Calgary will add 128 new non-market homes in the downtown, in the inaugural grant delivered through the city’s downtown office conversion programs.
The announcement was made Feb. 9, 2026, at the location of the future Trellis Society / Bluevale Capital Group project located at 441 – 5 Avenue SW.
The Trellis conversion, which is expected to be 63 units, will be accompanied by a new project done by HomeSpace Society, which will mean 65 units at 1000 – 8 Avenue SW.
The two projects received $10.3 million in total funding through the Downtown Non-Market Office Conversion Grant. This money was made available through the federal government’s Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) program.
Jeff Dyer, CEO with Trellis Society, said that it’s easy to have big dreams as a non-profit, but it takes partners within the city and the philanthropic community to make them happen.
“Calgary urgently needs more affordable, non-market housing that truly meets the needs of young people, especially and families,” he said.
“We all know the pressure our city is under, rising costs, limited supply and far too many people being left behind despite doing everything that they can.”
The Trellis project will have 27 studio units, 18 one-bedroom units, nine two-bedroom units, and nine three-bedroom units. The HomeSpace conversion will have 30 studio units and 35 one-bedroom units.
“We see every day that the people who need affordable housing the most are often the last to be rented to. The young people and families we serve face multiple barriers, from income instability to system involvement to the lack of appropriately sized homes without stable housing, everything else becomes harder,” Dyer said.
“Just imagine having had to show up here today looking as spectacular as you do if you did it, leaving an emergency shelter in our city. We’re all here today because we agree that we can accomplish more when we work together.”
HAF funding discussions are ongoing
Calgary’s Chief Housing Officer, Reid Hendr,y said that once the funding was confirmed for this program, his team got to work on building the grant system. The first application window opened in the summer of 2025.
“I want to stress the speed at which we deployed this capital to be standing here merely months later, announcing the funding recipients and their respective projects is really something I’m extremely proud of. I can’t thank the teams enough for their dedication to this work,” he said.
Recent city administration reports have suggested that hundreds of millions in federal housing funding would be at risk should the City of Calgary backtrack on its citywide rezoning bylaw.
Mayor Jeromy Farkas said that while he was in Ottawa for the Big City Mayors’ meeting, he had the chance to speak with federal officials, along with representatives from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), with whom the HAF agreements are made.
He said that they recognized the work Calgary has done on the housing file. The City of Calgary said recently that there were a record 28,000 housing occupancies in 2025, and 1,800 non-market homes in the works.
“They recognized, of the 98 elements of our housing strategy, only one of which relates to the blanket rezoning that will be up for discussion. That said, the CMHC and other partners reiterated that our funding is not on pause. They’ll certainly be looking to see what decisions our council makes that can’t preclude any type of outcome, because the public hearing hasn’t been discussed. But a long-winded way of saying the federal government has an eagerness to work with us.”
The two new non-market housing projects will remove 100,000 square feet of former office space converted, according to the City of Calgary. The projects may still need more cash as they move through development, including potential provincial cash.
