The Government of Alberta is telling Calgary it will need to maintain its current approach to housing, complicating council’s ability to create a replacement policy to support more density in the city after years of increasing population growth.
This follows Calgary’s repeal of blanket rezoning earlier this year.
Blanket rezoning is a municipal policy that changes the rules for land-use across an entire city at once rather than on a case-by-case basis. It was introduced by the previous municipal government in 2024 to allow for multi-unit housing types on lots previously zoned for single-family homes.
Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas campaigned on repealing this blanket rezoning policy, arguing that it increased density across established neighbourhoods without infrastructure support for water, sewer, transit and parking.
Farkas repealed blanket rezoning in 2024, with city council voting 12–3 to rescind the policy.
Calgary has not proposed another city wide zoning policy since blanket rezoning was repealed.
Infill development is the process of building housing infrastructure on already-developed neighborhoods.
The provincial government is establishing provincewide expectations for infill development to support utility and water infrastructure, directing Calgary to keep the low-density zoning rules it brought back by repealing blanket rezoning until it completes a broader review of its land-use bylaw.
The Alberta government is asking both Calgary and Edmonton to review their land-use bylaws and to develop a “more balanced” approach to high-density infill development, something Calgary is already scheduled to complete by next year.
The province is also calling for Calgary to identify properties that reverted from high-density multi-unit districts to lower-density zoning after the repeal of rezoning.
This directive would be formalized through an upcoming provincial cabinet order in council.
The municipal government will review the province’s regulations once they are approved in legislation and made available to the public. Calgary will then determine the next steps and how its current bylaws and programs will be affected.
Minister of Municipal Affairs, Dan Williams has denied the province will be making an ultimatum on municipal zoning rules, according to the Calgary Herald.
The Alberta Municipal Government Act allows for the province to direct municipalities to amend their bylaws.
"By and large, we like to leave municipalities to make their own decisions, and by and large we haven't had to use this power,” said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, according to CBC.
"But when municipalities have taken actions that are undermining people's property value, when you see the kind of reaction we've seen from residents, then we have to step in."
Farkas responded publicly on social media.
“In Canada, you don't get to bribe or threaten a judge to get the decision you want, and that's why Danielle Smith's threats to City Council across Alberta are illegal,” he said, “I believe it's unlawful. This isn't about density. It's about overreach.”
“I voted to repeal blanket rezoning here in Calgary. And I'm glad that Danielle Smith agrees with me. But that doesn't mean she gets to tell me how to vote,” he concluded.
Smith has said the province is not overreaching, but protecting Alberta’s municipalities from bad federal policies, according to CTV News.
Calgary’s land-use review and approach to high-density infill development is scheduled for completion in 2027.
