Calgary’s spring citizen research survey results are in, and despite some headwinds, Calgary respondents are generally more optimistic about the city’s direction.

Overall, nearly three-quarters of respondents (74 per cent) rated Calgary’s overall quality of life as ‘Good,’ compared with an eight-year low of 66 per cent in fall 2024.

The Ipsos Public Affairs survey reached 2,500 Calgarians via a telephone survey from Feb. 27 to March 24, 2025. The margin of error in a 2,500-person sample is two per cent, 19 times out of 20. The data were weighted based on 2019 municipal and 2021 federal census data based on age, gender, and quadrant of the city to ensure appropriate composition of Calgarians.

One of the other big jumps was in trust or distrust in the City of Calgary. Trust jumped to a five-year-high of 52 per cent in the 2025 survey, up from 41 per cent in the fall and 38 per cent last spring.  The survey also showed that 63 per cent of people are satisfied with the way council and administration are running the city – up from 53 per cent last fall.

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said she believed the increase in trust is a reflection of work being done by the City of Calgary and city council.

“That rise in trust says something powerful,” Mayor Gondek said.

“This is what leadership looks like, taking action when it matters, and being visible, honest and decisive, and delivering real results on the priorities that matter the most to Calgarians.”

Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp said many of the numbers in this year’s survey are good, though she’s not ready to attribute the City of Calgary’s work to the buoyant numbers. With numbers as low as they were last year, Coun. Sharp said there’s no way to go but up.

There’s another factor in play here, said Sharp.

“It’s important to recognize this survey was actually in field when (US President Donald) Trump declared the tariffs, and then all of a sudden, Calgarians, Canadians became very patriotic, and they cared about their city. They cared about Canada,” she said.  

“I don’t blame Calgarians or Canadians to be, I would say, trusting in their government more. I think that played a factor here.”

More open, more transparent with citizens

Much of the bump in satisfaction over how the city is run is due to the increase in city administration rankings. Survey respondents still weren’t too happy with the performance of city council, with 52 per cent saying they were somewhat or very satisfied. That’s up from 46 per cent last fall, but still well below the seven-year average of 58 per cent satisfaction.

Mayor Gondek said that more must be done to regain trust in the work done by Calgary city councillors. A large part of that comes in communication with citizens, she said.

“I think we’ve learned a very valuable lesson about how to communicate with Calgarians. We’ve learned a valuable lesson that you must be transparent, that you have to tell people what you know when you know it,” the mayor said.

“In the absence of information, people feel quite stressed. So, it’s important as a leader to step up and demonstrate that we are dealing with things.”

Coun. Sharp said she feels this is one of the most divisive council Calgary has seen but expects that to calm as we get into a municipal election this October, and then beyond. So, while the Trump tariff situation may have influenced this spring’s results, she doesn’t expect the upcoming election to garner the same dramatic fluctuation in results.

“I think there will be, regardless of who gets in office, I think there’ll be a lot more of a calm approach to moving forward,” she said.

Other key highlights in the citizen survey include:

• Calgary practices open and accessible government – 64 per cent, up from 56 per cent
• City is spending in a responsible way – 52 per cent, up from 45 per cent in the fall, but still below the long-term average.
• Uptick in perceived value for property taxes – 46 per cent, up from 43 per cent in the fall, however, still below the long-term average in the mid-50 per cent range.

The survey is done on a random dialing system that reaches both landline and telephone lines.

The full survey results are posted below, and they will be presented to a full meeting of Calgary city council on May 27, 2025.