In 2024, Calgary launched one of the most ambitious housing strategies in Canada. The six-year plan, called Home is Here, was designed to respond to an escalating housing crisis shaped by rapid population growth, rising home prices, and affordability challenges that were putting pressure on residents across the city. One year later, the City of Calgary has released its 2025 Housing Strategy Progress Update, offering a detailed look at how far the city has come, what challenges remain, and where efforts will be focused next.

The results paint a complex picture. On one hand, Calgary has emerged as Canada’s housing engine, leading the country in housing starts and creating both market and non-market homes at record levels. On the other hand, affordability remains an urgent concern, with housing costs rising faster than many residents’ incomes. The progress update makes it clear that while momentum is building, the housing strategy is still in its early stages  and sustained effort will be critical.

Key Numbers at a Glance

  • Residential Permits & Market Housing Growth

    • Over 10,000 new market homes received development permit (DP) approvals in the first half of 2025, up 12% from 2024, 53% from 2023, and 80% from 2022.

    • Building permits (BP) for market homes reached record highs since 2022, with a 6% year-over-year increase in Q2 2025, representing 6,700+ new market homes when constructed.

    • The City of Calgary’s baseline targets are 13,000 units annually for DPs and 14,000 for BPs — with 2024 approvals already exceeding these targets.

  • Non-Market Housing Expansion

    • In the first half of 2025, 523 non-market homes received DP approval — already 58.6% of 2024’s total.

    • 226 non-market units advanced to the building permit phase, surpassing the annual totals of the past three years, up 87% over 2024.

    • The City is pursuing an ambitious goal of 3,000 new non-market homes per year, supported by land commitments, incentives, and funding partnerships.

  • Expedited Development Permits for Affordable Housing

    • 7 non-market housing projects had development permits expedited in early 2025, expected to deliver 523 affordable homes, nearly 60% of the previous year’s approvals.

  • Funding for Housing

    • Since 2020, Calgary has secured $300M+ in federal housing funds, plus $16M from Alberta’s Affordable Housing Partnership Program since 2023.

    • In 2024 alone, the City committed $81M in program funding and $90M in capital funding to advance affordable housing supply and services.

    • An additional $29.6M supported the development and maintenance of City-owned and Calgary Housing Company assets.

  • Housing Need & Affordability

    • 17–18% of Calgary households consistently require affordable housing, with the absolute number doubling since 1991 due to population growth.

    • Rising costs remain a challenge: the median home price increased 13% in 2024, and average rents rose nearly 10% year-over-year.

  • Diversity of Housing Forms

    • 2024 saw a 31.1% increase in completions year-over-year across all housing types.

    • Duplex and semi-detached completions surged 47.7%, while multi-family/apartment completions grew 30.4%.

    • Rowhouses and townhomes increased 24.4%, contributing to the City’s strategy of offering diverse housing choices beyond single-family homes.

Expanding Calgary’s Housing Supply

Perhaps the most visible achievement of the Home is Here strategy so far is the expansion of housing supply. In 2024, more than 22,500 market homes were approved for development through building permits, making Calgary the leader among Canadian cities for new housing starts per capita. This surge in supply was complemented by nearly 900 non-market homes — housing projects aimed at serving residents who need deeper affordability supports — also being approved.

Programs designed to encourage more diverse housing forms are also beginning to show results. The Secondary Suites Incentive Program, for instance, generated enormous interest, with more than 5,000 applications filed in just its first year. This reflects growing recognition among homeowners and small landlords that secondary suites can provide affordable rental options for tenants while generating income for property owners.

Downtown Calgary has also been a focal point for innovation. The city’s Development Incentive Program has supported five major projects that will collectively deliver more than 1,100 new homes. Many of these involve office-to-residential conversions, transforming underused commercial buildings into much-needed housing. This not only addresses vacancy issues in the downtown core but also creates new opportunities for residents to live closer to jobs, amenities, and transit.

Policy, Funding, and Financial Tools

While increasing housing supply is critical, policy and financial levers have also played a major role in advancing Calgary’s housing goals. In 2024, City Council passed a bylaw that exempts non-profit housing providers from paying property taxes, a move intended to reduce operating costs for organizations delivering deeply affordable housing.

At the same time, Calgary successfully negotiated additional support from the federal government, securing a ten percent increase in Housing Accelerator Fund dollars. These funds, designed to help municipalities build faster and reduce red tape, are a cornerstone of the city’s approach. Locally, the City allocated more than $30 million to seven housing projects through the Housing Capital Initiative, bringing significant new investment into the sector.

Together, these steps helped the city reach record levels of both market and non-market housing permits in 2024. The combination of strong supply numbers, targeted financial incentives, and streamlined permitting processes has positioned Calgary as a leader in how cities can use multiple policy tools to address complex housing issues.

Equity and Indigenous-Led Housing

A central pillar of the Home is Here strategy is equity; ensuring that housing growth benefits all Calgarians, particularly equity-deserving and vulnerable populations. One of the most notable developments in 2024 was the creation of Maa’too’maa’taapii Aoko’iyii’piaya, an Indigenous Housing Funding Program set to officially launch in 2025. This program represents a significant shift, offering funding that is both for Indigenous communities and led by them, ensuring that solutions reflect cultural priorities and self-determined approaches.

The City has also continued to work directly with Indigenous partners by awarding over $2 million worth of City-owned land to Indigenous-led housing providers. In addition, more than $30 million has been earmarked for projects benefiting Indigenous and other equity-deserving populations, a financial commitment that underscores the City’s recognition of housing as more than a numbers game — it is also about creating inclusive, sustainable communities.

To improve transparency and accountability, the City also launched Calgary’s first Housing Data Dashboard. This tool provides real-time updates on housing progress, allowing residents, researchers, and stakeholders to track how effectively the city is advancing its goals. The dashboard reflects a broader commitment to treating housing not as a closed process but as a collective effort where data can support better decision-making.

The Current State of Housing in Calgary

Despite the significant progress outlined in the update, the reality for many Calgarians remains challenging. The housing price-to-income ratio currently sits at 5.4, which signals that affordability is stretched for many households. In 2024, the median residential sale price rose by 13 percent, while average rents climbed nearly ten percent year-over-year. These increases mean that at least one in five households in Calgary are struggling to afford their housing.

Vacancy rates did improve, rising to 4.6 percent, but this shift has not yet translated into relief for renters or prospective buyers. With Calgary welcoming more than 200,000 new residents in just four years, the pressure of demand continues to outpace the ability of supply to fully stabilize affordability. For many, the combination of higher rents and rising homeownership costs has deepened financial stress, and this remains one of the most pressing challenges for the strategy in its second year.

Lessons Learned and the Path Forward

The City of Calgary is candid about the fact that more work needs to be done, and quickly. One of the most important lessons from the first year is the value of partnerships. Collaboration with industry, non-profits, and community groups will need to strengthen further if the strategy is to achieve its long-term goals.

Internally, the City is also moving to bolster its own capacity by creating a permanent Chief Housing Officer position, ensuring that housing remains a high-level, coordinated priority within municipal administration. Unlocking more City-owned land for development is also on the horizon, with plans to bring additional parcels to market in 2025. Each of these actions is part of a recognition that housing is a public priority, and that every unit whether market, non-market, or secondary suite, matters.

Looking forward, Calgarians can expect new non-market housing projects, additional land sales, and an expanded focus on Indigenous-led and culturally relevant housing to take shape in 2025. These initiatives are designed not just to add units but to strengthen affordability, equity, and sustainability in the housing system.

Why Calgary’s Housing Strategy Matters

Calgary has rapidly positioned itself as a national leader in housing, both in scale and in innovation. By leading the country in housing starts and finding creative ways to reuse existing buildings, the city has become an example of what proactive municipal leadership can accomplish. Yet the challenges are still immense. Population growth shows no signs of slowing, and affordability remains a daily concern for thousands of residents.

The 2025 progress update demonstrates that Calgary is building momentum, but it also highlights the urgency of staying the course. If the city can continue to expand supply, strengthen partnerships, and prioritize equity, it has the potential to become a model for other Canadian cities grappling with the same crisis. The next five years will determine whether Home is Here becomes a turning point not only for Calgary but also for housing policy across the country.