2023-2026 Service Plans and Budgets

About our service plans and budgets

Our plans and budgets were created to care for our community, today and in the future.

  • In the next four years, people will feel safer on public transit.
  • We’ll have made a meaningful impact on removing systemic racism.
  • We’ll have increased supports for local businesses.
  • We’re reducing greenhouse gas emissions from City operations

View our four-year service plan and budget, outlining how we will make Calgary an even better place to live, work, play and grow up, from 2023 to 2026 and beyond.

   

Adjustments

On Nov. 22, Council approved adjustments to The City of Calgary's service plans and budgets. These adjustments balance the desire to keep property tax and water, sewer and waste and recycling fee increases as affordable as possible for Calgarians while making meaningful investments in priority areas, such as affordable housing, public safety, and transit. 

Learn more about the adjustments

Resilient Calgary: Council's Strategic Direction 2023-2026

Council’s Strategic Direction provides the foundation, guiding principles and focus areas needed for Administration to create service plans and budgets for the next four years so that we can collectively make Calgary a great place to make a living and a great place to make a life. 

More on Council's Strategic Direction

Budget overview


Our budgets were created to care for our community, striking a balance between the services you use every day and costs. We have ambitious goals to make Calgary an even better place to live and to make Calgary even more attractive for people, businesses and visitors. Just as importantly, we will work to maintain affordability by keeping ongoing City expenses as low as possible.   

While all City services budgets will be maintained over the next four years, we have worked through a thorough process to make strategic decisions on where investments should be made to make the biggest impact aligned with Council’s Strategic Direction. As a result, some services will receive higher levels of investment than others.

The City develops four-year (2023-2026) operating plans and budgets, and five-year (2023-2027+) capital plans and budgets.

2023-2026 budget breakdown

service plan budget

Legend

Operating ($millions)
Capital ($millions)
View budget in the year of
service plan budget
Service line Breakdown
Building, planning and business 0% Operating 0 dollars 0% Capital 0 dollars
Appeals & Tribunals
Building Safety
Business Licensing
City Planning & Policy
Development Approvals
Economic Development & Tourism
Land Development & Sales
Real Estate
City Auditor 0% Operating 0 dollars 0% Capital 0 dollars
City Auditor's Office
Corporate programs 0% Operating 0 dollars 0% Capital 0 dollars
Common Revenue
Corporate Costs & Debt Servicing
Enabling services 0% Operating 0 dollars 0% Capital 0 dollars
Corporate Governance
Corporate Security
Council & Committee Support
Data, Analytics & Information Access
Executive Leadership
Facility Management
Financial Support
Fleet Management
Human Resources Support
Infrastructure & Engineering
Insurance & Claims
IT Solutions & Support
Legal Services
Municipal Elections
Organizational Health, Safety & Wellness
Procurement & Warehousing
Information and communication 0% Operating 0 dollars 0% Capital 0 dollars
Citizen Engagement & Insights
Citizen Information & Services
Records Management, Access & Privacy
Strategic Marketing & Communications
Mayor and Council 0% Operating 0 dollars 0% Capital 0 dollars
Mayor & Council
Parks, recreation and culture 0% Operating 0 dollars 0% Capital 0 dollars
Arts & Culture
City Cemeteries
Library Services
Parks & Open Spaces
Recreation Opportunities
Public safety and bylaws 0% Operating 0 dollars 0% Capital 0 dollars
Bylaw Education & Compliance
Calgary 9-1-1
Emergency Management & Business Continuity
Fire & Emergency Response
Fire Inspection & Enforcement
Fire Safety Education
Pet Ownership & Licensing
Police Services
Social programs and services 0% Operating 0 dollars 0% Capital 0 dollars
Affordable Housing
Community Strategies
Neighbourhood Support
Social Programs
Tax and property assessment 0% Operating 0 dollars 0% Capital 0 dollars
Property Assessment
Taxation
Transportation 0% Operating 0 dollars 0% Capital 0 dollars
Parking
Public Transit
Sidewalks & Pathways
Specialized Transit
Streets
Taxi, Limousine & Vehicles-for-Hire
Utilities and environment 0% Operating 0 dollars 0% Capital 0 dollars
Climate & Environmental Management
Stormwater Management
Urban Forestry
Waste & Recycling
Wastewater Collection & Treatment
Water Treatment & Supply

Operating budget


We are committed to making strategic service investments to deliver value for our communities while ensuring that the service needs of Calgarians in the future will be met.

Downtown revitalization

  • Remove regulatory barriers
  • Rejuvenate downtown real estate
  • Improve the quality of downtown public spaces
  • Address safety and social disorder issues downtown

Social equity

  • Increase equity, engagement and diversity
  • Advance our journey toward Truth and Reconciliation
  • Increase access to safe and affordable homes
  • Support those impacted by complex social issues

Land use and local area planning

  • Unify planning, transportation and land use vision (Calgary Plan)
  • Develop modern local area plans that are crafted with community input and visualize, enable and support future growth
  • Link the growth of communities to key amenities and infrastructure
  • Establish a new land use bylaw

Transit

  • Strategic investments in public transit service
  • Ensure that the service critical infrastructure is available
  • Modernize Calgary Transit’s fleet
  • Build Phase 1 of the Green Line
  • Improve frequency and hours of service
  • Enhance public safety

Hosting and hospitality

  • Facilitate the production and delivery of festivals and events
  • Deliver world class experiences, venues, and infrastructure
  • Engage Calgary businesses and the hospitality industry
  • Position targeted areas as key destinations
  • Promote Calgary as a global destination of choice

Global positioning and reputation

  • Protect The City’s reputation.
  • Expand the Living Labs
  • Support Calgarians in improving energy efficiency
  • Support technology innovation and the development of a low carbon economy
  • Launch a zero-emissions innovation centre
  • Leverage the arts sector
  • Deliver a community climate education and outreach campaign

Modernizing government

  • Provide excellent services to Calgarians
  • Modernize governance practices and policies
  • Engage and advocate
  • Review 311 service request processes
  • Enhance customer service for businesses
  • Elevate service improvement initiatives
  • Support modernization of service delivery

The operating budget is approved by Council and includes revenues, recoveries and spending related to ongoing annual operations. 

The City's total net operating budget is zero. This means The City does not budget, we only budget to collect enough property taxes as we need to deliver our services - no more, no less. This is because we ensure that you have the services you want and need within our budgeted spending limits. 

Revenues and recoveries may include:

  • Property tax (residential and non-residential)
  • Sales of goods and services
  • Licences, permits, fines
  • Franchise fees and dividends
  • Business tax
  • Grants and subsidies

Operating budget revenues per year

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Operating budget revenues per year

Expenditures may include:

  • Salaries, wages, benefits
  • Day to day programs, maintenance and services
  • Administration costs (e.g. insurance)
  • Fuel
  • Utilities
  • Capital financing costs

Operating budget expenditures per year

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Operating budget expenditures per year

Do you know 65% of your property tax is for your municipal services and 35% goes to the provincial government?

Get an estimate and breakdown of our property tax bill as well as learn how we invest your property tax dollars to deliver the municipal services Calgarians value and use every day.

See your tax breakdown

Capital budget


Capital planning and investment play a pivotal role in creating inclusive, accessible, and connected communities and dynamic economies, contributing to a resilient city.

The City’s capital budget pays for assets that provide the services Calgarians have come to rely on:

  • Maintenance of current infrastructure.
  • Upgrades to existing community infrastructure.
  • New infrastructure to provide services to areas that are underserved (e.g. Green Line).
  • New infrastructure for growing areas of the city.

The City is expecting to invest an estimated $4.4 billion on new capital investments over the next four years to continue to build a new city. This includes:

An affordable housing project that will see 200 safe, stable, and affordable homes for Calgary population that is unable to afford a home.

New fire stations in South Shepard, Haskayne, Belmont and Walden.

New libraries in Walden, Belmont and Skyview Ranch.

Electrification of select city vehicles and buses.

Construction of new roadway (144 Avenue N.W.) from Symons Valley Road to Panorama Road, including a bridge over West Nose Creek.

Wireless infrastructure to grow Calgary as a smart city and 5G hub.

Drainage facilities for flooding resiliency and improving stormwater quality.

Capacity expansions for treating wastewater.

Investment to continue to provide safe drinking water to people living in Calgary.

Capital projects in progress include:

  • BMO Centre expansion project.

  • Arts Common renovation.

  • Stephen Ave, 8 St. SW streetscape, Olympic Plaza, 1 St. SE streetscape and underpass.

  • Downtown revitalization.

These investments will continue to provide economic, social and environmental benefits to Calgarians now and into the future.

While The City remains in a fortunate capital funding situation compared to many other municipalities, and significant investment will be made in the community, many infrastructure opportunities remain unfunded. The City’s capital budget relies heavily on grant funding compared to our operating budget, which has more funding sources. When grant funding is cut for capital projects, we need to either reduce our capital budget or switch funding sources to make up the shortfall. When this occurs we conduct a rebalancing of the capital portfolio.

We are actively pursuing additional funding through grants, partnerships, and other means to fund additional high priority capital investments. This work is ongoing and will continue through the next budget cycle.

Related links


Service plans and budgets documents


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