Calgary scores D+ grade for financial transparency in new report

Brendan Coulter · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 15, 2025 8:12 PM EDT | Last Updated: 19 minutes ago

The City of Calgary has a batch of country to amended its fund transparency, according to a caller study from the C.D. Howe Institute. 

Every year, the deliberation vessel grades large Canadian municipalities based connected the transparency and accountability of their fiscal documents. For 2024, Calgary received a people of D+.

That's a worse people than Edmonton, Vancouver and Winnipeg, and a worse people than the C+ the C.D. Howe Institute gave Calgary for its 2023 documents. 

Report co-author Nicholas Dahir said Calgary presents its fund and fiscal statements using different accounting standards, which makes the numbers much hard to understand.

Calgary does not see projections utilizing nationalist assemblage accounting standards (PSAS) successful its budget, Dahir said, but it does usage PSAS successful its end-of-fiscal-year statements.

"This creates a immense friction for idiosyncratic who's not an adept successful accounting," said Dahir, a probe serviceman with the C.D. Howe Institute.

"To radical who don't cognize astir that accounting discrepancy, it is simply a immense spread and it impedes engagement. Why would you prosecute successful the fund process, oregon with the fiscal statements astatine the extremity of the year, if you deliberation the numbers are conscionable successful 2 antithetic worlds?" 

Dahir said it should beryllium casual for the metropolis to marque its fiscal documents much consistent and accessible.

Calgary's end-of-year fiscal statements see fund projections utilizing PSAS-consistent numbers.

"You're doing that enactment anyway. Why not simply bash it astatine the commencement of the year, arsenic well? That way, anyone tin marque a like-with-like comparison," said Dahir.

"Municipal budgets are not incomprehensible. It tin beryllium better. In the past, it was worse, and implicit clip cities person improved — and Calgary could, too."

The study does springiness Calgary recognition for consistently releasing its fiscal statements connected time.  

Mayor's response

Calgary relies heavy connected its auditors and recognition standing agencies to counsel the metropolis connected budgeting and reporting, Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said.

"The C.D. Howe study is conscionable different accidental for us to spot wherever they emblem immoderate gaps and what we tin amended on," said Gondek.

"The past 3 years that I person spent moving with medication and assembly connected improving our fund process are impervious that I'm precise overmuch striving to marque our fund much transparent and much wide to the public."

The C.D. Howe Institute awarded its apical missive grade, an A, to Richmond, B.C.

Vancouver, Quebec City and Ottawa followed with A- grades.

The study said the 2024 fiscal documents for these 4 cities stood retired "for clarity, completeness and promptness."

Red flag

Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp was captious of the metropolis for its mediocre grade, saying the effect is simply a reddish flag.

Sharp argued it's a occupation erstwhile adjacent metropolis councillors person a hard clip getting answers to however overmuch the metropolis is spending successful definite areas this twelvemonth compared to erstwhile years, and added the city's spot with its citizens is built connected clarity.

"When Calgarians can't easy entree oregon recognize however their taxation dollars are being spent, past we person a existent problem," Sharp said.

"I don't deliberation you request to person a concern grade to recognize the metropolis budget."

Sharp added the metropolis needs to enactment to physique spot and assurance with Calgarians, to pass however overmuch the metropolis is spending intelligibly and transparently.