CALGARY — Repealing the blanket upzoning bylaw was a major plank in the platforms of a majority of candidates running for city of Calgary council seats in October’s election and was one of the first orders of business for the new council.
In a vote of 13-2, council made good on election promises, voting to hold a public hearing on the repeal, which is now scheduled for March 23.
The two councillors voting against the motion were Myke Atkinson (Ward 7) and Nathaniel Schmidt (Ward 8).
In late December, rumours swirled the City of Calgary was in jeopardy of losing its $251 million contract with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) if the blanket upzoning bylaw was repealed. At the time, CMHC was quick to quell the rumours, agreeing that approving blanket upzoning was never part of its agreement with the city.
On Wednesday, the City of Calgary’s Infrastructure and Planning Committee will hear from city administration officials that repealing the blanket upzoning bylaw could in fact threaten the city’s contract with CMHC.
As part of its presentation, administration will say, “If the city fully repeals the Rezoning for Housing Bylaw (RHB) CMHC may deem the city to be non-compliant with the HAF Agreement.”
A group of several hundred Calgarians who banded together to fight blanket upzoning, known as Calgarians for Thoughtful Growth (CFTG) sent city councillors and Mayor Jeromy Farkas a briefing note to help them objectively assess city administration’s claims that repealing the bylaw could jeopardize federal housing funding.
In a press release, CFTG said “administration’s analysis presents a false binary choice — retain blanket upzoning or risk losing federal funding — that is not supported by the HAF agreement nor by recent federal practice in other Canadian cities.”
Group spokesman, Robert Lehodey KC, said, “Our objective is to help council assess the facts accurately. Administration’s position relies on highly conditional language — repeatedly stating that funding may or could be at risk — and is predicated on several major assumptions that are not demonstrated or proven. Those assumptions deserve closer scrutiny before council relies on them.”
CFTG’s briefing note says the city has already surpassed its HAF housing supply growth target more than a year ahead of schedule, which is not addressed by administration in a risk assessment report. It also notes that “the HAF agreement is outcome-based (increased housing) and tool-neutral and does not require a single zoning approach to be applied uniformly across the city.”
Some cities have lost their funding or have seen it reduced for non-compliance with their CMHC contracts.
“In Toronto, for example, the federal government reduced, but did not terminate, HAF funding after Toronto City Council declined to permit six-plexes citywide and indicated that funding could be restored through ward-level opt-ins,” reads the CFTG release. “This suggests that compliance turns on scale, impact, and good-faith implementation, rather than blanket, city-wide zoning.”
“Calgary does not need to abandon housing growth to respect voters’ wishes,” said Patricia McCunn-Miller of CFTG. “Council received a clear mandate in the October election to repeal blanket upzoning. We don’t need to change the housing goal — we need to change the tools."
“Targeted approaches along corridors, near transit, and through local area plans can achieve housing objectives without imposing a one-size-fits-all solution on every neighbourhood.”
“The briefing is intended as a resource for council, not a directive, and includes a side-by-side comparison of agreement language versus administration claims, comparator city examples, and suggested questions council may wish to ask,” said Lehodey.
Ward 10 Cllr. Andre Chabot said he feels administration is trying to influence council's decision leading up to the March 23 public hearing.
“Administration’s report is very much doom and gloom and looks at what could happen if council decided to do a full 100% repeal,” said Chabot. “CMHC has already reduced or cut housing funds for cities like Red Deer, Vaughn and Toronto for non-compliance with their signed agreements, but city administration notes council cannot take this information into consideration when making its decision on citywide rezoning.”
At the public hearing in April 2024, more than 6,500 Calgarians responded to council’s debate on approving blanket upzoning and even though 75% of Calgarians said they were not in favour of blanket upzoning, council said ‘democracy be damned’ and approved it by a vote of 9 to 6.
Chabot, who voted against it two years ago, said council needs to listen to Calgarians on March 23.
“It's whatever the public brings to us that I think we ultimately need to consider,” he said. “I'm going to listen and hear what people have to say and utilize that input to help to form my opinion.”
Mayor Farkas maintains funding should focus on housing outcomes rather than specific planning rules, highlighting Calgary’s strong home construction record.
The mayor and Ward 13 Cllr. Dan McLean were in Ottawa over the weekend, meeting with federal officials, including Prime Minister Carney and officials from CMHC.
Farkas said the meetings went well, but much remains up in the air.
“They recognize the success that Calgary's been able to deliver to date, and a lot of the go forward will be what the replacement approach may be to repealing blanket rezoning,” said Farkas.
The IPC meeting is at 9:30 AM Wednesday in council chambers and can be viewed on the city’s video channel
