Approving the blanket upzoning bylaw was, without a doubt, the most egregious legislation approved by the previous Calgary city council almost two years ago.
The bylaw eliminated all areas of the city that were zoned for just single-family homes, allowing higher-density multi-family homes to be built in those areas, alongside single-family homes.
A total of 311,570 single-family homes were affected by the bylaw, with none of the owners of those homes being directly contacted by the city to get their opinions. However, in the largest, most expensive public hearing in the city’s history, held over two weeks in May 2024, 736 Calgarians spoke to council about the bylaw, while 6,101 written submissions were received.
Approximately 70% of those who spoke and 88% of written submissions were opposed to blanket upzoning.
Regardless, city council, led by former Mayor Jyoti Gondek, without saying it out loud, said “democracy be damned”, and a cadre of eight councillors (the Hateful 8) plus Gondek, voted in favour of the bylaw, with six councillors voting against.
The Hateful 8 and Gondek argued the bylaw would significantly increase the supply of housing in the city and contribute to more affordable housing. It did neither.
As of late 2025, 1,949 multi-family homes had been approved under the bylaw, with estimates of the homes selling for an average of $600,000, which is more than a couple hundred thousand dollars above an affordable price.
As a marker, Calgary recorded 24,369 new home starts in 2024, and an estimated 27,000 starts in 2025 (the final number has yet to be released).
While not increasing supply nor affordability, what the bylaw did do was allow demolition of single-family homes, replaced with huge townhomes, with some projects including upwards of 16 individual homes each.
No considerations were given by that council about parking requirements, nor the impact the new townhomes would have on existing infrastructure (with aging infrastructure in Calgary being the top story of 2026).
It also resulted in neighbours fighting each other and made a lot of money for realtors and smaller home building companies, which is good for them, but not something council thought about in 2024.
Fast forward to last October’s civic election when more candidates than not made repealing the bylaw a major part of their platforms, and then to the Dec. 15 meeting of the new council, when a vote to hold a public hearing about the bylaw passed 13 to 2. Only new councillors Myke Atkinson (Ward 7) and Nathaniel Schimdt (Ward 8) voted no.
This past week, council approved a public hearing, lasting one week, starting on March 23.
In the meantime, certain properties already being redeveloped, and those with development permits in place will proceed.
The repeal process is about more than new housing. This is about democracy and whether city council will do what their bosses – Calgarians – want to have done, and the majority of them want to see the end of blanket upzoning.
Whether Atkinson and Schmidt will continue to hold fast to their pro-blanket upzoning stances remains to be seen, and Calgarians have the opportunity to see what transpires by attending the public hearing.
“Obviously, the previous public hearing that we had on blanket rezoning was one of the best attended, if not the most attended, in Calgary’s history,” said Mayor Jeromy Farkas. “We’re expecting a really good turnout.”
Farkas, who supported the repeal in his run for the mayor’s chair, wouldn’t say what he thought the final outcomes of the public hearing could be.
“That's presupposing the outcome because we haven't heard from the public yet, but we’re really encouraging as many Calgarians as possible to come down to participate in the process and provide us their ideas and solutions in terms of how we continue to meet Calgary's housing goals, but in a more targetted way.”
Anyone wanting to speak at the public hearing, in person or on the phone must register at the city’s website. Written submissions will also be accepted.
Click here for more information and to register.
