Advocating for Industry: BILD at City Council — April 28/29, 2026
On Tuesday, April 28, BILD Calgary Region had two letters presented to City of Calgary Council by Councillor Andre Chabot at the Regular Council meeting. The meeting continues today, and we want our members to know what we submitted and why it matters.
Both letters reflect BILD’s ongoing commitment to advocating for clarity, certainty, and fairness in the policies and frameworks that shape housing delivery and growth in Calgary and in the region.
Flood Resilience & Land Use
Calgary’s approach to flood resilience is evolving — and how these changes are implemented will be critical to their success.
BILD provided input on proposed amendments to Land Use Bylaw 1P2007, aligning land use regulations with updated provincial flood hazard mapping and significant mitigation investments made across Calgary’s river communities.
BILD supports the intent of these amendments and the move toward a clearer, risk-based framework for development in flood hazard areas. Aligning regulations with updated mapping is an important and necessary step toward improving public safety and long-term resilience.
As this work moves forward, a key priority will be ensuring consistent interpretation across policy, mapping, and implementation — particularly in Flood Fringe areas, where the bylaw enables development with appropriate mitigation. There is a risk that inconsistent language across related policy materials could be misread as prohibiting development that the bylaw actually permits.
Consistency matters not only within the approval process, but also in how flood hazard designations are interpreted by financial institutions, insurers, and the broader market. Even where development is permitted, misalignment can affect financing conditions, insurance coverage, and project viability.
Clear tools — mapping, guidance, and staff training — will be essential, especially during the transition period as mapping is implemented and site conditions evolve over time.
Update: Council has referred the proposed Flood Resilience Land Use Bylaw Amendments back to Administration to undertake additional engagement with communities in high hazard and groundwater flood fringe areas. In plain terms, the proposal is not moving forward yet — it has been sent back for more work. As a result, the timeline for approval has been extended to Q4 2026, and the existing Land Use Bylaw will continue to apply while the updated framework is under review.
BILD looks forward to working with Administration and Council to support implementation that achieves public safety objectives while maintaining certainty for housing delivery and investment.
Read our full submission on Flood Resilience Land Use Bylaw Amendments (Item 7.3, IP2026-0212) linked below.
Capital Planning & Growth Certainty
Delivering housing and supporting growth in Calgary depends on predictable, transparent infrastructure investment.
BILD also provided input on the City’s emerging Corporate Capital Prioritization Framework and the move toward a 10-year Capital Plan — both important steps toward improving long-term planning certainty for industry, residents, and Calgary’s broader economic competitiveness.
The need for a clear framework is not new. When growth applications for West View and Glacier A North were delayed due to “higher priority projects,” applicants had no visibility into how those determinations were being made. Materially consequential decisions were appearing opaque, despite the substantial investment and financial risk borne by applicants. A transparent, data-driven framework is long overdue.
Under Calgary’s current funding model, new community developers fully fund on-site infrastructure and pay 100% of the City-determined beneficial share of off-site infrastructure required to support new communities. BILD is seeking clarity on how fully growth-funded projects will be treated within the new framework, and how partially City-funded infrastructure will be evaluated and weighted — including recognition of the developer contribution already made at no cost to taxpayers or ratepayers.
Greater clarity on how capital projects will be evaluated and ranked will help support investment decisions and ensure infrastructure is delivered in step with market demand. BILD is also asking whether meaningful stakeholder engagement will occur before the framework is finalized ahead of the fall 2027 budget cycle.
Update: The Corporate Capital Prioritization Framework was approved and the report received for the corporate record. This approval is one piece of a larger, multi-step process tied to a Notice of Motion brought forward by Mayor Farkas and Ward 6 Councillor John Pantazopoulos, with the goal of having Administration report back to Council through Executive Committee no later than June 2026 — proposing a stable renewal funding mechanism, such as an infrastructure improvement fee, levy, or other tool, to address the City’s immediate infrastructure funding deficit and support predictable, long-term renewal and risk reduction across Calgary’s infrastructure assets. The next key milestone is expected on May 7, after which the matter proceeds to Executive Committee and then Council for approval.
BILD looks forward to continued engagement with Administration and Council as the framework is refined.
Read our full submission on the Corporate Capital Prioritization Framework (Item 7.7, IP2026-0155) linked below.
For more information:
Deborah Cooper
Director of Policy, Strategic Initiatives & Government Relations
Nadia Friesen
Director of Policy Initiatives & Government Relations
