Article – Monday marks the start of what could be Calgary’s longest municipal drama in recent memory. City council will launch public hearings on repealing blanket rezoning. The sessions might stretch across an entire week, maybe longer.
I’ve covered enough city hall debates to know when something hits a nerve. This one clearly does. By Friday morning, 339 Calgarians had registered to speak. The city received 2,390 written submissions. People can still sign up until the hearing wraps.
For those who lived through the original 2024 rezoning battle, this feels oddly familiar. We’re essentially rehashing arguments from two years ago. Same passionate voices. Same fundamental disagreements about Calgary’s housing future.
Understanding What’s Actually at Stake
Blanket rezoning changed Calgary’s default residential zoning to R-CG, or residential grade-oriented infill. Property owners gained the right to build up to four units on single lots. That meant converting a bungalow into a duplex or fourplex without the traditional rezoning circus.
The previous council approved this in May 2024 after a two-week hearing. More than 730 Calgarians showed up to speak. About 70 percent opposed the change. Council voted yes anyway.
New subdivisions already had this zoning. The controversy centered on older neighborhoods previously reserved for single-family homes. Those communities saw this as an unwelcome transformation of their established character.
The policy aimed to boost housing supply and streamline development approvals. Calgary’s 2023 housing strategy positioned it as a tool against rising costs. Whether it worked depends entirely on who you ask.
Critics Say the Approach Was Too Blunt
Robert Lehodey represents Calgarians for Thoughtful Growth, an opposition group. His organization argues blanket rezoning affected 311,000 properties without considering individual neighborhood contexts. He calls it insensitive development that ignores community character.
“This really blunt tool affected 311,000 properties adversely, in our view,” Lehodey told me. His group doesn’t oppose densification itself. They oppose the one-size-fits-all methodology.
Opponents worry about infrastructure strain, parking nightmares, and traffic congestion. They point out that new infills typically sell for higher prices than the bungalows they replace. A modest three-bedroom home gets demolished. Four units priced at $750,000 each appear instead.
That doesn’t sound like affordable housing to critics. It sounds like a developer windfall dressed up as public policy.
Lehodey’s group actually sued the city, claiming council’s decision was biased and procedurally unfair. A Calgary judge sided with the city. The group appealed. That case remains before the Alberta Court of Appeal.
Another major complaint centers on lost public input opportunities. Previously, neighbors could voice concerns at rezoning hearings. Blanket rezoning eliminated that step for duplexes, fourplexes, and row houses. Critics feel shut out of decisions affecting their streets.
“Blanket rezoning has not worked,” Lehodey said. “It hasn’t delivered the housing stock they thought it would. It hasn’t improved affordability at all.”
Supporters See Housing Solutions
Alex McColl sits on the board of More Neighbours Calgary, a density advocacy group. He views repeal efforts as regressive. Reverting to previous rules means returning to 2007-era zoning restrictions, he argues.
“R-CG has done exactly what advocates said it would,” McColl said. “It’s helping to deliver more affordable, family-friendly housing options and missing-middle options.”
McColl plans to present at next week’s hearing. He wants to dispel what he considers misinformation about R-CG development. Some complaints attributed to blanket rezoning actually stem from different zoning categories, he claims.
He referenced a flyer showing a Tuxedo Park development. Opponents used it as an example of blanket rezoning run amok. McColl investigated. That building was actually a five-plex rezoned under DC-MCG in early 2022. Council approved it 12-3, including two current anti-rezoning voices.
Shameer Gaidhar from the Calgary Inner-City Builders’ Association emphasizes housing supply urgency. Calgary currently enjoys relative affordability. Stopping development would reverse that quickly, he warns.
“We need housing in this city,” Gaidhar said. “If we stop building housing, what’s going to happen is rents are going to go up and prices are going to go up.”
Eliminating rezoning hearings cut approval times by roughly six months, Gaidhar noted. That translates to approximately $90,000 in carrying costs removed from projects. Those savings theoretically flow to buyers, though critics dispute whether that actually happens.
McColl adds that streamlined processes free council time for bigger priorities. Water infrastructure, road maintenance, and transit planning deserve attention. Micromanaging individual lot decisions doesn’t, in his view.
“I think council’s time is better spent dealing with water feeder mains, road infrastructure and public transit,” McColl said.
What the Numbers Actually Show
Blanket rezoning took effect in early August 2024. Development permit applications for R-CG projects immediately spiked. The city received more than double the applications compared to the same 2023 period. City officials hesitated to credit rezoning alone for the increase.
By June 2025, R-CG zoning enabled 814 new residential units and 765 secondary suites. A December report found negligible impact on water, roads, and park infrastructure. Less than one percent of 1,949 reviewed homes required utility upgrades.
The policy increased Calgary’s housing stock by 0.4 percent. That equals one new home for every 240 existing homes. Whether that constitutes success depends on your expectations.
A March briefing to council’s infrastructure committee reported more promising trends. Blanket rezoning enabled 63 percent of low-density unit permits in established communities during 2025. Fourth-quarter applications jumped 27 percent year-over-year, with 304 applications proposing 947 units.
Seventy-seven percent of those applications involved townhouses, row houses, or multi-dwelling units. Approval timelines remained consistent with previous years despite increased volume.
Between 2014 and 2023, the city decided on 290 R-CG amendment applications. Approval rate: 94 percent. Since blanket rezoning, 639 development permits were submitted that previously would have required individual hearings. That represents substantial administrative streamlining, supporters argue.
How We Got to This Repeal Moment
Ward 13 Councillor Dan McLean predicted blanket rezoning would dominate the 2025 election. He was absolutely right. Candidates’ positions on this issue likely determined their electoral fate.
Of nine councillors who supported blanket rezoning in 2024, only two returned. Ward 5 Councillor Raj Dhaliwal and Ward 2 Councillor Jennifer Wyness survived. Former mayor Jyoti Gondek lost. Kourtney Penner was defeated in Ward 11. Five others didn’t seek re-election.
The newly elected council wasted no time. Ward 10 Councillor Andre Chabot introduced a repeal motion in November, less than 18 months after implementation. Council supported it 13-2 in December. That vote came despite warnings about jeopardizing federal funding.
The current council includes four Communities First party members who pledged to repeal blanket rezoning. Mayor Jeromy Farkas repeatedly calls it a failed experiment. The hearing feels somewhat predetermined given these campaign commitments.
Ward 6 Councillor John Pantazopoulos told reporters his team knocked on 55,000 doors during the election. The message came through clearly: blanket rezoning didn’t work for southwest Calgary residents.
“There’s some closure coming,” Pantazopoulos said Thursday. He’s eager to hear from Calgarians directly but acknowledges the conversation shouldn’t end with repeal.
“What we had before didn’t work and what we have today doesn’t work,” he said. The whole development process needs rethinking, regardless of Monday’s outcome.
The Federal Funding Wild Card
Here’s where things get financially complicated. The Municipal Government Act requires councillors to remain “amenable to persuasion” during public hearings. Technically, the verdict isn’t predetermined, even if it feels that way.
Administration has repeatedly warned that repealing blanket rezoning could cost Calgary over $120 million in federal housing accelerator fund grants. Those funds were explicitly tied to removing exclusionary zoning practices.
Some councillors dismiss this concern. They point to Calgary’s leadership in national housing starts. If the city meets development targets outlined in the accelerator fund agreement, they argue funding should continue regardless of zoning rules.
That’s an expensive gamble if they’re wrong. Over $120 million buys a lot of infrastructure, even in a growing city like Calgary. I’ve seen council debates derail over far smaller amounts.
The federal government hasn’t publicly clarified whether repeal would trigger funding clawbacks. That ambiguity hangs over next week’s proceedings like a financial sword of Damocles.
What Comes Next
Monday’s hearing represents more than a policy debate. It’s fundamentally about Calgary’s growth philosophy. Do we densify established neighborhoods or keep expanding outward? Do we prioritize housing supply or neighborhood character? Can we achieve both simultaneously?
I’ve covered enough contentious council meetings to recognize when positions have hardened beyond compromise. This feels like one of those moments. Both sides present compelling arguments backed by data supporting their worldviews.
Critics legitimately worry about community disruption and question whether new infills actually improve affordability. Supporters legitimately believe increased supply addresses housing costs while making better use of existing infrastructure.
The 339 registered speakers will make their cases. Councillors will listen, debate, and ultimately vote. Based on December’s 13-2 vote on the notice of motion, repeal seems likely.
What happens after remains uncertain. Pantazopoulos is right that neither the old system nor blanket rezoning satisfied everyone. Calgary needs a development approach that balances growth demands with community concerns.
Whether this council can craft that solution after such a divisive debate remains an open question. I’ll be watching from the press gallery, taking notes and trying to make sense of where Calgary goes from here.
One thing seems certain: housing policy will dominate municipal politics for years to come. This week’s marathon hearing is just another chapter in a much longer story.
