Calgary’s growth both in geographic area and population is putting a strain on emergency resources in the city, prompting one to indicate a bigger budget ask is on the way.

Both the Calgary Police Service (CPS) and the Calgary Fire Department delivered their respective 2024 annual reports to the Community Development Committee on April 16, and the ability to cover the city effectively was addressed by both Chiefs.

CPS Chief Mark Neufeld noted several positives in this year’s report, with areas like homicides, shootings, break and enters, vehicle thefts and robberies down across Calgary.

One area that’s increasing is assaults, Chief Neufeld said, particularly on security guards, loss prevention officers and service providers helping vulnerable Calgarians.

“We have ideas and insights in the data and the data as to where that’s happening, and so again, that’s a focus for us as well,” he said.

They’ve had a decrease in the number of publicly generated calls, down 21,000. He said that’s a direct result of the call diversion and crisis response work they’re doing. 

Officer-generated calls went up in 2024, but that’s good news, the Chief said.

“That actually reflects the fact that when officers aren’t responding to calls for service, they have more time for proactive work. That’s important,” he said.

“We want them to be actually focused on proactive work to prevent crime, rather than just be responding after it happens.”

Call volume for the Calgary Fire Department decreased slightly in 2024, however, long-term, Chief Steve Dongworth said they’ve experienced a 50 per cent increase in calls.

Critical and medical interventions are down, as are the responses to opioid-related drug calls, Chief Dongworth said.

Further, Calgary fire crews were able to have a first engine on the scene of a call within seven minutes 82 per cent of the time, just shy of the council-mandated 90 per cent target.

Growth, capacity an ongoing challenge: Chiefs

Chief Dongworth praised the recent investments the City of Calgary has made in the fire service. He said they’re currently amid the largest recruitment and training cycle in years, with plans to graduate more than 500 firefighters by 2029.

That will be critical to maintain service in a city that’s closing in on two million people, he said.

“As we build on these investments, the exponential growth of our city will continue to challenge our ability to provide adequate services protected effectively by thoughtfully implementing resources. We will do our best to keep up with increasing demands,” he said.

“Investment that keeps pace with this growth will be essential to allow us to sustain our service levels.”

Chief Dongworth said that when you see more people coming to Calgary, that results in more calls.

“Then the part as well, though, is just that sprawl, particularly in the urban areas, which is amazing how quickly that happens, and it rapidly means that we’re not meeting our response time targets and our particularly on the edge of the city,” he said.

“It’s taking us too long to get to people when they make an emergency call.”

Density also poses challenges as they have different resource and equipment needs to deal with the volume of people and different building types, he said.

Chief Neufeld echoed those concerns. He said that as the population grows, the pressure on infrastructure increases. It’s not just about the numbers, either, Neufeld said. It’s that different groups are coming to Calgary, each bringing with it geopolitical views and requirements for services.

Oh, and there are 17,000 kilometres of roads they have to cover, he said.

“As a major city, the reality of it is, as it grows and as the footprint grows, it becomes more difficult to deliver services in a timely way,” he said.

“So, as we said, we need to make sure that we have enough resources that our officers can get to the calls you need to get to on time.”

Investments are paying off, Mayor says

Amtul Siddiqui, chair of the Calgary Police Commission, said that they’ll be gathering information over the coming months to determine the financial needs of the CPS, given concerns over both population and geographical expansion.

“Taking all of that into account and seeing what we can come back to council and ask for an increase, keeping in mind that there is not this large amount of money available,” she told reporters.

Siddiqui also said they would be looking at further service efficiencies and other deployment models.  There will also have to be further planning around the $28 million in photo radar revenue pulled from the budget due to provincial changes around its use.

“We have not kept up with inflation over the last few years when it came to our police ask,” she said.

“So, that’s the first thing that we need to look at, and then we need to work with council and other partners to figure out the best way to ask for that increase.”

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said the reports from both the Calgary police and Calgary fire were encouraging.

“It just demonstrates that the investments that we are making, especially in the coordinated teams, to address any incidents that we see in the city, that it’s working, and the investments that we have made in safety on public transit, those things are producing results,” she said.

The mayor said that if we can strengthen the tax base in the city by adding more homes and businesses, it will generate the type of revenue needed to fund the services in the future.

Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott, who chairs the Community Development Committee, said that he’s never seen a council that won’t approve a police budget increase. Still, it’s often a debate over the money they need for policing and the capacity of community care that’s growing in Calgary. That could ease the responsibilities of CPS members.

Walcott does think the CPS has the capacity to handle the current crime environment.

“There’s a separate question, though, that’s unasked there, that’s really important. When you’re proactive in safety planning, the absence of crime is not an indicator of reductions or to stop planning. It’s actually sometimes the opposite,” he said.

“So, while I might believe that we are currently adequately staffed, one of the last things you want to do is risk the numbers swinging the other way, and you have to become reactive. Proactive planning, community support, social supports and police planning over years is always an important part of that dynamic.”