City asks for urgent $1M as Calgary pedestrian deaths increased 225% last year

Last year marked an 11-year high for fatal collisions in Calgary — including a 225 per cent increase in pedestrian deaths — according to an annual city report presented to council's community development committee on Thursday.

According to the safer mobility plan report, 29 people died in collisions in 2024. A previous Calgary Police Service report said that's the highest number since 2013. Of those deaths, 13 were pedestrians.

While the city noted pedestrian injuries have been increasing across Canada since 2021, Calgary's collision rates are consistently higher than the rates of other major cities, said the report.

The city's mobility team cited a number of possible reasons, including population growth, new and inexperienced drivers and a lack of mobility safety funding compared to other jurisdictions.

"These investments range from nearly $50 million per year in Edmonton to $80 million per year in Toronto, said the report.

Calgary spends $5 million annually on mobility safety initiatives.

The committee unanimously approved the request for an additional $1 million from the fiscal stability reserve — the city's rainy day fund — to make urgent improvements to traffic safety, including more speed humps and intersection work. It also agreed to make mobility safety funding a priority during budget talks in November.

The final decision on that funding will be made by city council later this month.

Bolder moves

Kimberley Nelson, board chair for the non-profit organization Youth En Route and a long-time roads safety advocate in Calgary, called 2024 a "horrific year," adding 2025 is already off to a shaky start.

The rising fatality figures come one day after the public learned a teenage skateboarder had died after colliding with an SUV last week.

"These are preventable incidents. We know why they happen and we're just not putting the resources to fix it," said Nelson.

"It's going to take time, it's going to take resources and it's definitely going to take a lot of will from council to turn this around. We need to make everybody safer."

Nelson said she wants to see the city make bolder moves when it comes to improving traffic safety, such as lowering speed limits in residential areas to 30 km/h — even if it comes with pushback from drivers who are worried about their commutes.

$1M? Not enough, say some councillors

At the committee meeting, some councillors said the city should be seeking more than $1 million this year, given the increase in fatalities across the city.

Coun. Raj Dhaliwal praised the mobility team for the work they're doing, despite their lack of resources.

"I still feel that we need to be very honest — personally, me — that you guys need more resources. Because our roadways need to be safe.… Many people do not feel safe, especially around playgrounds, schools," said Dhaliwal, who represents Ward 5.

Ward 12 Coun. Evan Spencer said limiting this investment to one-time funding is a mistake.

"Council, we've got to get serious about putting funding [forward] for these sorts of high-priority [issues].… We need to put this into base."

Coun. Courtney Walcott chairs the committee. The Ward 8 representative said one of the challenges with implementing traffic-calming measures is the pushback from Calgarians whose commutes are affected.

"We have to make a values decision about what's more important to us and how fast we roll it out, and the reality is, I always fall on the side of traffic safety. So, if I could, I would always give more. But that has never been a unanimous Calgarian decision," said Walcott.

If the funding is approved by council, he said he hopes it reduces the number of fatalities in Calgary this year. And if it does, he said he wants Calgarians to remember that's why this work is important.

"There's a reason why we're asking you to drive slower, and it's so we don't have the year we had last year."