City committee approves new communities for Calgary's outskirts as population grows

Calgary is one step closer to getting four new communities on the city's outskirts, after a city committee approved some applications for council to consider during budget adjustments in November.

Growth applications are part of a recently redesigned city process used to evaluate where new communities should be established — and where money should be spent.

Council's infrastructure and planning committee reviewed five growth applications Wednesday. Four of them were approved to move forward to the next step of the process: budget consideration.

The approved communities include:

If approved by council, roughly 9,000 homes would be created in the approved portions of the communities listed above — with an upfront cost to the city of nearly $125 million.

Coun. Sonya Sharp, who chairs the committee, said while the city's housing strategy is focused on increased density, there's also a need to build outward.

"There are families that just don't want to live downtown because the amenities aren't there. So you do need to consider housing for all in Calgary, and that's the balance I like to strike," said Sharp.

She said one of the applications, Haskayne, may also move forward sooner as it doesn't require any immediate capital funding.

The fifth and largest application reviewed by committee was for Providence, a proposed community that could bring 9,600 new homes near the new community of Alpine Park in the southwest quadrant.

Administration recommended the city continue to work with applicants, but the community isn't considered for funding yet in this budget cycle. Area councillor Dan McLean pushed back, and council will consider funding for stripping and grading of the land in November.

Similarly, city administration did not recommend approving Glacier Ridge A for funding consideration yet, as it would require a $22-million fire station. But Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness also pushed back and received support from the committee.

Councillor and committee vice-chair Jasmine Mian worries about what message that sends.

"It's frustrating, just given everything that we have to fund, that these are getting put through and it looks very bad to the public because it's an election year and we're going to double the amount of growth capital we spend. It does not look good," said Mian.

For Sharp, the debate during meetings shows the redesigned process — adopted in 2023 — isn't working as planned. There's still a risk that the communities approved by committee won't be approved by council, she said.