Zoning determines the shape and size of buildings and the uses allowed on a property. It also influences the mobility and housing options available to Calgarians. 

The new Zoning Bylaw is being developed to replace the current Land Use Bylaw. It will respond to the city’s evolving growth and add clarity and make it easier to use, supporting the vision set out in the Calgary Plan.

Connections to the Calgary Plan

• Guiding policy framework: The Calgary Plan is The City’s highest level planning document outlining a plan for Calgary's growth and change over the coming decades. It guides how we use land and move within the city and directs more detailed City plans and strategies. The Zoning Bylaw is an important tool to realize the vision and direction of the Calgary Plan.

• Plan evolution: The Calgary Plan is a streamlined document that merges the Municipal Development Plan with the Calgary Transportation Plan. It builds on engagement and learning from Calgary's current long-range growth and mobility plans. The Calgary Plan identifies goals and directions to maintain a high standard of livability while ensuring Calgary remains competitive.

How the city gets built is guided by several processes working together. The new Zoning Bylaw aims to create a more predictable and transparent development process by clarifying where different types of buildings and businesses are allowed and under what circumstances.

How might zoning balance increased certainty—for residents, property owners, builders and businesses—about what types of development can occur with flexibility for changing community needs?

Connections to the Calgary Plan

• Connecting policy to implementation: The Calgary Plan offers high-level policy direction that informs local area planning and implementation through the Zoning Bylaw. The Calgary Plan addresses modern development needs and city-building goals, including streamlining development processes. This includes a policy for municipal processes to be user-friendly and supportive of new and small businesses.

Quick reference guide to better understand terms used related to city planning and zoning.

As Calgary grows, we need more housing—and a variety of options so people can choose the type of home that fits their needs and that they can afford. The new Zoning Bylaw builds on existing direction to provide simpler, clearer rules for different types of housing in all neighbourhoods.

How should zoning support housing choice and supply while respecting different neighbourhood contexts?

Connections to the Calgary Plan

• Growth and city structure: The Calgary Plan supports sustainable and financially responsible growth and housing choice through a diversity of housing types in all neighbourhoods.

• Further planning: The Calgary Plan supports better use of existing infrastructure capacity, while also effectively planning for future upgrades and operations. It promotes minimum densities in new communities and sets up Local Area Plans to address nuances in the local context.

Parking rules shape more than where we park vehicles—they also impact the cost of housing, mobility choices, air quality, and how our city grows. The new Zoning Bylaw can regulate parking in three ways, or in any combination of them.

How should zoning balance parking needs with housing affordability, mobility choice, and efficient land use?

Connections to the Calgary Plan

• Mobility systems: The Calgary Plan directs that parking should support mobility, transit, and housing choice by letting land owners determine on-site parking, requiring EV-ready and accessible stalls, and encouraging shared and wheeling parking opportunities. The Calgary Plan considers street parking to be a shared public resource that must be strategically managed so everyone can have access to it.

Integrating small businesses—like offices and artist studios, or corner stores, personal services and cafés—into residential areas can enhance community vibrancy and convenience. The new Zoning Bylaw explores ways to bring appropriate businesses closer to home.

Considering both benefits and trade-offs, how should zoning balance enabling neighbourhood businesses while keeping impacts on residents appropriate?

Connections to the Calgary Plan

• Growth and city structure: A broad range of mixing of uses are supported citywide, however the Greater Downtown and Neighbourhood–High Activity areas provide the greatest opportunity for the mixing of uses compared to other areas. More modest mixing of uses are supported in lower activity areas.

As Calgary grows, commercial and mixed use areas—including Calgary's Greater Downtown Area—must balance many different interests, providing services and amenities for people locally and from across the city.

In areas of higher activity, such as downtown and on high activity streets, the new Zoning Bylaw aims to allow buildings to have a range of uses within them to support local and citywide needs.

How should zoning shape vibrant, people-friendly places that serve residents and businesses?

Connections to the Calgary Plan

• Economic growth and participation: Calgary Plan policies aim to enable a range of businesses at different scales to participate in local, national and global economies. 

• City structure: Policies encourage retail, commercial and employment uses in all Neighbourhood Areas in support of local commercial growth, particularly around rapid transit stations, on the Primary Transit Network and in areas where there is a shortage of retail and services. The Calgary Plan includes policies for High Activity areas that support density and a mix of uses around the Primary Transit Network. Greater Downtown policies support a diverse mix of uses, including housing.

Large commercial sites serve communities around the city, providing amenities and services for residents. These developments occur on larger sites and can integrate with surrounding areas in different ways.

The new Zoning Bylaw aims to support the development of large commercial sites so that it is easy, safe and efficient for people to travel to, and within, these sites by walking and other ways to get around like transit, cycling or driving.

How should zoning accommodate the mixing of large parking areas with pedestrians?

Connections to the Calgary Plan

• Site design: The Calgary Plan supports economic growth. The policies related to site design call for small block sizes to improve walking and wheeling connections, direct connections to adjacent streets, and parking lots that are safe and accessible. Site design considerations should interface comfortably with the public realm and align with the future vision of the larger area's planned context while offering opportunities to integrate nature, private amenity space, and climate resiliency measures.

As Calgary grows, industrial areas play a crucial role in creating jobs and driving economic growth in the region. The new Zoning Bylaw seeks to protect industrial land while also providing flexibility for a range of industrial activities and supporting services.

How can zoning balance the protection of industrial land with the need to make industrial development more viable and responsive to changing economic demands?

Connections to the Calgary Plan

• City structure: Industrial–Core: The focus is on preserving industrial land and preventing encroachment by non-industrial uses. Most of the city’s industrial land falls under this category, allowing for a range of light to heavy industrial uses tied to the goods movement network. Some non-industrial uses may be allowed if they don’t interfere with industrial operations.

• City structure: Industrial–Mixed: These are industrial transitional areas that support a mix of light industrial and non-industrial uses. They are located near the Primary Transit Network to better serve businesses with more employees and pedestrian activity.

Innovative approaches are needed to support Calgary’s shift from building single-use civic facilities to more integrated facilities that combine multiple services in one location. Integrated civic facilities make better use of city-owned land and resources—like combining a recreation centre and library or co-locating housing with a fire station.

How can zoning support flexible, integrated civic facilities without requiring a customized Direct Control district?

Connections to the Calgary Plan

• Municipal civic facilities: Municipal civic facilities should be designed to fit within the surrounding area, considering the future context of scale, intensity and uses. Facilities should be co-located, either within a single building or site, with other complementary uses such as housing, childcare, parks and recreation amenities, commercial and institutional uses.

Grouping activities with similar impacts into fewer use categories creates a more flexible Zoning Bylaw—reducing barriers for businesses while still ensuring appropriate rules exist to reduce negative impacts to others nearby. Streamlining the business change process means fewer empty storefronts and faster openings for local businesses throughout the city.

How can zoning make it easier to open, grow, or change a business while still ensuring the right fit in each community?

Connections to the Calgary Plan

• Business-friendly and future-focused: The Calgary Plan promotes a supportive environment for businesses of all sizes and stages by calling for user-friendly municipal processes. It emphasizes reducing barriers and making it easier to launch, run, and grow a business in Calgary. The Calgary Plan supports a modern, adaptable economy by encouraging flexible spaces, mixed use areas, and processes that respond to changing business models, helping Calgary stay competitive as it grows.

How the city gets built is guided by several processes working together. The new Zoning Bylaw aims to create a more predictable and transparent development process by clarifying where different types of buildings and businesses are allowed and under what circumstances.

How might zoning balance increased certainty—for residents, property owners, builders and businesses—about what types of development can occur with flexibility for changing community needs?

Connections to the Calgary Plan

• Connecting policy to implementation: The Calgary Plan offers high-level policy direction that informs local area planning and implementation through the Zoning Bylaw. The Calgary Plan addresses modern development needs and city-building goals, including streamlining development processes. This includes a policy for municipal processes to be user-friendly and supportive of new and small businesses.