Calgary's Path Forward: City Hall Decides How Your Neighbourhood Will Grow

[CALGARY, AB] — Nine days from now, City Council sits down for a public hearing that will determine whether Calgary keeps building toward the city it needs to become, or retreats to the zoning rules that helped create the affordability crisis in the first place. Monday, March 23, 2026. Mark it.

The Policy That Broke Neighbourhoods in Half

When Council passed Bylaw 10P2024 in May 2024—a 9-6 vote after the longest public hearing in Calgary's history—they made R-CG (Residential – Contextual Ground-Oriented) the base residential zoning for most single-detached lots in the city. Translation: rowhouses, townhomes, and fourplexes became "as-of-right" on streets that used to be locked into single-family only. No more costly redesignation applications eating months of a builder's calendar and thousands of dollars in fees. If your design meets the rules, you build. Full stop.

Now Mayor Jeromy Farkas—who campaigned explicitly on killing this policy—is co-sponsoring the motion to repeal it, alongside Councillors Andre Chabot, Dan McLean, Kim Tyers, Rob Ward, Mike Jamieson, and Landon Johnston. Council already voted 13-2 in December 2025 to start the repeal process. March 23 is the finish line.

The $861 Million Grenade Sitting on the Council Table

Here is where this stops being an abstract planning debate and starts being a direct hit on your property tax bill and your transit commute. The federal government, through CMHC's Housing Accelerator Fund, signed a $228.3 million agreement with Calgary in November 2023—explicitly conditional on eliminating exclusionary zoning. Calgary has already collected over $121 million of that. Another $129.5 million is currently paused, with CMHC demanding clarity on the rezoning's fate before the end of March 2026.

The total exposure if this repeal goes through: up to $861 million—HAF dollars plus future federal transit funding. City administration has said it plainly. There is no ambiguity. CMHC's position is that any new rules cannot reintroduce single-family-only restrictions or slow approvals. A full repeal does exactly that.

Councillors Myke Atkinson and Nathaniel Schmidt are among those fighting to hold the line, arguing the city cannot afford to hand back nearly a billion dollars to make a political point about neighbourhood character.

The Building Bonanza Already Happening on Your Block

Because Council telegraphed the repeal last December, developers are currently in a dead sprint. Every permit application submitted and approved under the current R-CG rules before August 4, 2026—the date the repeal would actually take effect—is almost certainly grandfathered. That 1% of properties with active or approved R-CG applications will likely proceed regardless of the vote. The construction noise you're already hearing? That's not slowing down. It's accelerating.

If the repeal passes, 99% of Calgary's residential properties snap back to their pre-2024 zoning. The fourplex next door that hasn't broken ground yet: dead. The rowhouse infill three streets over that's still in permit review: potentially gone.

What the Repeal Actually Costs You

If you are currently paying a mortgage in an established inner-city neighbourhood while also pricing out the housing options your kids will need in ten years, this vote is personal. The blanket rezoning wasn't perfect—the concerns about sewer capacity, mature trees, and construction-zone streets in communities designed for 1970s density are legitimate. But those are infrastructure investment problems. Repealing zoning reform doesn't fix a water main. It just ensures fewer people can afford to live near one.

The public hearing is March 23 at 9:30 a.m. Written submissions to Council are open now through the City's website. You can register to speak in person or remotely.

Former Mayor Jyoti Gondek's administration built the policy. Mayor Farkas is betting his mandate on dismantling it. The tab for that bet is $861 million—and it comes due before spring is over.