Calgary’s Green Line was a weighty issue for the last city council, and it will no doubt generate more headlines for the upcoming group.
The $6.25 billion project has had a tumultuous past five years, and though the stage is set for the south leg of the line from Calgary’s new Event Centre to Shepard, there is no longer a firm plan for the downtown link, nor a connection to the north portion of the Green Line.
Among the 64 candidates who responded to the LWC 2025 candidate survey, 25 candidates ranked a north Green Line as a future project of the utmost importance (five out of five), with a further 18 ranking it four out of five.
It was the second-ranked future project overall among the candidates that responded.
Recently, the Calgary Chamber of Commerce weighed in, saying that a downtown Green Line option was best underground. The Calgary Downtown Association (CDA) also provided its response to LWC, saying they were excited to see progress on the line and also supported an underground alignment.
“As planning advances, we believe an underground alignment is absolutely essential in ensuring we have a vibrant and connected core,” said CDA executive director Mark Garner.
“We look forward to working with the City of Calgary and the province in ensuring the voice of downtown businesses and stakeholders are heard.”
Other downtown groups, including property owners, have expressed support for an underground option in the past.
The Green Line project stalled during the last term, as the province refused to fund an increasingly shrunken line. The Alberta government and the City of Calgary were at odds for some time, as some semblance of a deal was salvaged. Finally, the two sides came together to retrieve the south portion of the line (as mentioned above), and proposed an elevated line through the downtown.
That line is going through a functional plan process right now.
Many transit experts doubt the ability of the train to navigate through the downtown on an elevated route, given some of the potentially tight turns with larger LRT cars. It’s also raised concerns from area businesses about access and public safety.
What say the candidates?
LWC asked candidates the question: What’s the best alignment option for the downtown portion of Calgary’s Green Line?
Slightly more than half of the respondents said a below-ground option was best (52 per cent). Nineteen said that they support any plan the province would fund (30 per cent). Ten candidates support the proposed elevated line through the core (16 per cent). Two candidates indicated that no downtown Green Line is needed (three per cent).
Across party lines, A Better Calgary candidates were largely supportive of an elevated line through downtown Calgary, with Cathy Jacobs (Ward 1), John Garden (Ward 2) and Tony Dinh (Ward 9) supporting. Mike Jamieson (Ward 12) and Keener Hachey (Ward 14) supported a plan that the province would fund, while area candidate Anthony Ascue (Ward 7) said no downtown Green Line.
Communities First candidates put their responses behind “whatever way the province will fund”, though incumbent candidates Terry Wong (Ward 7) and Andre Chabot (Ward 10) supported an underground option.
All Calgary Party candidates who responded favoured an underground Green Line through the downtown.
Among mayoral candidates, Larry Heather and Sarah Elder supported an elevated line, Sonya Sharp and Grant Prior responded with whatever version the province will fund, and the others (Jeff Davison, Brian Thiessen, Jeromy Farkas and Jaeger Gustafson) responded with below ground. Jyoti Gondek did not submit a response, though as the incumbent mayor, she has supported a below-ground option.
Want to know how candidates in your ward responded? Check out our ward profiles and other election content, where you can read their responses to our survey.
