For years, Calgary public hearings have long drawn complaints of inadequate public engagement, despite the city or developers soliciting various levels of stakeholder input.

Now there’s insight into why.

Councillors reviewed a third-party report from KPMG last week, during the May 6 Executive Committee meeting, and it showed that while Calgary has a “gold standard” public engagement policy, there’s little accountability in ensuring it’s carried out.

The independent review of Calgary’s public engagement was sought by the last Calgary city council in response to lagging trust indicators and frequent complaints by citizens that they didn’t have an opportunity to engage.

It followed an internal audit of public engagement around Local Area Plans, a review that former councillor Sonya Sharp said was underwhelming.

The KPMG report highlighted that the City of Calgary’s policies and operational tools are aligned with leading engagement practices.

The gap, the report found, was between the policy and the practice.

“The City’s engagement practices are frequently misaligned with its well-regarded policies and procedures, limiting its ability to convert its leading resources into leading results such as higher trust levels.

“There is a pronounced need for stronger oversight of engagement, leading to alignment of practice with policy and accountability for its results.”

In the case studies and interested party engagement conducted, the review found that the City of Calgary needed to define clear and specific decisions being made by citizens right from the start. It also needs to be clear the level of influence the public can have on a decision, and that the engagement tactics help achieve both.

What the report found was that engagement wasn’t overseen by any specific group or individual, and that the Engage Resource Unit (ERU) functions like an internal consultancy, providing service “on demand” to clients, with clients maintaining decision-making authority.

The result, according to the report, is a lack of adherence to making sure policies are followed.

“There is limited oversight and accountability for carrying out engagement in accordance with policy, and for achieving the desired results of good engagement,” the report reads.

The report recommends structural changes that include turning the ERU into a body that oversees engagement, ensuring business units comply with city policy. They also want more stringent approval processes for engagement assessments and follow-ups.

Clear and specific decisions should be outlined from the start, according to the review, and relationships with interested parties should be strengthened.

Having an honest conversation is important: Mayor Farkas

Ward 4 Coun. DJ Kelly, who has a background in public engagement, and also on the side of the citizens in his work at the Winston Heights Community Association, said that when he was out door-knocking in the 2025 campaign, he heard a lot of Calgarians say that they felt the City of Calgary didn’t listen to them.

“It is because we have a fantastic policy, but we don’t have the appropriate internal management tactics in place in order to be able to enable that policy,” he said.

Kelly used the example of budget public engagement being undertaken by that service delivery unit, instead of the unit that has expertise in public engagement.

“Right now, the way that we have it structured, those decisions are being made by subject matter experts, whose expertise is in roads or in playgrounds or in parks, not subject matter expertise in engagement,” he said.

Mayor Jeromy Farkas said that engagement can be difficult because you could go out and ask 1,000 people about a topic and get 1,000 answers. He believes the key is in a clear and open dialogue.

“I say a big part of how we can improve is just level setting the conversation going in it, honestly, with Calgarians in terms of what input we’re looking for and what stage of the process we’re at,” he said.

He said a rebound in trust and confidence numbers from the Calgary spring survey shows they’re headed in the right direction.

“For us to continue to increase those numbers of on trust is going to really hinge on all of us as elected officials doing the work to engage the community earlier and showing them how that feedback is being reflected in the decisions that we’re making,” Mayor Farkas said.

The Executive Committee recommended council approve the report for the corporate record. No specific adoption of the recommendations was noted.