Calgary’s housing crisis is more than a market problem, it’s a generational one
By Vama Saini, October 16 2025—
When Calgary’s next mayor and council take office, they won’t just be inheriting a housing crisis — they’ll be inheriting a generation on the brink of leaving. For thousands of young Calgarians, finding an affordable place to live has become an impossible equation. Rent continues to climb faster than wages, starter homes are out of reach and many students are being priced out of the very city where they study.
More than 84,000 Calgarians are already in housing need, a number expected to surpass 100,000 by 2026. These aren’t just distant statistics. They represent students doubling up in rentals to afford tuition, young graduates turning down local job offers because they can’t secure a lease and families spending well over the 30 per cent affordability threshold just to avoid eviction.
For the city’s young adults, the dream of independence has become increasingly unattainable.
The City of Calgary has made strides with its Home is Here Affordable Housing Strategy, a six-year plan that aims to increase housing supply, support non-market housing providers and ensure diverse housing choices that meet the needs of equity-deserving groups, including Indigenous Calgarians.
It’s an ambitious blueprint — one that has already yielded early wins, such as 17 below-market land sales, resulting in the creation of 835 new homes and $30.7 million invested in building nearly 500 affordable units. Calgary recorded the highest housing starts per capita in Canada in 2024, with that trend continuing into 2025.
But implementation is where good policy succeeds or fails. The next council must decide whether to maintain that momentum or allow the crisis to deepen.
The scale of the challenge is staggering. The Calgary Homeless Foundation reports that roughly 2,500 families are waiting an average of 278 days for an affordable housing referral. Since 2011, the city has only added around 300 non-market units annually — far below the 2,000 to 2,500 units needed each year. Meanwhile, data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) indicates that to return to pre-pandemic affordability levels, Calgary requires approximately 9,000 additional housing starts annually over the next decade. Even as the city celebrates its construction boom, the math simply doesn’t work in the long term.
For students, the implications are immediate.
Rent in Calgary has grown at its fastest rate in decades — part of a national pattern where average rents have increased more than eight per cent annually since 2019. With youth unemployment at 17 per cent, many are forced into unsafe housing, couch-surfing arrangements or long commutes from the city’s outskirts.
This is not just a housing issue — it’s an education, labour and equity issue rolled into one. When students can’t afford to live near campus or stay in Calgary after graduation, the city loses the very talent and innovation that fuels its economy.
Municipal governments have more power over housing than most realize. They control zoning, land use, density, permitting timelines and the release of city-owned land. City council can make it easier to build multi-unit rentals, student residences and secondary suites — or it can delay them through red tape and restrictive zoning. It can lease municipal land to non-profits, incentivize purpose-built rentals near transit and streamline approval processes for housing projects that meet affordability criteria. It can protect tenants through stronger health and safety enforcement, landlord registries and partnerships that expand tenant legal aid.
But there are limits.
Rent control, eviction law, mortgage regulation and income assistance fall under provincial and federal jurisdiction. What the city can do is advocate — loudly — for reforms while designing policies that unlock upper-level funding. It can also focus on what’s within its reach: zoning reform, partnerships with universities and non-profits and the consistent, transparent delivery of its housing targets.
A youth-oriented housing strategy should start with explicit goals.
Calgary needs to commit to student-specific housing targets, including purpose-built rentals and dorm-style developments near the University of Calgary, Mount Royal University and SAIT. The city should expand its below-market land-lease program and dedicate sites for student and Indigenous housing providers. Streamlining permitting — guaranteeing approvals within 120 days for non-profit and student projects — would signal that the city values affordability as much as investment.
Public land is another lever. Instead of holding parcels for future profit, the city can lease them long-term to housing providers that guarantee deep affordability. Municipal tools, such as density bonuses, off-site levy waivers and tax exemptions, can mitigate the impact of each project. Calgary’s next council should also create an acquisition fund that allows non-profits to buy older rental buildings before they’re lost to redevelopment.
Ultimately, the question is whether Calgary will build enough homes — and the right kinds of homes — for the generation that will inherit it. With population growth outpacing supply and another 110,000 residents expected in the next four years, this election will determine whether the city’s reputation for affordability can survive or collapse under pressure.
Housing is the defining issue for young Calgarians. It’s where economics meets justice — where municipal decisions translate into whether students can afford to stay, work and contribute to the city they call home.
The next mayor and council cannot afford to treat this as a background problem. They must deliver not just more homes, but a housing system that includes us.
This article is a part of our Opinions section and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Gauntlet editorial board.