How Did We Get Here?

A brief history of Council's relationship with the Housing Affordability Task Force

On September 14 (that’s in 9 days!) Council will sit down and hear from the public on what is now called the City of Calgary Housing Strategy. After the public hearing council will have to decide whether to listen to years of work by experts and administration, or ignore (or gut) the recommendations, leaving Calgary in the middle of a housing crises with no real way out.

So how did we get here? Today we’ll give you a brief history of how we got to this September 14 meeting.

As always, please make sure to share this with someone, write your councillor, or show up to speak. You can learn more about how to get involved here.

What is the City’s Housing Strategy?

The Housing Strategy is the City’s official housing policy and plan to tackle the current housing crisis. It includes short, medium, and long-term actions to make it easier for Calgarians to find and afford to live in a home that meets your needs, at every stage of life.

There have been previous editions of this Strategy, as our city, and Calgrians’ housing needs, have and continue to change over time.

In 2002, the City approved its first Housing Strategy and adopted an official definition of affordable housing. This was the first step in identifying Calgarians’ housing needs and what the Municipal government can do to support the creation of more affordable housing.

In 2016, a new Strategy was approved to plan for the next 10-year period (2016-2025). This Strategy, like the 2002 Strategy, focused on ways the City could help build more Affordable Housing units, primarily operated by non-profit organizations. As this Strategy would expire in 2025, the City needs to work on an update.

So what’s different about this Housing Strategy?

Previous editions of the City’s Housing Strategy focused on one part of the housing continuum: social housing, which refers to housing programs designed by the federal and provincial governments in which non-market units are provided for low-income households. Social housing is essential, but it alone has not and will not be able to solve our housing crisis.

Social housing also does not meet the needs of people who cannot access or do not qualify for social housing, but are still struggling to get or stay housed. We need to look at the whole housing continuum, and implement policies that are able to act on market and non-market housing solutions. 

Our world has changed a lot over the past few years, exposing and creating housing and affordability challenges the 2016 Strategy could not have predicted. In June 2022, Calgary City Council convened a Housing Affordability Task Force (HATF) with a mandate to provide Council with expert advice on what the City could do to increase housing supply and affordability in Calgary. The Task Force was composed of experts who work directly in and across the housing continuum in Calgary.

In June 2023, the Task Force presented its recommendations to Council. These recommendations outline how the City can increase housing supply and affordability in Calgary. The recommendations reflect the current state of the housing crisis, and the current housing needs of Calgarians today.

Housing is complex, so no one sector, organization, or level of government will solve it alone--Calgary needs to expand its approach. As a municipal government, the City is limited in its legal and financial ability to build enough homes for everyone. This is why most homes are built by the private market, and most Calgarians are able to meet their housing needs with private-market housing.

So what happened on June 6?

At the June 6, 2023 Regular Meeting of Council, Council rejected the HATF’s recommendations on an 8-7 vote. As the meeting continued on the next day, Council had a chance to reconsider their vote after 24 hours of criticism from citizens and other elected officials. The reconsideration passed 14-1, and directed the HATF’s recommendations be integrated into the Housing Strategy, and return to Committee on September 14.

So now, on September 14, 2023, the City of Calgary’s Housing Strategy will be put to a vote. And council could reject it again.

So join us and tell your Councillor what this strategy means to you.