💸 $861.2-million in federal funding at risk if rezoning is fully repealed

A new report from the City of Calgary will be tabled on Wednesday, Feb 11th that shows how the City is at risk of losing nearly a billion dollars in federal funding for housing and transit if City Council decides to fully repeal rezoning that legalized duplexes and row homes citywide. According to the report, additional future federal money may also be at risk.

Loss of these federal funds would be a devastating blow to addressing Calgary's housing crisis, which began to see success last year with a record high number of new housing starts.

Source: City of Calgary (IP2026-0072 Attachment 6)

👀 Farkas’ promised “replacement” plan for gentle density is missing in action

Calgary Mayor Farkas celebrated “promise made is a promise kept” when he announced the March 23rd date for the public hearing on the proposal to repeal blanket rezoning, but he has thus far been quiet on his other campaign promise to replace rezoning with gentle density.

Mayor Farkas celebrated keeping his promise to repeal rezoning in a January 27th message without mentioning his other campaign promise to replace rezoning with gentle density. (Source: Bsky)

💬 Farkas successfully campaigned on "gentle density"

Rather than campaigning to simply repeal rezoning like other mayoral candidates, Mayor Farkas successfully campaigned on repealing and replacing rezoning with gentle density, but to date he has not provided Calgarians with a proposed path forward for “replacement” or how he intends to “support gentle density while building a variety of homes at a more affordable price point” as he promised in his election platform. 

Rather than fully repealing rezoning and losing nearly a billion dollars in federal funding, Farkas has an opportunity to show leadership by proposing improvements to rezoning to address community concerns (lot coverage, building height, community character, etc.)

Mayor Farkas’ 2025 election campaign promised “gentle density while building a variety of homes at a more affordable price point”, but he has thus far not provided Calgarians details on his path forward despite his plans to repeal rezoning. (Source: jeromy.ca)

💰Calgary’s $7.7-billion infrastructure crisis will cost taxpayers even more if we continue to subsidize a small number of communities exclusively for low-density single-detached homes

According to the independent report on the Bearspaw watermain failure, decades of low-density sprawl “exacerbated the risk and integrity challenges that ultimately affected the [Bearspaw South Feedermain]”. But that’s not the only problem. Thanks to years of building low density communities, Calgary now faces a more than $7.7-billion infrastructure gap to replace aging roads, public transit, wastewater infrastructure and more.

🏈 Citywide rezoning for gentle density helps tackle both the crumbling infrastructure crisis and the housing affordability crisis

Image source: (Globe and Mail)

Rezoning to legalize gentle density like row homes provides a viable financial path for the City to fund these necessary investments in infrastructure without overburdening taxpayers citywide or risking further deterioration and collapse of more of the basic infrastructure we depend on.

Among the key benefits of rezoning for gentle density are:

🚰 Funding reinvestment in established neighbourhoods - like lifecycle replacement of critical infrastructure;

💸Reducing Calgary’s dependency on financially costly sprawl that paves over farmland and natural ecosystems around Calgary;

📈 Maximizing land values and choice for homeowners;

🏘️ Providing a greater variety of housing options within neighbourhoods;

🏘️ Creating more housing supply to accommodate Calgary’s growing population without spreading finite public resources even thinner. 

⚡️ TAKE ACTION: Ask Mayor Farkas to keep his promise to support gentle density and not light a billion dollars on fire

📨 Email City Council

Email Mayor Farkas to ask him if he is going to light the $861-million in federal funding for housing and transit on fire or will he honour his campaign promise to support gentle density.

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