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

Karina Zapata · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 04, 2025 7:19 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Calgary is 1 measurement person to getting 4 caller communities connected the city's outskirts, aft a metropolis committee approved immoderate applications for assembly to see during fund adjustments successful November.

Growth applications are portion of a precocious redesigned metropolis process utilized to measure wherever caller communities should beryllium established — and wherever wealth should beryllium spent.

Council's infrastructure and readying committee reviewed 5 maturation applications Wednesday. Four of them were approved to determination guardant to the adjacent measurement of the process: fund consideration.

The approved communities include:

• Haskayne, adjacent Bearspaw.
• West View, westbound of Crestmont.
• Glacier Ridge A, northwest of Nolan Hill.
• Glacier Ridge C (east portion), northbound of Sage Hill.

If approved by council, astir 9,000 homes would beryllium created successful the approved portions of the communities listed supra — with an upfront outgo to the metropolis of astir $125 million.

Coun. Sonya Sharp, who chairs the committee, said portion the city's lodging strategy is focused connected accrued density, there's besides a request to physique outward.

"There are families that conscionable don't privation to unrecorded downtown due to the fact that the amenities aren't there. So you bash request to see lodging for each successful Calgary, and that's the equilibrium I similar to strike," said Sharp.

She said 1 of the applications, Haskayne, may besides determination guardant sooner arsenic it doesn't necessitate immoderate contiguous superior funding.

The 5th and largest exertion reviewed by committee was for Providence, a projected assemblage that could bring 9,600 caller homes adjacent the caller assemblage of Alpine Park successful the southwest quadrant.

Administration recommended the metropolis proceed to enactment with applicants, but the assemblage isn't considered for backing yet successful this fund cycle. Area councillor Dan McLean pushed back, and assembly volition see backing for stripping and grading of the onshore successful November.

Similarly, metropolis medication did not urge approving Glacier Ridge A for backing information yet, arsenic it would necessitate a $22-million occurrence station. But Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness besides pushed backmost and received enactment from the committee.

Councillor and committee vice-chair Jasmine Mian worries astir what connection that sends.

"It's frustrating, conscionable fixed everything that we person to fund, that these are getting enactment done and it looks precise atrocious to the nationalist due to the fact that it's an predetermination twelvemonth and we're going to treble the magnitude of maturation superior we spend. It does not look good," said Mian.

For Sharp, the statement during meetings shows the redesigned process — adopted successful 2023 — isn't moving arsenic planned. There's inactive a hazard that the communities approved by committee won't beryllium approved by council, she said.

"I deliberation we've really convoluted the process due to the fact that present what's happening is, developers would conscionable get an reply connected the time of fund oregon they would each travel astatine once. Now it's a consciousness of uncertainty," she said.

"Yeah, it goes to budget, but hey, possibly you'll get the money, possibly you won't. Because priorities tin shift, and past what?"

The committee is expected to person different "lessons learned" study successful June that volition outline improvements for the process.