Council delays Calgary Plan rollout for more public feedback

Calgary's city council has decided to slow down its statutory planning process, voting Tuesday to delay the rollout of the Calgary Plan — the city's highest-level planning document set to guide development for the next 25 years.

Council voted 13-2 to direct administration to return in January with a "what we heard" report before a final phase of public engagement. While administration had wanted to bring a finalized version back by December 2026, many councillors pushed back on that timeline.

"This is a decision that's going to outlast … likely all of us on today's council," Mayor Jeromy Farkas said before the vote. "So it's important that we take the time to do that right (and) to engage in the process. We don't want to repeat the same mistakes that the previous council did through blanket rezoning, but we still need to have a targeted plan … In this case, it's a matter of measuring twice and cutting once."

Councillors Rob Ward and Landon Johnston cast the two dissenting votes.

The 96-page plan, in development since 2023, would replace and consolidate the city's existing Municipal Development Plan and Calgary Transportation Plan. It was originally supposed to roll out in 2025 but was postponed to 2026 by the previous council, which cited a need for more community digestion time.

The city has already solicited feedback from more than 47,900 Calgarians and 180-plus organizations through 175 events and five phases of public engagement. Director of Regional Planning Kathy Davies Murphy told council the document has gone through three iterations since 2023.

The plan calls for more diverse housing choice across Calgary, better connectivity along transportation networks, and increased access to parks and recreation. It sets a target for Calgary's downtown population to nearly double from 56,000 residents to about 100,000 by 2050, and aims for all Calgarians to live within 400 metres of a public park by the same year.