New Calgary planning document for land use, mobility decisions delayed into 2026

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek says the implementation of the Calgary Plan, a framework for future land-use decisions and transportation arrangements as the city grows, will be pushed back by about a year.

The mayor announced a delay for the plan during a Wednesday night meeting with several dozen community association members of the Federation of Calgary Communities.

The Calgary Plan is the consolidation of two major city documents, the Municipal Development Plan and the Calgary Transportation Plan.

Gondek says the plan's implementation was delayed because of burnout within community associations across Calgary.

"They're doing everything, including weighing in on land-use items that are coming forward, development permits. And they're just, they're tired," she said.

"We're wearing out our volunteers."

The mayor added city administration was concerned that community associations were overburdened this year, and asking them to review and weigh in on additional complex documentation was too much to ask.

"So the request from administration is to postpone this item coming to council until Q1 of next year. And that was a very big relief to the community association members in that room [Wednesday] night," Gondek said.

Leslie Evans, executive director of the Federation of Calgary Communities, says the delay will allow community associations the appropriate amount of time to be involved in city planning in a more meaningful way.

"This is wonderful news. I think Calgarians are part of the story on how we plan and grow and change our city into the future," she said.

"It is always better to make sure that we do it right and that we bring people along and that residents are an essential part of the planning process."

The delay will not set the city back in its current planning endeavours, the mayor said, adding that updating certain bylaws or existing documentation on a case-by-case basis is viable in the interim.

"It is important that we are providing administration the opportunity to work with community associations … staff have put a lot of effort into this," Gondek said. 

"If we simply voted it down as council because we haven't had enough engagement, that wouldn't be appropriate. The communities really need more time to sit with administration."

Evans praised the decision to delay the plan, saying she is thrilled there is more time to have better conversations about the future of Calgary.

"We all want to live in great communities … our community associations have been incredibly strong in their advocacy around having more opportunity, not just to be informed about what the city is doing, but to participate in that," she said.

"It's not just about urban planning, you know, when you bring people along and you make them part of a change and influencing decision making, co-operation comes along, collaboration, people start seeing other points of view."

Gondek says administration will provide a verbal report during Tuesday's upcoming council meeting where they will ask for the postponement of implementing the Calgary Plan.

At the Infrastructure and Planning Committee meeting on Feb.12, there will be an official request to councillors to delay the plan.

Asked whether she anticipates pushback from fellow councillors on the delay, Gondek says city council appreciates the number of hours that are put in by volunteers at community associations.

"If this gives them a little bit more breathing room, I'm quite confident that my colleagues will agree to it," she said.