More than seven in 10 surveyed Calgarians believe their quality of life is good and that Calgary is a great place to make a life, according to the City’s fall research.

That’s one of a handful of key numbers on an upswing in the latest Fall Survey results, which will be presented to the new council at the Nov. 10 regular meeting of council.

The City of Calgary’s Fall Survey of Calgarians is done annually by Ipsos and 2,500 Calgarians were contacted via telephone between July 30 and Aug. 28 to obtain the sample. Cell phones (60 per cent) and landlines (40 per cent) were used to reach the respondents. The margin of error is 1.96 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

When asked how they would rate overall quality of life in  the city, 71 per cent of Calgarians rated it as good or very good. That’s compared with 74 per cent in spring, but up five per cent since last fall’s survey.

“Recent improvements in Calgarians’ perceptions of quality of life can be linked to satisfaction with services, perceived value for taxes, confidence Calgary is heading in the right direction for future generations and initiatives that foster community belonging and enhance inclusivity,” read the City of Calgary admin report.

While quality of life numbers appear good, more than half (56 per cent) of Calgarians believe their quality of life in the city has worsened. While that number is down from recent 10-year highs, it’s still above the long-term average.

Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal said that improved numbers are likely due to a combination of things. First, there was a lot going on in Calgarians lives over the past four years – Covid, public safety issues, affordability – and it weighed on them.

Now, they could be seeing the impact of city investments over the past three years.

“There were certain factors that were not in our control, that were externalities that we didn’t control; interest rate, inflation, population growth,” he told LWC.

“Coming out of Covid, the supply chain issues, everything got hit so hard, so that was a factor, and was going to take some time for those things to subside or get to normal.”

It takes time, said Dhaliwal

More than eight in 10 people are proud to be a Calgarians, which, after two years of declines, is starting to swing back to pre-Covid numbers.

Sixty-nine per cent of Calgarians surveyed believed that Calgary is on track to being a better city, which is up slightly from last year, but still down from the 10-year average.

Dhaliwal said that citizens are starting to see the results of city actions to address some of citizens’ day-to-day concerns.

“Let’s fix the nuts and bolts of the city. As a resident, I’m seeing those changes. McKnight got repaved, Métis is getting repaved. So, people are seeing those smoother rides,” he said.

“People are saying I’m more comfortable taking transit. It’s combination of both and all those these things, when you’re coming out of a major world global event like pandemic, it takes time, and now we are seeing results

One indicator that didn’t move up, despite citizens seeing a higher quality of life, was the perceived value for taxes. Dhaliwal said that the City’s got to be better at showing how tax dollars impact Calgarians, particularly when it comes to the amount of their tax money that goes to the province.

“We got to show them that every dollar that they’re investing, for instance, $13 a day, they’re getting all these services,” he said.

“When people start seeing their grass mowing happening, their playgrounds, cleaners, they will respond to the value.”

While perceived value for taxes didn’t move, Calgarians’ willingness to accept inflation-based property tax increases to maintain or improve services did go up (50 per cent, versus 42 per cent wanting a cut).

Dhaliwal said with record population growth over the past four years, people are seeing the need for the city to invest in itself. With budget discussions coming up, and a 3.6 per cent combined property tax increase, Dhaliwal said that people can accept increases if they see the results.

“I was at the doors during the election and I didn’t hear people saying, ‘No, I don’t want to pay taxes,’” he said.

“They were saying, ‘Yeah, taxes are needed to invest in the city, but we as shareholders want to see the return.’”

Trust in municipal government, which has been a sore spot for the past four years, saw a significant upswing, reaching 47 per cent. While still lower than the four year average, it represented a six per cent jump over fall 2024.