Downtown Office Conversion Programs

Downtown Office Conversion Programs

The City of Calgary is working with our downtown partners to revitalize our downtown by co-investing and converting vacant office space into:

  • Homes for Calgarians
  • Post-secondary academic spaces and student housing
  • Hotels
  • Other uses that revitalize downtown

We’re also incentivizing the demolition of end-of-life office buildings.

A thriving downtown means a thriving Calgary. Repurposing vacant office space in the downtown to build more homes, and encourage students and post-secondary institutions to locate downtown. This will all contribute to more connected, vibrant, diverse and resilient downtown neighbourhoods.

Our office-to-residential program is nearing capacity with projects in the pipeline and the funding we currently have in place.

We continue to work with other orders of government to encourage their support and investment in our office conversion programs. Additional funding will enable us to offer the program again in the future.

Our Goal

Remove 6 million square feet of vacant office space by 2031

Our Total Pipeline

17 office conversion projects

2,300+ new homes
possible for Calgarians in downtown

2.3 million square feet
conversion of vacant office space possible

*captures 13 active projects and 4 under review

Partners in Revitalization

$567M partner investment in Calgary's downtown

Incentive programs

  • Downtown Post-Secondary Institution Incentive Program

    Funding for the Downtown Post-Secondary Institution Incentive Program is still available. This program provides incentives for office space conversions to post-secondary institutions to establish a greater presence downtown. Complementary to this program, we are also exploring how we can invest in student housing and/or student-focused housing.

    Learn how to participate

  • Downtown Office Demolition Incentive Program

    The Downtown Office Demolition Incentive Program supports the demolition of end of life office buildings that are unsuitable for office conversions.

    Learn how to participate

  • Downtown Calgary Development Incentive Program

    This program for residential, hotel, school and performance space conversions is currently paused while we secure additional funding and update it to meet the priorities of Calgary’s Housing Strategy.

    Learn more

Approved projects

Have questions?

You can also submit an inquiry to the program team at downtownstrategy@calgary.ca. 

This information has no legal status and cannot be used as an official interpretation of the various bylaws, codes and regulations currently in effect. The City of Calgary accepts no responsibility to persons relying solely on this information. Web pages are updated periodically. ​