City Building

The City of Calgary is updating plans that will shape the Calgary of the future and make sure our city keeps on being a great place to live. We want to hear from you.

Stay tuned for program updates

Phase 4 engagement on the Zoning Bylaw and information about the Street Manual coming fall 2024.

What is City Building?

Calgary is a city of opportunity and choice. As our city’s population approaches two million, The City of Calgary must prepare to support this growth. The City Building program will align and strengthen The City’s plans and tools to create a place where everyone can thrive.

WHAT IS CITY BUILDING?

We are planning for the future of how we move, build and use land across the city.

The City Building program includes the Calgary Plan (merging the Municipal Development Plan with the Calgary Transportation Plan), Zoning Bylaw (currently known as the Land Use Bylaw) and Street Manual (currently called the Complete Streets Policy & Guide). All three of these documents will work together to create a clear, concise and central 30-year vision and 10-year action plan for Calgary’s future.

WHY NOW?

Calgary is growing rapidly, and we will soon be a city of two million people.

For our city to continue being a great place to live, we must take intentional action now to plan and build with renewed purpose. This growth provides opportunity to shape our city, how we get around, and how we interact with the natural systems that sustain us.

This will ensure we create a city that provides more choice for every Calgarian.

Calgary Plan

CALGARY PLAN

The Calgary Plan will merge the Municipal Development Plan with the Calgary Transportation Plan into one concise and updated document. This statutory plan will guide the way we move and use land across the city.

What is the Calgary Plan?

A Municipal Development Plan (MDP) is The City of Calgary’s highest-level planning document. It guides future land use, built form, and growth.

The Calgary Transportation Plan (CTP) guides the city’s mobility networks.

Combining these plans together ensures land use and mobility planning are integrated, better aligning the way we build and move through the city.

What is the City Building program exploring?

• Simplified goals
• Updated City Structure map addressing the growth and structure of Calgary
• Consolidated policies from the MDP and CTP removing conflicting direction and redundancy
• The addition of new policies reflecting other approved City documents and reinforcing climate, equity, and Truth and Reconciliation

To learn more, check out the Calgary Plan video from Phase 3. (Note, engagement is now closed.)

Zoning Bylaw

ZONING BYLAW

The new Zoning Bylaw (currently called the Land Use Bylaw) will simplify the rules that govern the use of land and the form of buildings in the city.

What is the Zoning Bylaw?

The Zoning Bylaw regulates how and where buildings are developed throughout the city. This includes:

• The activities (uses) allowed on a property (e.g. residential, commercial, industrial)
• Where development can happen on a property
• The shape of a building
• Requirements when development is in a flood zone

The Zoning Bylaw does not:

• Regulate who can use a property
• Provide specific building construction rules (addressed in the Building Code)
• Force development/redevelopment to occur

The parts of a Zoning Bylaw include:

• Zones: Areas of the city are divided into different zones that detail the types of development and activities (uses) allowed within each area.
• Uses: When a parcel of land has a particular zone applied to it, there are a variety of "permitted uses" included. These are types of activity that you are automatically granted permission by the City to carry out on that parcel. There may also be "discretionary" uses for that zone. These are uses that might be appropriate, but you need to obtain permission through a Development Permit beforehand to ensure they fit with the specific context of that site.
• Regulations: Rules for development, like maximum building heights, building setbacks and many other rules that guide the use of land.

What does "permitted" and "discretionary" mean?

What is a Permitted Use?

• A proposed use of land that is allowed in a specific zone
• Permitted uses complement each other or are anticipated to work together, such as a garage and a house in a residential area
• For permitted uses that comply with all of the rules of the Zoning Bylaw, the development permit must be approved
• A permitted use is not subject to a review of City policies
• For permitted uses that don't comply with all of the rules of the Zoning Bylaw, The City can use discretion, public feedback and City policies to make the decision whether the use should be approved

What is a Discretionary Use?

• A proposed use of land that is not automatically allowed where it is listed in a zone, but that may be allowed at the discretion of The City
• A discretionary use may or may not be approved, depending on how the use fits with and impacts neighbouring parcels, alignment with City policies and sound planning principles
• Discretionary uses are not required to comply with all of the rules of the Zoning Bylaw, however they must comply with all relevant City policies
• The City may approve a discretionary use that does not comply with the rules of the Zoning Bylaw or may refuse a discretionary use that does comply with all the rules of the Zoning Bylaw, based on discretion

What is the City Building program exploring?

• Consolidated, optimized and defined uses
• Developed high-level draft zones
• Tested draft zones against existing and proposed developments to ensure effectiveness
• Created preliminary regulations and general provisions for the new bylaw

Other recent important zoning work includes Rezoning for Housing. This Council-directed initiative stems from the recently approved Home is Here: City of Calgary’s Housing Strategy, which recommended a citywide rezoning of low-density residential areas to the R-CG Residential – Grade-Oriented Infill Zone.

Please visit the Rezoning for Housing webpage for more information.

Street Manual

STREET MANUAL

The new Street Manual (currently called the Complete Streets Policy & Guide) will provide updated direction for the design of Calgary’s streets to support safe travel options for all Calgarians.

What is the Street Manual?

The Street Manual will guide how city streets are designed, including:

• The types of spaces needed for different travel options, including walking, wheeling, transit and driving
• Streetscape elements like trees, benches and public utilities
• How streets interact with surrounding buildings, including different approaches to driveways, parking and the use of sidewalk space based on the local context

The Street Manual is one way of implementing land use and mobility policies in the Calgary Plan. Planners, developers, engineers, landscape architects and designers use this manual when designing streets in new communities or retrofitting existing streets.

What is the City Building program exploring?

• Consolidating and aligning the street design guidelines within the Complete Streets Guide, Design Guidelines for Subdivision Servicing, and other related mobility documents
• Incorporating feedback from development partners and updating design guidance with current industry best practices

As the Street Manual is a mostly technical document, engagement is mainly focussed on feedback from those directly involved with designing and building streets. Public feedback will help inform how Calgary’s overall approach to street design supports the types of streets Calgarians hope to see in and around their communities.

FAQ

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is the scope of the City Building program?

The scope of this program is to update and align citywide plans and tools, like the Calgary Plan, Zoning Bylaw and Street Manual, so that they work together seamlessly. We won’t be changing the direction and vision that was approved in 2019, but targets and wording will change to make these plans and tools easy to use, implement and understand.

What are some of the achievable outcomes that we anticipate by strengthening these plans and tools?

Creating straightforward plans will support more of what makes this city great and benefit all Calgarians by:

• Improving ways to get around by providing safe, efficient, and appealing travel options for all Calgarians.
• Building attractive neighbourhoods and spaces that offer lifestyle choices to residents, families, and businesses.
• Supporting economic development by building a city that attracts talent and investment. Simpler processes, more flexible rules and a quicker path to saying “yes” will make it easier to start or grow a business.
• Improving housing security and choice by increasing the amount and variety of market and non-market homes in Calgary.
• Acting boldly on climate change by supporting more resilient and sustainably built homes, offering more sustainable mobility options and protecting our trees, parks and rivers.
• Enhancing relationships with Indigenous communities by reflecting community priorities, honouring places of significance and incorporating Indigenous knowledge. This brings together both Indigenous and western worldviews to achieve a more equitable and inclusive city.

Who are we engaging in this process?

• General public: Engagement with the public will occur through three phases. We want to gather input from Calgarians through a variety of online and in-person opportunities across the city, including surveys, community pop-ups, drop-in events, webinars, interactive displays and other activities.
• Equity-deserving communities: Engagement with equity-deserving communities in Calgary will focus on under-represented and historically marginalized populations to build trust, understand lived experiences, and ideate solutions. We want to understand the ways our current policies have affected Calgarians living with vulnerabilities, the implications of implementing changes to these policies and how best to prioritize these changes.
• Indigenous Peoples: Engagement with Indigenous communities, including the Blackfoot Nations of Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai, the Stoney Nakoda First Nations tribes of Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Wesley, the Tsuut’ina First Nation, and the Métis Nation of Alberta, Regions 5 & 6. This strengthens relationships, reflects community priorities, and incorporates Indigenous knowledge.
• Interested parties: Engagement with organizations and representatives (such as the development and building industry, community groups, and non-profit organizations) expressing specific interest in one or more aspects of the project. These entities are providing valuable subject matter expertise into the City Building program.
• Internal City staff: Engagement with City of Calgary employees and partners who will play a role in influencing and utilizing the deliverables from the City Building program. This stream ensures internal alignment and collaboration.

How will public input be used to inform the plans?

During project engagement, the Engage Resource Unit (ERU) works to create transparency by ensuring that Calgarians involved in the process understand why they’re being engaged, what will be done with their feedback, and when they can expect to see how their feedback was incorporated. If changes are made to the engagement program once underway, Calgarians involved are informed of the reason for this change, and how it will impact scope and timelines. In subsequent phases of engagement, or at the end of a single-phase engagement program, we communicate to Calgarians how their feedback was used, as well as reasons for which certain feedback could not be incorporated. When combined, these efforts provide clarity and transparency for Calgarians throughout an engagement process.

What is the budget for this program?

The program budget was council-approved at the 2023 – 2026 Service Plans and Budget. The program budget is 17-million dollars that is funded through taxes and fees. The budget funds the work for these plans, which includes engagement activities, research, outreach and writing the updates to these three documents.

How does the City Building program align with other City plans and projects underway?

We’re planning and building our city to ensure it is sustainable, diverse, accessible, equitable and livable. Some current initiatives underway work together to achieve this vision.

This strategy aspires to ensure that everyone living in Calgary has an affordable place to call home.

City Building and Housing Strategy teams will be working together to keep each other informed of progress, major decisions, and opportunities for the public to receive information and provide feedback.

Some of the Housing Strategy actions approved by Council will fall into the scope of the City Building program, including:

• residential parking requirements
• exploring more permitted housing uses in new districts
• making non-market housing easier to build
• improving policies and land use districts to increase affordable housing supply and housing choice in every community

The City Building team will be updating policy and all zoning regulations (including all residential zones). Changes proposed through City Building will be part of the education and engagement campaigns for the program.

For additional information about Rezoning for Housing visit http://calgary.ca/rezoning.

Local area plans provide area-specific direction on redevelopment and reinvestment that will guide livable, equitable and diverse growth in our communities over the next 30 years.

We are collaborating and getting feedback from other internal projects and departments to ensure we have alignment and coordination between other bodies of work. Visit Local Area Planning in Calgary for more information about the plans currently underway.

Directs land use policies and building regulations in flood hazard areas to guide how we plan and develop in river communities to make them more resilient.

As our city continues to grow and the information available about flood risk evolves, it is important that we continue to revisit our land use policies and building regulations in flood hazard areas to guide how we plan and develop in river communities to make them more resilient.

Key outcomes of the Calgary River Valleys Project include adding updated river valley and flood hazard policy content in the Calgary Plan and updating Flood Hazard Area regulations in the updated Land Use (Zoning) Bylaw.

The City Building team will incorporate the relevant policies and actions from Calgary’s Climate Strategy.

• In general, housing development initiatives that provide densification in established areas and are oriented around public and active transit opportunities are in alignment with Calgary’s Climate Strategy.
• Housing development initiatives, however, should all consider building energy performance, as building performance needs to improve rapidly to hit our emissions targets.
• Housing development initiatives should also incorporate climate resilience measures to reduce climate risk and susceptibility to increasing extreme weather events.

PAST ENGAGEMENT

The City of Calgary is making a plan to shape the Calgary of the future—and make sure our city continues to be a great place to live. First, we want to hear from you.

Phase 1: Where are we going?

Phase 2: How are we going to get there?

Phase 3: What comes next for the Calgary Plan?

Stay Connected

Sign-up for City Building email updates.

Timeline

• Learn about the City Building Program
• Share your values and experience of living in Calgary

• Engage on specific City Building topics

• Review the proposed direction of the draft Calgary Plan

• Learn and share feedback about the draft zoning concepts
• Learn about the progress on the Street Manual

October 16, 2024 | Infrastructure and Planning Committee | An update for City Council on the overall Program and the three documents (Calgary Plan, Zoning Bylaw and Street Manual) will be presented.

November 2024 | Following the IPC meeting, a walkthrough of the final draft of the Calgary Plan is planned.

December 11, 2024 | Infrastructure and Planning Committee | The final draft Calgary Plan will be presented.

• Education and engagement in 2025
• Public Hearing of Council on Zoning Bylaw expected in 2026
• Additional Zoning Bylaw implementation planning will occur after Council

Past Engagement Reports

Past Engagement Reports

About

You see the results of decisions made by The City of Calgary every day – in your roads, drinking water, parks and much more. Get involved and provide your input on City projects and programs. Together we can build a better community!

Have questions or want to learn more about a project, contact us below:

• Terms of Use
• Accessibility
• Moderation
• Privacy Policy
• Translation Disclaimer

Privacy Policy

This site is owned and operated by The City of Calgary using software licensed from Social Pinpoint. For details on how The City of Calgary collects and protects your personal information on Calgary.ca, refer to the Calgary.ca privacy policy. For details of how Social Pinpoint may access personal information, please refer to Social Pinpoint’s Privacy Policy .

Terms of Use

Terms of Use

The following Terms and Conditions govern the use of Engage (“the site”). The platform is owned and operated by us, Social Pinpoint Pty Ltd (Social Pinpoint), on behalf of The City of Calgary.

By accessing and using this site, you are choosing to accept and comply with the Terms presented throughout this agreement as well as the Privacy Policy and Moderation Policy. These Terms apply to all visitors and users of this site. Linked sites, affiliated services or third party content or software have their own Terms that you must comply with. If you disagree with any of the Terms presented in this agreement, you may discontinue using the site immediately.

If you are under 18 years old, pleasure ensure that your parent or guardian understands and accepts these Terms and Conditions (including the Privacy Policy and Moderation Policy).

What are the conditions with a user’s account?

While using the site, you must not violate any applicable laws and regulations. It is our duty to protect the confidentiality of content you provide on our site in accordance with our Privacy Policy. If you are creating an account with us, you must always provide us with accurate information. Failure to provide accurate information violates the Terms, which may result in immediate termination of your account on our service.

We are not responsible for the content on the site that has been provided by the users of the site. Any content posted by you is subject to the rules of our Moderation Policy. Your contribution to the site may be edited, removed or not published if we consider it inappropriate (refer to Moderation Policy). Contributors should also be aware that their posts may remain online indefinitely. Where practical, you may choose not to identify yourself, deal with us on an anonymous basis or use a pseudonym.

What does Social Pinpoint require from their users?

You must understand and agree that, without limitation:

• all information, data, images and other materials are the sole responsibility of the person from whom the content originated;

• you are prohibited from advertising or offering to sell or buy any goods and services

• you cannot transmit Content that contains software viruses or programs designed to change or destroy the functionality of any computer software or hardware; or

• you cannot collect or store personal data about other users of the site

• you cannot impersonate any person or entity, including without limitation to a Social Pinpoint representative

• you cannot interrupt or interfere with the site or servers or networks connected to the site

• you cannot attempt to gain unauthorised access to the site or other use accounts

Can your account be suspended or terminated?

We may terminate or suspend access to your site and/or account immediately, without prior notice, including without limitation if you breach the Terms. We may immediately deactivate or delete your account and all the related files and information in your account. After your account has been terminated, the content you have posted may also remain indefinitely on the site.

If you want to terminate your own account, please send an email to info@socialpinpoint.com.

Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed in accordance with the laws of Victoria, Australia, without regards to its conflict of law provisions.

Indemnification

Social Pinpoint, its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, licensors and other partners are not responsible for any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including legal fees, made by any third party due to or arising from a breach of this agreement and/or any breach of your representations and warranties set forth above.

What content does Social Pinpoint own?

Engage website contains the copyrighted material, trademarks, patents, trade secrets and other proprietary information (“Intellectual Property”) of Social Pinpoint and its suppliers and licensors. Social Pinpoint owns and retain all proprietary rights in the intellectual property. All intellectual property in the content of this site including without limitation to text, software, source code, pages, documents and online graphics, photographs, sounds, audio, video and other interactive features are owned by or licensed to us.

Any original content that you submit or post on our site may be made available to the public and allows users to share your content (with the end user acknowledging your contribution) under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Australian License.

Except for Intellectual Property which is in the public domain or for which you have been given written permission, you may not copy, alter, transmit, sell, distribute any of the Intellectual Property.

We are not responsible for your communications or dealings, including payment and delivery of goods or services, with a third party found via our website. Any loss or damage incurred from those communications or dealings are solely between the user and the third party.

Disclaimer and Warranties

Users must agree that you use of the site is at your own risk. We make no warranty that the site will meet your requirements or be uninterrupted or error-free. Any material that the user downloads through the site is done at their own risk and are responsible for any damages to their computer system or loss of data.

What happens if these Terms change?

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to modify or replace these Terms at any time without notice. The most recent version of the Terms can be seen on this page. By continuing to access or use our site after those revisions become effective, you agree and will comply to the revised terms. If you do not agree to the revised terms, please discontinue using our site.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at info@socialpinpoint.com