Calgary is on track to set a new annual record for housing development for the third year in a row as opponents of citywide rezoning take to the campaign trail in October’s civic election.
According to a briefing to city councillors this week, Calgary recorded 7,157 housing starts in the second quarter of this year; a nearly 56 per cent increase over the same time last year.
The total number of housing starts for the first half of 2025 reached 12,152 units, which marked the first time the city has exceeded 10,000 housing starts in the first half of a calendar year.
When asked about the figures, Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek said the city is still catching up with demand.
“We are leading the country in housing starts… We are 55 per cent of all the housing starts in the province and we are barely scratching the surface of the need,” Gondek said. “Every single unit that we can put up that allows people to live in dignity matters but the demand is great.”
The data shows citywide rezoning, which took effect in August 2024 and allows for more housing types on a single property, contributed to 42 per cent of low-density development permits in established areas in the second quarter of this year.
However, of the 2,284 units that had building permits issued under the citywide rezoning policy in the second quarter of 2025, 77 per cent were single and semi detached homes with secondary suites and just 23 per cent represented townhomes and rowhouses.
“This suggests that the rezoning is beginning to facilitate a broader range of housing options, although the primary preference remains single detached and semi-detached for Calgarians in low-density housing,” the briefing note reads.
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According to city officials, a total of 492 development permits have been submitted since citywide rezoning was approved last year that would’ve required a zoning change prior to that decision, which have added 1,888 new units and 1,774 secondary suites.
Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott said citywide rezoning is doing its part to navigate the housing crisis as part of the city’s overall housing strategy.
“‘Rezoning’ didn’t act alone, it was never meant to, but it did its job,” he said in a statement to Global News. “It is undeniable at this point, if we want to build homes for Calgarians, rezoning has helped us do that.”
However, opponents of the policy maintain citywide rezoning has had a negative impact on development in the city.
“It changes how neighbourhoods evolve, it changes who has a voice in development, it changes the type of city we have,” said Scott Miller with Calgarians for Thoughtful Growth, a group that formed over the last number of years amid debate over city housing policy.
The group sent a survey to 77 of the candidates registered so far in the 2025 civic election to get their stance on various development issues including densification and citywide rezoning.
53 candidates responded with 45 saying they oppose citywide rezoning and would repeal it if elected, with just seven candidates indicating they support the policy.
The survey results showed nearly all the respondents believe residents should have a “meaningful and guaranteed voice” in shaping neighbourhood development.
Of the mayoral candidates, former councillors Jeromy Farkas and Jeff Davison as well as Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp said they’d repeal citywide rezoning.
Gondek and The Calgary Party mayoral candidate Brian Thiessen did not respond to the survey.
“It shows that this isn’t just a small group of people,” Miller said. “Now we’re seeing the candidates aligned with the fact the city has gone too far.”
According to a recent report from the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB), the benchmark price for a home in the city declined 4.1 per cent over the same time last year; largely driven by higher density housing types.
“The most significant price adjustments are occurring for row and apartment style homes as they are also the product type that are facing the largest gains in supply choice,” said CREB chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.
However, CREB noted the price adjustments have not offset the increases experience in housing prices over the last number of years.
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