The Calgary municipal election is now less than two months away, with candidates’ campaigns heating up and expectations heightened. A central focus of all civic elections is Calgary’s housing market, both new and resale. Decisions made in city council chambers affect both areas of the housing market, from issuing development and building permits, determining what types of new homes can be built and where, setting property tax rates and more. Council’s decisions on housing impact taxes, community development and all other housing-related issues that impact the lives of all Calgarians. To that end, the Calgary Real Estate Board launched its YYC Votes 2025 Campaign to shine its light on what it considers the top housing challenges faced by Calgarians in the coming election. The campaign promotes municipal policy issues that would have the greatest impact on the housing challenges facing Calgarians in the 2025 Calgary election, says Christian Twomey, Chair of CREB’s Government Relations Standing Committee “Every Calgarian should have safe, affordable housing that meets their needs, whether they’re a single person just starting out, a family raising children, or seniors on fixed incomes,” says Twomey. “Civic elections are when Calgarians have the loudest voice in determining how the city will address those needs.” .CREB has formulated what it considers the top five policy issues facing housing and Calgarians, using analysis of its resale housing market data along with the experiences of its 8,700 realtor members. According to Twomey, the challenges and related policy issues selected by CREB are centred around increasing affordability, removing barriers to homeownership and planning that meets the city’s long-term needs while preserving the unique local character of individual neighbourhoods. “Calgary has changed since the last election, and whoever is sitting in council chambers and the mayor’s office after October 20 will need to look at issues that realtors are discussing with our clients every day, including affordability, making homeownership achievable and community-focused planning and zoning,” says Twomey. CREB’s Top Five Housing Policy Issues 1: Blanket Upzoning: CREB favours a community-focused, grassroots engagement approach to planning, development and addressing Calgary’s housing shortage, the most effective way to preserve neighbourhood uniqueness and maintain affordability, it says. .Prior to the approval of blanket upzoning in June 2024, CREB issued a statement saying, “Blanket upzoning is not the right solution to address Calgary’s housing challenges. It poses a significant risk to communities, driving up the level of congestion in neighbourhoods and putting added strain on infrastructure and service quality.""We oppose this approach and advocate for a more community-focused strategy.” CREB says it prefers a nuanced, localized and consultative zoning strategy, taking into account community context, with a focus on increasing housing supply where it’s most needed. 2: Planned Growth. CREB backs intentional, sustainable community growth and development that protects affordability and meets Calgary’s long-term needs. 3: Barriers to Homeownership. Homeownership should be achievable, says CREB, and support measures that remove barriers for Calgarians to become homeowners, from fair taxation to reducing red tape to efficient use of city resources. 4: Increases to Property Tax. Calgarians are paying more for everything, and year-after-year property tax increases make homeownership less affordable. CREB opposes further tax hikes and supports responsible spending by the city to reduce the need to increase taxes. 5: Digital Energy Labelling. CREB supports environmentally responsible initiatives such as EnerGuide labels for new homes but mandating them for existing homes would add pressure on homeowners, particularly low-income families, in a time of rising household costs. In September, CREB will also be hosting a forum for mayoralty candidates to discuss their approaches to solving these challenges. CREB’s YYC Votes information bulletin is here.
