The population of Calgary grew 5.5 per cent from 2016-2021, from just under 1.24 million people to 1.3 million. In the three years since, the city has continued to grow, with another 84,000 new Calgarians moving to the city.
The boom has led to many Calgarians feeling like the city is getting a bit too big, that it’s becoming too busy and overcrowded.
“The streets just seem overfilled,” said Alex Carlson, a Calgary resident who moved here almost two years ago. “And I’ve noticed the public transit, the buses seem packed 24/7.”
And new Calgarians need places to live. With such rapid growth in population the demand for housing has exploded. Over just the past year, one- and two-bedroom rent prices have increased over eight per cent.
“The rental market is complete garbage right now. It seems like an overwhelming flood of people came and Calgary just doesn’t have the ability to pump out houses fast enough,” continued Carlson.
The City of Calgary isn’t blind to the growing housing problem. It’s no secret that all around Canada housing prices have skyrocketed and finding a home is harder now than ever before.
“We will tackle the housing crisis. It’s a crisis across Canada, so it’s not just something that Calgary is having to look at,” said Leslie Shier, director of client excellence at Calgary Economic Development. “And we are a city of proactive people, so I see us solving this challenge.”
The focus has been put on the number of housing units. Right now, the city is working to convert empty office buildings left behind from energy giants that have moved, to residential units. By adding housing, the hope is prices will go down as it becomes easier for people to find homes.
“Seventeen projects have been approved, that’s 17 different buildings that are and will be converted to residential in the near future,” said Shier.
As well as converting these buildings into housing, Calgary is also focused on affordable housing, with over 60 affordable housing partners.
“Our mayor is very bullish on making sure Calgary addresses affordable housing,” Shier continued. “Calgary will be proactive in ensuring that we build out as much as possible and as quickly as possible.”
Alex Carlson also believes for the housing market to get back to being affordable, the city needs to create more options for Calgarians from all walks of life.
“They need to be able to produce more houses and housing options,” he said.
