The City of Calgary says its downtown revitalization plan is showing positive results.
Calgary’s downtown core has always determined the financial health of the city, and as it grew, was the source of most of the property taxes paid in the city.
It survived a series of booms and busts over the years, until a downturn in the energy sector in 2019 hit the industry hard, resulting in companies closing and fewer people working downtown.
The decline was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in even fewer people working downtown, but the biggest loss was $16 billion in office property values between 2015 and 2021.
This shifted the property tax burden to small businesses and the residential sector, which has been the case ever since.
In 2021, the city introduced the Greater Downtown Plan to bring private investment back to downtown and attempting to restore it as a primary tax base, enticed by $200 million in Calgary taxpayer money, an additional $4 million in taxpayer money from the Government of Alberta and $52.5 million from the federal Liberal government’s taxpayer-funded Housing Accelerator Fund.
The city used the money to offset costs of adding residential homes in the empty office buildings, which the new 2022-2024 State of Downtown report says “has far exceeded expectations, gaining international recognition for its impact. The program has successfully encouraged private developers to invest in residential conversions by offering $75 per square foot up to a maximum of $15 million per project. For every $1 of public funding, this initiative has generated $3.50 in private investment.”
At a press conference in downtown on Tuesday morning, Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek touted the city’s success to date of revitalizing downtown, which includes “new homes and student energy to artistic murals, music festivals, and social enterprise” and how “collective efforts are bringing new life, new ideas, and new people to downtown Calgary.”
“True revitalization means we’ve changed how people experience downtown,” said Gondek. “It’s not just about numbers. It’s about energy. It's about seeing people on patios at lunch, students walking home from class in the evening, and families taking in art, culture, and public space on the weekends. It’s about creating a place where people feel safe, welcomed, and proud.”
And even though is not just about numbers, the city included these ones as highlights in a press release:
The Downtown Calgary Incentive Programs have catalyzed $1 billion in public and private co-investment.
A projected return of $3.50 in value for every $1 of public funding invested in office conversions.
Downtown property values have increased $1.8B since 2022.
There are 11 office-to-residential conversions currently underway, creating 1,498 new homes for roughly 2,400 future downtown residents.
Calls for downtown safety response are down 12% since this time last year.
Transit ridership is at historic highs, surpassing pre-pandemic levels with more than 10 million trips in October 2024 alone.
With the completion of the BMO Centre expansion, Calgary now boasts Western Canada’s largest convention centre, which is ready to welcome more than 35,000 visitors for the Global Energy Show and the Rotary convention in June 2025.
“This momentum is visible from the new event centre in the east to Contemporary Calgary in the west. Multiple revitalization projects make the downtown core a vibrant place for people to live, work, play, learn and invest,” said the city in its release.
