While there are those hot-button issues candidates campaign on today – public safety, citywide rezoning, property taxes and affordability – the group Calgarians elect will also set the future project agenda.

In the LWC 2025 candidate survey, we dove into the minds of 64 candidates to see what Calgary endeavours they saw as important to tackle in the next term.

Ten high-profile projects were included, and LWC asked the candidates to rank the projects from 1 to 5, with five being of utmost importance.

The scores were aggregated (5 = five points, 1 = one point, etc) to come up with the top overall project priorities for the next Calgary city council.

Here’s how the candidates ranked the projects, in descending order (from 10 to 1)

10: Olympics-like event – 123 points

Since the magic of the 1988 Winter Olympics, Calgary has long talked about rekindling that civic and national pride with a massive international sports event. Since 2018, Calgarians panned the idea of another games bid in a 2018 referendum, and a bid to host the Commonwealth Games was scrapped after the provincial government withdrew its support.  Calgary has hosted several other smaller scale international events, like the recent Special Olympics.  

9: Net Zero emissions by 2035 – 153 points

Right now, the City of Calgary has a goal of reducing its net greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. A push to speed up that goal was included in the list of endeavours, and it came in ninth. Given that Calgary’s cost-free climate emergency declaration has all sorts of folks riled up, it’s no surprise this one didn’t fare so well.

8: High-speed rail to Edmonton – 154 points

This one is a slight surprise given all the buzz there’s been in the past, including the province’s desire to connect the province’s two largest cities by high-speed rail. Also worth noting is that a hyperloop project that would provide high-speed transport between Calgary and Edmonton is moving forward as well, with a recent announcement of a test track project between the two cities.  

7: Calgary to Banff rail – 173 points

This is another project that has garnered a lot of headlines in recent months, especially given that there seems to be a difference of opinion on whether this proposed passenger rail should be high-speed or put on conventional tracks. The conversation on transit only continues to get more interesting from here.

6: Regional rail – 189 points

Here’s where the interesting twist begins. Regional rail (defined by rail routes to Airdrie, Okotoks, Cochrane, Chestermere, etc) scores higher than longer intraprovincial rail projects like ones proposed to Edmonton or even Banff. Right now, these are in the long-term plans under the City of Calgary’s Route Ahead strategy.  They are integrating Calgary Transit bus service to places like Chestermere and potentially the Tsuut’ina Nation.

5: West Village Remediation – 199 points

Remediation of the creosote-soaked soil at the site of the former Calgary Creosote plant has been talked about for years and was included in the discussion around the former Calgary Next project. That would have seen an indoor arena and a stadium built at the site along the Bow River, and would have been the catalyst for the redevelopment of Calgary’s so-called West Village.  Since then, little has been said about the project, though the creosote issue did come up this year during land-use and redevelopment discussion around the former CBC building site.

Near the end of his term in office, Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott was looking into the most updated cost to clean up the site, however, there’s no current cost attached to it.

4: Foothills Multisport Fieldhouse – 235 points

This project has been on Calgary’s recreational infrastructure books for decades, and despite the previous city council putting more money into savings to help fund it, it’s only inching along without financial backing from the province and the feds.  Currently, the estimated $380 million (2024 dollars) project has roughly $109 million set aside in city reserves, and it is currently in the design stage.

3: Airport to DT rail – 239 points

Swinging back to transit, the candidates appear to be more in favour of localized transit upgrades. The Airport to DT rail is currently being worked on through the design of a Blue Line extension to 88 Avenue NE. That project is being funded in part by the province, as Premier Danielle Smith has made transit to the Calgary airport a priority.  The total estimated cost of the project is $168 million, according to the City of Calgary’s website.

While that current project will get the Blue Line to the point where it can connect to the airport, a future airport transit connector route would have to be added at an expected cost in the hundreds of millions. Public engagement on the current 88 Avenue NE project was completed this fall.

2: Green Line north – 243 points

This may come as music to the ears of north Calgary residents, but it’s a tune they’ve heard before – only to be perennially disappointed.  The Green Line’s beleaguered history over the past decade actually puts a north extension further away than it was in the 2021 election. Back then, the project was part of a phased plan with an actual downtown route and a launching point to get over the Bow River. There was even a bridge design in the works.

Today, there is no current plan for a downtown connection (though functional planning on an elevated line is underway), and there’s a smattering of work being done to prepare the north corridor to receive full LRT service in the future.

There is, however, work already underway on a south leg from near Calgary’s new Event Centre down to Shepard. There’s also an appetite to extend that line further to Seton before work continues on a north project.

The City of Calgary has made modest improvements to the 301 bus corridor, most recently renaming it the Max Green. No additional service or frequency was added, though station upgrades have been made along the route.

1: Prairie Economic Gateway – 262 points

This is a massive project in southeast Calgary that would see an inland rail port designed and built in partnership with Rocky View Country. Incumbent mayoral candidate Jyoti Gondek has championed this project at every possible opportunity, at one time saying that it is “not just a project, it is a promise of prosperity, productivity and opportunity that will transform our region for future generations.”

Among the promises for the area are 30,000 jobs and $7 billion generated for the local economy. Gondek has pushed for the project to be part of the federal government’s nation-building projects and is believed to be a contributing factor to Calgary being selected as the headquarters for the feds’ Major Projects Office.  

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Stay tuned to our Calgary election page to find the surveys broken down by ward so you can see what candidates prioritize the projects you care about most!