Calgary’s mayor said he was concerned to see the differing opinions on the recent electoral boundary commission report, saying it’s a document that is traditionally non-partisan in nature.

The Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission 2025-2026 report was presented to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly on March 26, 2026, and proposed four hybrid Calgary ridings. Hybrid means that the riding would include parts of the City of Calgary, and outlying rural, or quasi-urban areas.

“We heard many submissions that voiced approval of hybrid ridings around Calgary, for various reasons,” the report read.

“In general, however, many residents of areas west or east of Calgary noted how interconnected their communities are with the City of Calgary itself. This affinity would support the use of hybrid ridings, allowing a representative to properly represent those living in the city itself and those living in semi-rural areas surrounding it.”

The document proposes Calgary-East, which would add the hamlets of Prince of Peace and Janet, and was switched largely due to other changes made in east Calgary.

Calgary-Falconridge-Conrich included the hamlet of Conrich in to the riding along with some of the outlying areas around it.  Calgary-West-Elbow Valley added the Elbow Valley area west of Calgary, rather than including it in Canmore-Banff boundaries. The Tsuut’ina Nation was included on the City of Calgary’s southwest, for the riding of Calgary-Glenmore-Tsuut’ina.

None of these changes have yet been approved.

There was some frustration after the interim boundaries commission report over the so-called “rurban” hybrids. Some suggested it was an attempt to dilute urban voters with those from more rural settings, in a progressive-versus-conservative split.

“The Commission realizes that there was a clear ‘campaign’ in Calgary against the idea of hybrid ridings,” read the report.

“There is nothing wrong with campaigns — in fact, they show significant public engagement with the work of this Commission. However, at the same time, the Commission cannot be reduced to tallying the number of submissions for and against any one proposal, and deciding that since too many submissions opposed them, we cannot use them.

“Gone are the days when residents of major cities can reflexively oppose hybrids. This Commission has a constitutional and statutory duty to create a map that provides for ‘effective representation’ for all Albertans using all of the tools in our toolkit.”

Majority and minority report concerns Mayor Farkas

Mayor Jeromy Farkas said that he doesn’t want to see this process go down the same road as it has in the United States, where electoral boundaries are gerrymandered to improve the chances of the current government of the time.

“I am a bit concerned that we have a majority report and a minority report. I would have liked to see, as in the past, a broad nonpartisan consensus,” the mayor said.

“I think what’s special about Canada and Alberta is, for a long time, we’ve had that nonpartisan consensus. We’ve had that alignment and agreement. I am very challenged by this concept of the so-called ‘rurban’ ridings, where you see certain sections of a town or city extending out with a long finger out to a rural area. That’s a lot of the gerrymandering that we’re seeing in the United States right now.”

The minority report said that Calgary should have 11 hybrid electoral divisions.

Given that Calgary is growing at a substantial rate, Farkas also said that he wants to ensure that the City of Calgary is properly represented in the provincial legislature.

“It’s great to see a little bit more representation as an east Calgary person, though I don’t like seeing that Calgary Peigan riding dissolve, because I want to see adequate representation for some of the more traditionally underserved areas,” he said.

“Growing up in east Calgary, Forest Lawn, Dover, I really struggled as a kid, because I never really felt I had a voice. So, I want to make sure that we’re equitable in terms of that representation.”

There are currently 26 ridings in Calgary. The proposed reconfiguration would increase that to 28.

Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Yule saw some upside in the split ridings, particularly given that many of Calgary’s peripheral provincial ridings have growing regional endeavours.

“One of the things that I’ve been working on as a councillor is projects like Prairie Economic Gateway, where we’re working with Rocky View County,” he said.

“I think it’s important for us as a municipality to work with other municipalities for common interests.”

Yule acknowledged there may be some drawbacks, but as a city that’s purportedly going to be two million people in the very near future and an increasing number of regional projects like a potential regional pathway, or a North Central and Airdrie Hospital, having a provincial voice at the table representing those interests could be key.

“As a fringe councillor, there’s a lot of needs, and those needs are shared by some of our bordering municipalities,” he said.