Executive Leadership plan and budget
Executive Leadership works to secure the trust and confidence of Calgarians, businesses, Council, and employees by providing corporate oversight. This service realizes Council's Strategic Direction by aligning priorities and resources and monitoring performance for continuous improvement opportunities.
Executive Leadership builds cooperative relationships by leading a municipal government that is resilient, sustainable and focused on finances, service delivery, our employees and The City's reputation. Executive Leadership enables a thriving workplace that is diverse, respectful, fair and safe, and is committed to developing, motivating, and inspiring employees to excel in public service.
Our customers
- Calgarians
- Businesses
- Employees
Our partners
- Mayor and Council
- Other orders of government
- Calgary's regional neighbours
- Civic Partners and other non-governmental organizations (e.g., Calgary Chamber of Council, post-secondary institutions, United Way, etc.)
- Those who collectively share the goal of making life better every day for all Calgarians
Value to Calgarians
- align the organization's goals, services, and resources as required to achieve Council and Administration’s Shared Strategic Agenda
- build a service-centric and future-ready City that is both resilient and financially sustainable
- lead a corporate culture focused on the equitable, accessible, and responsive delivery of valued services to all Calgarians
- coordinate City service priorities and objectives to deliver immediate and long-term benefits for Calgarians and businesses with the goal of making Calgary a great place to live and to make life better every day for all Calgarians
- ensure a well-run municipal government that promotes a respectful safe workplace for all employees
What we deliver
- Mitigate risk to The City's reputation and instill trust and confidence in Council, Calgarians, and employees.
- Service outputs:
- corporate culture
- norms/values
- corporate brand
- leadership
- plans, policies and priorities
- corporate ethics
- Conduct that contributes to an inspired and diverse workforce.
Budget breakdown
Operating and capital budgets explained
The City develops two budgets to create impact aligned with Council’s Strategic Direction:
- The four-year (2023-2026) operating plans and budgets
- The five-year (2023-2027+) capital plans and budgets
The operating budget includes revenues, recoveries and spending related to ongoing operations. These include:
- Salaries, wages and benefits.
- Day to day programs, maintenance and services.
- Administration costs (e.g., insurance).
- Fuel
- Utilities
- Capital financing costs.
The City's total net operating budget is zero. This means we budget to collect the revenue needed to deliver services to Calgarians — no more, no less. We collect this revenue through property taxes and other sources.
The capital budget pays for long-lived assets. These provide the foundation for the services Calgarians rely on. They include:
- Maintenance of current infrastructure (e.g., bridges, buildings and playgrounds).
- Upgrades to existing community infrastructure.
- New infrastructure to provide services in areas that are underserved (e.g., Green Line).
- New infrastructure for growing areas of the city.
Learn more about our 2023-2026 Service Plans and Budgets.
See how the budget has been adjusted since November 2022
Measuring performance
We are measuring our performance in five areas. Each value is the goal we expect to reach by 2026.
What we've heard
Executive Leadership routinely receives public feedback and engagement data from Calgarians, local businesses, and stakeholders on: confidence and trust in Calgary's municipal government; perceived value of services received; and concerns on existing issues and problems. Data shows overall perceptions of trust and public confidence in The City remain stable, despite challenges presented by the pandemic and the economic recovery. This information is shared with Council and used to inform Council and Administration's Shared Strategic Agenda.
Employee satisfaction index continues to be strong and remains stable. Other results from the Corporate Employee survey are used to better understand employee concerns. Additionally, a Culture Assessment Survey is used to frame The City's desired culture.
What we're watching
- Economic data on business formation, local economic growth, business taxes, etc.
- Social trends that focus on demographic changes including poverty, homelessness, accessibility, inclusiveness, and City support for reconciliation with our Indigenous residents and neighbours.
- Climatic patterns impacting City infrastructure and practices that promote climate resistant service continuity.
- Trends in stakeholder trust and confidence.
- Changes in the political landscape.
- Trends in the types of services Calgarians and our stakeholders require.
- Strategic risks as defined by the Principal Corporate Risks.
Our initiatives
What we plan to do
The Executive Leadership Service is committed to making The City a leader in municipal government by earning the trust of Calgarians, businesses, Council, and employees. This requires a workplace that is respectful, fair and safe, where our employees are inspired to excel in public service.
How we're going to get there
- Continue to integrate Council’s Strategic Direction and Administration’s Rethink to Thrive Strategy through the Shared Strategic Agenda to demonstrate alignment and provide focus and clarity to City employees.
- Empower decision-making at the right levels of the organization by evolving Administration's governance practices. A resilient modern municipal government must have capacity and flexibility to address the unexpected by being agile, adaptable, and responsive. Clarity of roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities for individuals and cross-corporate committees will enhance how the organization works to collaboratively deliver Council's Strategic Direction.
- Improve our services to Calgarians by enhancing continuous improvement and energizing, empowering, and amplifying our service improvement efforts and building on the strong foundation of programs like Zero Based Reviews and Solutions for Achieving Value and Excellence as well as ongoing work across the organization to continually improve our service to Calgarians.
- Advance risk management at The City by developing and implementing guidelines on risk appetite to enhance innovation and decision-making, implementing a technology solution and by adopting and implementing a formal risk maturity model.
- Advance Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) results including the Corporate commitment to climate action, anti-racism and equity by evolving corporate planning, measurement and reporting to better monitor and demonstrate accountability.