Calgary’s share of federal housing funding could be at risk should its citywide rezoning policy be repealed, according to city administration.
Though the extent to which it would impact the city isn’t really known.
Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas asked the question after the presentation of the 2026 budget document, given that assumptions are being made around available revenue in next year’s budget.
“Given some of the assumptions we’re making now around budget and given this emerging discussion that many of our council colleagues have been having on expressing the need for a repeal and replace approach for this, it’s important that we understand the financial impacts of such a decision down the pipe,” said Mayor Farkas.
In his preamble, Mayor Farkas suggested that participation in the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) was tied in part to the adoption of citywide rezoning.
Back in 2023, the federal government awarded the City of Calgary $228.5 million from HAF, with the incentive to build 43,000 new homes by 2026. At that time, there was significant discussion about the impact of not approving citywide rezoning and if it would impact Calgary’s ability to secure funding.
Back in April 2024, former Ward 14 Coun. Peter Demong asked city administration specifically if these things were tied together. The answer was a clear ‘no.’ LWC investigated with the federal government further in April 2024 to find out why there was so much confusion.
In July 2025, then-mayor Jyoti Gondek reiterated that HAF funding wasn’t tied to the citywide rezoning decision. She did so at a media event where the City of Calgary celebrated already having incentivized the construction of 44,000 homes, beating the proposed target.
“There was no stipulation that we had to pass any type of rezoning; there was none,” the former mayor said at the time.
The City of Calgary said on Tuesday that it’s been consistent in its message on potential impacts of citywide rezoning, citing a May 28, 2024, meeting where COO Dalgleish referenced the councillor toolkit ahead of the citywide rezoning public hearing.
“If Council does not approve rezoning on April 22nd, the final Housing Accelerator Fund payment may be impacted if The City cannot meet the housing supply growth targets. However, the agreement identifies that nothing in the Agreement will fetter the discretion of Council as to future decisions.“
Financial question versus a planning question: COO Dalgleish
City of Calgary Chief Operating Officer Stuart Dalgleish said he could only provide a high-level answer to a high-level question. He said that it was complicated and that he would send a more detailed written answer to councillors.
He did answer the question specifically in council chambers on Monday.
“Should council pursue changes to citywide rezoning, Housing Accelerator funding could be at risk,” COO Dalgleish said.
“At this time, we do not know whether the risk would materialize, and if it did to what extent.”
He said that administration will monitor and manage the issue and keep Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and the federal and provincial governments informed about the status of pursuing citywide rezoning changes.
Though Mayor Farkas said he didn’t want to presuppose the outcome of a public hearing and possible rescinding of citywide rezoning, he did ask if it would be prudent to set aside money in case a potential risk came to fruition.
Dalgleish said that the HAF agreement is a business and financial issue, and once a potential risk is determined, they could come back to council for direction.
As far as how potential funding would influence a decision on the repeal of citywide rezoning, Dalgleish said that finances aren’t a consideration on planning items.
“I just wanted to sort of clarify that and keep those two avenues separate,” he said.
“We will keep you informed on the business and financial side, and financial considerations do not come into play when you pursue a planning issue of which citywide rezoning repealing would be one.”
To date, nothing has been made public on a move to potentially repeal citywide rezoning.
