The Calgary Foundation’s annual quality of life survey has been released and for 2025, it has shown that five percent more Calgarians rate their quality of life as good or excellent than in 2024.

That jump from 61 per cent to 66 per cent represents, at least at the highest levels, a view that life is improving in the city. A number bolstered by other statistics such as 87 per cent of Calgarians saying they are proud to be Calgarian.

Other figures like 89 per cent believing that Calgary is a great place to live and only 19 per cent of Calgarians saying they ever plan to leave, down from 30 per cent in 2021, show positive improvements in city perceptions.

“The fact that from a 10,000-foot view, things are looking better. Quality of life has improved from last year and has steadily improved since the pandemic. We’re getting close to pre-pandemic range, sense of belonging is growing, and we’re having much more optimistic about the city’s future and the economy,” said Taylor Barrie, Vice President of Communications for the Calgary Foundation.

“But it’s when you dive a little bit deeper and look beyond the surface numbers is where you’re seeing the challenges.”

Gender and economic status have once again played a role in the survey results, showing that the overall quality of life metrics have risen to 72 per cent for men, but are far lower at 58 per cent for women, and even lower yet at 39 per cent for Calgarians living with disabilities.

Other trends identified in the report include declining rates of volunteerism and charitable donations by Calgarians—something that has been noted for several years by the Calgary Foundation.

“I think if you’re financially stressed, you’re working multiple jobs, you just don’t have the time, the capacity, the money to give back. But yes, I think this report hopefully begs those sort of questions and offers a little bit of insight into who are we leaving behind,” she said.

Other statistics in the report also point to that dichotomy of the Calgary experience. More Calgarians, some 6 per cent, report having access to affordable healthy food in 2025 versus 2023, but on the flip side, more parents at 44 per cent say they have skipped a meal so that their children could eat.

“We’re seeing very scary numbers when it comes to food insecurity, and I know we’ve been talking about this for a number of years, and I’m happy to see that more Calgarians are able to afford healthy food. That’s on the rise in the last couple of years, but we’re also seeing a real increase in the use of community-based food services and hampers and food banks and things like that, and that’s been steadily increasing over the last few years,” said Barrie.

“More families are skipping meals than a couple years ago so that their children can eat. And look at young people, they’re experiencing the highest levels of food insecurity, highest levels of stress. That’s really one of the things that we hope comes out of this report is we’re here to just present the data, and I hope people are starting to, take a look at this report and have those kinds of conversations about what does this say about the broader experience of all Calgarians.”

The experience of community belonging among the city’s residents has also seen an increase, ranging by demographic group from 80 per cent for fully employed Calgarians, 82 per cent for homemakers, 86 per cent for renters and students, and 87 per cent for those individuals earning over $150,000 per year.

“I’m always so buoyed when I see the stats around things like our sense of belonging within our own communities and our own neighbourhoods, our desire to help each other in times of need, we love our parks and pathways, and really that belief that the arts contribute to the vibrancy of a city,” said Barrie.

Conversely, unemployed Calgarians report only 46 per cent sense of belonging.

Where you sit economically affects the perception of Calgary

Economic factors also were a determinant in positive economic outlooks, which saw overall positive perceptions of the economy up to 42 per cent in 2025 from 2024, unless you were a student or unemployed, where the figures were 26 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively.

“This year’s report shows signs of a city moving forward together. But when you look closer, you see that not everyone is experiencing this recovery equally. Real progress means making sure no one is left behind,” said Eva Friesen, CEO of Calgary Foundation.

Among the concerns that Calgarians cited during the quality of life survey, between 72 per cent and 87 per cent of Calgarians were concerned about climate change, depending on age demographic.

Some 69 per cent of Calgarians were concerned with domestic violence, which rises to 79 per cent for women, and 90 per cent of women over 65.

Over 73 per cent of Calgarians were concerned about safety, which rises to 88 per cent for those with disabilities.

Twenty-seven per cent of Calgarians felt safe downtown after dark, with 41 per cent of men feeling safe, but just 13 per cent of women.

Barrie said that with the upcoming municipal election, there is a lot of meaningful data that could be useful for candidates.

“If this can be used as a jumping-off point for some questions of candidates, or if candidates can use it as a bit of a tool to inform some of their own focus areas, I think that would be fantastic. That’s why we create this report. That’s why we put it out in the public,” she said.

“We exist to serve the charitable sector. So in a sector that is often quite data-deprived, we know that this is really helpful to the charities that are doing the work every day on the ground, working with their clients and we hope this helps inform their strategy. But for the everyday Calgarian, this is really intended to be a conversation starter.”

The survey was conducted with 1,000 Calgarians, and had a margin of error +/- 3.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

For the full 2025 Calgary Foundation Quality of Life Report, see calgaryfoundation.org/who-we-are/publications/quality-of-life-report.