Last year was another great year for Calgary’s development and construction industry despite challenges such as skilled labour shortages, high material costs and limited availability of supplies and equipment, our city continued to grow and significant investments towards its future made. 

Our city’s growth is evident with 18,855 building permits issued in 2022 totalling $5.5 billion. Commercial multi-residential projects were up nine per cent from 2021. Building permits for single and semi-detached homes were down two per cent from 2021, but up 32 per cent from the five-year average, totalling 5,418 permits.

Trade, building and development inspection volumes also reflect the booming 2022 construction season in Calgary. A total of 204,844 inspections were completed in 2022, up 14 per cent from 179,447 in 2021.

To further support our city’s growth, several notable projects were completed in 2022. The City issued occupancy for major projects such Calgary Cancer Centre, a $868.3 million centre providing access to comprehensive cancer care services in a world-class facility. Additionally, The City issued occupancy for Mathison Hall, a $62.8 million addition to the Haskayne School of Business offering a new, exciting business education experience.

Additional occupancies, with construction values exceeding $25 million, include:

• Curtis Block, a 36-storey apartment building in Beltline - $165.3 million
• West Village Towers, 236 units in Downtown West End - $118.7 million
• Amazon Distribution centre, a 2.6-million square foot warehouse in East Shepard Industrial – $400 million
• Mixed-Use Highrise, 369 units in Beltline - $95.3 million
• One Tower Alberta, 379 rental units above commercial and retail space in Beltline - $91.6 million
•  MacKimmie Link & Block, a four-storey University of Calgary building - $78.5 million
•  Trico Communities Building 4 & 5, two residential apartment buildings with a combined 122 units - $68.2 million
• Calgary Student Residence, 348 units on Banff Trail - $61.2 million

More information on building permit application values is available by ward, and community, on calgary.ca. Data on building permit values is also available on the open data catalogue.

Homeowners in Calgary have a new financial tool to support energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades to their properties. The City of Calgary has launched the Clean Energy Improvement Program (CEIP), which will help with the up-front costs of a long list of eligible home improvements.

CEIP offers financing up to 100 per cent of project costs up to a maximum of $50,000 per property. Repayment is collected through the property tax bill. The City is offering competitive interest rates, long repayment terms (up to 20 years) and the option to repay in full at any time, penalty-free.

With the support of $15 million in funding from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, CEIP helps residential property owners act sooner to expand Calgary’s effort on climate action toward net-zero emissions by 2050. Programs like CEIP also support our local economy. Local contractors, who include energy efficiency and renewable energy in their services, are encouraged to apply to be listed as eligible to provide services for CEIP projects. The third-party administrator of the program, Alberta Municipalities, has successfully launched CEIP in nine municipalities around the province.

A significant portion of the buildings that will exist in Calgary in 2050 have already been built today, making it necessary to invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements as we move to a low-carbon future.

Learn more at Calgary.ca/CEIP.
 

The 22^nd annual Partnering with Industry Symposium (PWIS)  is Thursday, February  23 from 7:30 a.m. to noon at the Red and White Club.

Hosted in partnership with the Alberta Roadbuilders & Heavy Construction Association (ARHCA), this event brings together The City, public partners and local industry to share information on capital program budgets and projects, emerging trends, opportunities and challenges.

Registration closes February 16 so be sure to book your ticket! Register here.

Sign up for webinars we’re hosting in February. Attending live webinars allows you to receive up to date information, learn from the experts, ask questions and get answers in real time.

• Feb. 15: Developing a Safe and Legal Backyard Suite

You can also check out our growing library of recorded webinars on calgary.ca/webinar. Webinars are hosted through Microsoft Teams. Subtitles are available for Simplified Chinese, Hindi, Filipino, French, Spanish and Urdu.
 
Have you attended one of our webinars? Let us know how we did by completing our survey. This survey will take less than five minute to complete. Your feedback will help shape future webinars and all answers will be anonymous!

The City of Calgary will host the Circular Innovation Council’s latest food rescue and food waste diversion pilot program aimed at the institutional, commercial and industrial (ICI) sector. The pilot, slated to begin in early 2023 seeks to improve waste collection efficiency while creating an innovative solution for food waste that delivers social, environmental, as well as economic impacts.  

The pilot aims to improve the affordability of food waste collection, reduce disposal costs and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), and connect businesses to charitable agencies that can redistribute "rescued" fresh food that might otherwise be wasted.

Pioneered by the Circular Innovation Council, the first-of-its-kind collective initiative in Calgary targets the ICI sector-Canada’s largest generator of food waste.

The Circular Innovation Council will work with local collection and processing partners to help build the program, as well as private sector sponsors looking to support cost-effective food waste solutions and improved organics data collection.

Businesses and institutions generating food waste are also invited to participate in this unique co-operative cost-sharing and data-driven business model to reduce their carbon footprint.

This pilot expansion comes at a time when innovation in food waste reduction is more critical than ever.  In a 2019 waste composition study, food waste made up 43 per cent of garbage bin waste for the Accommodation and Food Services sub-sector In Calgary. There is a great opportunity before us to help redistribute fresh food to local charitable organizations and divert food waste from the landfill.

For more information about the pilot, click here. Businesses and organizations can find more information about City of Calgary programs here: Waste diversion for businesses and organizations (calgary.ca).