New Calgary Downtown Association (CDA) executive director Sheila Taylor began her first day on the job Monday, ready to continue the core’s evolution.
Taylor, the former longtime executive director of Parks Foundation Calgary and former Calgary Board of Education school board trustee, was named to the position by the CDA’s board of directors, effective July 13.
The CDA represents more than 2,600 businesses and property owners in the core area. Taylor replaces former executive director Mark Garner, who left late last year. Andrew Doudican had been acting in an interim role in the meantime.
The opportunity to help move Calgary’s downtown forward was one that Taylor said she couldn’t pass up.
“Downtown is so important in Calgary. For visitors who come to our city, it’s often their entry point,” she told LiveWire Calgary in an interview conducted from a bench on Stephen Avenue.
“We want to make sure our downtown is putting our best foot forward as a city. We want to make sure that we have a vibrant, welcoming, and safe downtown for the people that visit, but also for the businesses that are trying to operate and be successful here in the downtown.”
Taylor said that she wants to continue a lot of the work that CDA had been doing, particularly around improving public spaces and activating those spaces. She also wants to make sure that they’re moving forward on issues that matter to downtown businesses.
“For me, it’s just ensuring we have a lot of clarity on what the priorities are, and from that, it’ll be so important to engage with the members,” she said.
On downtown safety and the free fare zone
Two of the biggest current issues in the downtown are public safety and, more recently, the debate over the free fare zone.
Taylor said that safety is critical to all of the other work that they want to do in the downtown.
“A safe downtown is fundamental for everyone, whether your person visiting or your business that’s trying to be successful. Safety is critical,” she said.
“I know that the members of the CDA often raise safety as a big concern, so I think it’ll be really important to work with all levels of government, with CPS, with social agencies, and of course with businesses, to bring solutions forward because safety is so fundamental.”
Some Calgary councillors have suggested that cutting the downtown Calgary free fare zone along 7 Avenue might aid in dealing with some of the downtown social disorder. A June 2026 analysis by LWC of publicly available data showed that the absence of a fare didn’t correspond with a reduction in social disorder calls.
Taylor said they’ve heard loud and clear that the free fare zone is important to downtown businesses. She said it was good to see that Calgary city council decided to hold off on a decision until 2027.
“It’ll be good to work with the city to understand what the long-term strategy is for that, because we would like to see the free fare zone maintained. It helps people travel to downtown, maintains accessibility within the downtown and out, and it’s good for business.”
Taylor said she’d be drawing upon her experience with Parks Foundation Calgary to help build some of the relationships she thinks are vital to moving the downtown forward. She hopes to take the data-driven decision-making from the prior leadership and blend it with a focus on bridge-building.
In the coming days, she’ll be hard at work meeting with as many downtown stakeholders as possible.
“It’s about helping prepare the downtown and be ready for that growth in a way that supports ensuring downtown is a neighbourhood where people want to live, a place where businesses can flourish, and equipping us for that growth,” she said.
CDA Board of Directors chair Tyler Varga said they were thrilled to welcome Taylor to the organization.
“Sheila combines proven executive leadership with a deep understanding of Calgary and an ability to bring people together around a shared vision,” Varga said.
“We’re excited for the next chapter of the Calgary Downtown Association under her leadership.”
