Calgary city councillors didn’t monkey around, putting their money where their park is by recommending $190 million over the next 10 years to ensure city playgrounds don’t become extinct.

Councillors on the Infrastructure and Planning Committee (IPC) voted unanimously in favour of Option 4, which would ensure that 100 per cent of the city’s current 1,172 playgrounds stay intact.

A city admin report had warned that 80 per cent of the current playground inventory (960) could be removed without proper funding over the next decade.

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said that these investments are about funding to replace the infrastructure that’s already in place.

“You have to bear in mind that as Calgary continues to grow, we have a lot of bread, not enough butter,” he said.  

“So, playgrounds are just the latest symptom of the underlying issue around population growth, density, how we develop as a city.”

Ward 4 Coun. DJ Kelly called the support for playground funding a “no brainer.” Though, Kelly also said that the demographics of Calgary neighbourhoods have changed over the years, and that might warrant a review of where the play structures are located.

“It may make a lot more sense to, for example, remove a playground and replace it with a bench or something for seniors to be able to come for older adults, or when you’re when you’re going for a walk, a place to hang out and enjoy the sun,” he said.

“So, we need to actually have a conversation with our neighbours about what we would like to see in those places.”

Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot, who chairs the IPC, said he supported the investment, but not necessarily with all of the funding coming from Calgary taxpayers.

“There’s a lot of private sector partners out there that have been helping us redevelop a lot of these playgrounds so far. Calgary Parks Foundation is an example as a as a potential funding partner,” he said.

“There’s other not for profits, as well as private sector folks that I’m sure would be very interested in getting engaged in redeveloping playgrounds, especially if we can do things like naming rights and start naming some of the playgrounds after some of the major donors.”

Parks Foundation Calgary ready for the challenge

Cynthia Watson, CEO of Parks Foundation Calgary, said that she supported the boost in playground investment by the City of Calgary. She said even if they’re small pocket playgrounds, which are found in many older Calgary communities, people love their green spaces.

“From my perspective, what I’m hearing new in the role is that people love their parks and open spaces, and they know that the city needs to make some decisions around infrastructure,” she told LWC.

“So, if they can still have the agency to create and design communities that they love, that would be the first preference.”

Watson said Parks Foundation Calgary has programs that are specially designed to help communities or school councils maintain or replace their parks.  They also work with the City of Calgary through the Parks and Playgrounds Amenities Program.

She said the key in the partnership with the City of Calgary is leveraging their investment.

“For example, generally, for Parks Foundation, in 2024 we were able to leverage for every dollar investment from the city $3.6 and for 2025 we were really fortunate to be able to leverage every $1 for the city from the city into $4.8 dollars with our fundraising efforts,” Watson said.

Right now, Parks Foundation Calgary helps with about 10 to 12 playground replacement projects annually – roughly the same number as the City.

She said that moving forward, the continued growth and success of the partnership is based on a three-part relationship: The City, the neighbourhood, and the donor community. With the three firing on all cylinders, Watson said they could help chip away at the $19 million annually needed to fund the parks.

“That 19 million, yeah, we can leverage that into maybe we can either double that, or, like you say, we can reduce the burden on some of those projects as well,” she said.  

“It all depends on how all three forces are working together.”

While the committee voted in favour of recommending option 4 ($190 million over 10 years), it will still need approval at a full meeting of Calgary city council. After that, it would ultimately need final approval through the upcoming four-year budget process.