By this point in the year, the dreaded realities of a Calgary winter, including shoveling, traffic and visibility issues, ice and frigid winds are setting in for most.

Aside from the inconvenience, the majority of Calgarians are accustomed to the cold, but for some, it can be life or death.

Near Calgary’s permanent Homeless Memorial on 13 Ave SE, the Calgary Homeless Foundation hosted its 11th annual Longest Night of the Year winter Memorial Event, honouring Calgarians experiencing homelessness who’ve died since last year’s ceremony.

Though unable to attend the event, Calgary Mayor Jeremy Farkas shared a formal proclamation.

“Relationships that are formed and sustained among the homeless community can be just as important as biological family connections. Every person who passes has the right to a dignified memorial service where friends and family can gather to mourn, reflect and remember,” he wrote.

“On behalf of the City Council and Calgarians, I, Mayor Jeremy Farkas, hereby proclaim December 19, 2025 as the longest night of the year.”

Bo Masterson, VP of Stakeholder Engagement for the Calgary Homeless Society, said that the event is a chance for widespread members of otherwise separate communities to come together.

“This is one of the few opportunities every year that our entire community comes together. We’ve got organizations providing frontline services, we’ve got police, we have city partners, we’ve got folks with lived experience who have lost a loved one and we all come together on the same line and just take a moment to grieve and make sure that nobody is forgotten,” she said.

Via their partners and community, the organization collected 284 names of people who, as a result of or while they were experiencing homelessness died in 2025, with attendees able to add anyone not mentioned to the list of names to be read and honoured.

Though the event is not designed to be used as a data point and is explicitly meant to honour those who’ve passed away, Masterson said that rates of homelessness have stayed relatively consistent in recent years.

“We’re seeing two out of every 1,000 Calgarians experiencing homelessness, the rate means that it’s staying at par with the population growth,” she said.

“What we are seeing, though, is we’re seeing lots more complexity. We’re seeing that folks are dealing with lots of different things and we have a homeless serving system of care that has probably 100 partners that are doing this work every single day to get up and ensure that every single person has access to a safe, supportive place and has access to the services they need.”

During the outdoor event, Masterson called the nearly -20 Celsius weather a harsh reminder of what many sleep, eat and live through, day in and day out.

“It’s always a really great reminder for all of us to recognize how cold it is and how extreme weather can really put us all on edge. Making sure our toes are warm, our fingers are warm, that we’re avoiding frostbite, that we’re keeping ourselves safe and the day like today, although we wish it to be warmer, is actually a very good reminder for us as Calgarians to take care of each other,” she said. 

Through services like nighttime shelter shuttles, Masterson said that organizations city-wide do their best to make sure that not only as many people as possible have access to resources they need, but also that the environment is welcoming and uplifting.

City officials honour Calgarians experiencing homelessness

After reading Farkas’ proclamation, Ward 8 Coun. Nathan Schmidt said that his experience with those experiencing homelessness predates his work as a public official.

“Previous to becoming a city councilor, I worked as a defense lawyer, doing legal work for vulnerable individuals, either low income or youth, and as part of that job, the most important thing was learning about their stories, because that was the only way that you could really properly defend,” he said.

“For us as policymakers and in the media and in the conversations that we have with each other, the most important thing for us to remember is that these are human beings with families, with friends, with relationships that go beyond where they find themselves in their experience of homelessness.”

People often fall into the trap of generalizing those experiencing homelessness, Schmidt said, speaking about what we don’t want to see or what we don’t want to come to terms with. 

“So for me and I know for my colleagues, we must remember that these are human lives that we’re dealing with, and that’s why an event like this is so important, because this recognizes that these are people and that we have a responsibility to help our neighbours, to help the people who we share the community with,” he said.

“That’s something I’m going to bring with myself throughout these next four years and I hope that we can all do the same as well, because that’s the only way that we can actually begin to help and to heal everybody who’s experiencing this.” 

Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Yule and Ward 7 Coun. Myke Atkinson were also in attendance.