Calgary councillors dug in for their first day of the 2026 budget deliberations, and they got a taste of the public sentiment on how taxpayer dollars are spent.

It was the first day of what’s expected to be a full week of information and debate as councillors grapple with the need for city services, and the desire among Calgarians to maintain affordability.

Currently, there’s a combined 3.6 per cent property tax increase slated for the final year of a four-year budget. That is comprised of a 5.8 per cent hike for homeowners and 1.3 per cent for businesses.  This also includes an estimated 3.9 per cent ($5.29 per month) increase to water, wastewater and stormwater rates.

The overall proposed operating budget is $4.608 billion, with $3.6 billion in proposed capital spending. Among that is $300 million to cover priorities like housing ($86.6 million), public safety ($66 million), transit ($59 million) and infrastructure ($87.7 million).

“The proposed 2026 budget reflects our commitment to Calgarians and their priorities:  Public safety, transit, housing, infrastructure and organizational resilience. We’ve stayed within the improved limits, while recommending targeted investments to maintain service levels and prepare for growth,” said Les Tochor, City of Calgary Chief Financial Officer, in his presentation to council.

“These investments keep our city safe, connected and ready for the future.”

The budget doesn’t come without areas that some councillors have eyed up for potential savings, including rescinding the planned tax shift, or the $40 million earmarked to continue the downtown office-to-residential conversion.

Mayor Jeromy Farkas, chairing his first budget, said early in the day that the public hearing thus far has been “amazing.”

“It’s a real snapshot of everything that we’ve heard during the public election campaign. We’ve heard a lot about the need for financial responsibility, living within our means, making sure that the spending is appropriate,” he said.

“We’ve heard a lot about infrastructure. We’ve heard a lot about maintaining what we have, funding needed safety improvements. We’ve also heard a little bit about housing, the importance to take a strong approach to some of the root causes and addressing the social infrastructure.”

Recreation, housing play a large role in Day 1

Public submissions began after the administration presentation, with 26 panels and 130 presenters scheduled to deliver their insights. The schedule of events had public submissions spilling into Tuesday before business-unit-specific presentations and questions from councillors.

After that, councillors will be putting forth amendments to the budget, debating them, before voting on a final document. That’s expected on Thursday or Friday.

Councillors heard from a wide range of people on a wide range of topics, including transportation safety and continued support for Calgary’s mental health and addiction strategy.  However, early on there was an emphasis on recreation and support of the City of Calgary’s GamePlan document.

Hamza Tariq, president of the Future Stars Cricket Foundation, talked about the need for more cricket fields. Specifically, he talked about the need for fields to provide a space for children, women and seniors to play.

“What we have seen in the past few years is obviously we don’t have the fields that we need to grow our program or cricketing programs around the city when it comes to kids and youth and seniors,” he said.  

“Not only that, we don’t have enough fields. The fields that we do have currently are not the fields that we should be playing on. They’re unsafe. They’re not the right specifications.”

Also speaking about recreation was Mike Blondal, who is the director of swimming and head coach for the University of Calgary Swim Club. He said there’s a significant need for new flatwater pools in Calgary.

“Calgary actually has strong geographic coverage for indoor pools, as most residents live within five to 10 kilometers of a facility, but aging facilities and capacity constraints limit how many people can use them,” he said.

Housing was also a hot topic, with Dani Deboice, executive director of Vibrant Communities Calgary, saying that engagement with thousands of Calgarians has shown them that housing affordability, access to social services, and public transit were extremely important.

“Over the past two years, successes like the 850 per cent growth in non-market development permits and leading the country in the number of housing starts illustrate the impacts of good policy and strategy on housing access and affordability,” she said.

“We strongly support continued investments in the implementation of the home is here strategy, and emphasize the importance of continuing to invest in non-market housing solutions.”

Other organizations made pitches for potential funding, including the Calgary Fire Department for more equipment and firefighters to operate it, and the YMCA Calgary, which suggested a potential funding partnership to help get a new recreation facility online.

Public submissions will likely spill into a second day, as council hadn’t reached the halfway point in panels by Monday evening.