citywide rezoning is fully repealed.

Get breaking National news

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

“Throughout this entire process we’ve been waiting to hear back from the federal government about what their take is on it,” Ward 4 Coun. DJ Kelly said.

“Planning decisions need to be made for planning reasons, but that being said, we as a council need to sit down and figure out what that answer really means for us.”

1:55
Calgary requires at least $5.7B over next 10 years for critical infrastructure 

Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean, however, said he doesn’t think the funding will be impacted if council moves ahead with repealing the policy.

“Nowhere in that agreement does it say that the funding is tied to exclusionary zoning or four units as a right. It doesn’t say that anywhere in there, in my interpretation of the agreement,” McLean told reporters Wednesday.

In its report to committee, city administration highlighted two initiatives in the agreement that CMHC could interpret as the city no longer satisfying if citywide rezoning is repealed, including “undertake city-initiated redesignations to streamline approvals to increase housing supply,” as well as “undertake land use bylaw amendments to promote missing middle land use districts.”

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas recently returned from a trip to Ontario where he met with federal officials and CMHC, seeking clarity on the future of the funding.

Farkas said he received reassurances the federal government wants to work with Calgary to build housing, as the city has led the country in housing starts over the last three years.

“Obviously, the federal government would like to see much more density, much more zoning applied across cities from coast to coast to coast,” Farkas said. “But the local context really matters, and also the written words of the agreement really matter.”

During the election, Farkas ran on a platform to repeal and replace citywide rezoning. Although a replacement plan hasn’t been unveiled,  Farkas told reporters it is part of the ongoing discussions.

“The worst case scenario is that council goes back to the way things were without any type of replacement plan or approach in terms of how we’re going to build the housing,” Farkas said. “The worst case scenario will never materialize here.”

As it stands, the motion to repeal citywide rezoning directs city administration to revert the city’s land-use bylaw to what it was prior to the previous city council approving citywide rezoning, but would exclude properties that had development permits approved prior to the motion or any currently under review in the permit process.

City administration said the implications to federal funding won’t be fully known until after council decides on whether to repeal citywide, but the report to councillors outlined $861 million in funds that could be impacted across multiple streams. 

Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot, who drafted the motion to repeal citywide rezoning, said administration is “risk averse” when it comes to a potential “loss in revenue.”

“The way I look at it is, it’s not money we have so it’s not money we’ve lost,” Chabot told reporters. “It’s money we could have and so let’s work with our federal counterparts to see what we can get while still delivering what Calgarians expect from us.”

Committee went behind closed doors for nearly two hours Wednesday to discuss the impacts and the recent communication from CMHC.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.