The housing construction boom in Calgary shows no signs of slowing. Read More
Construction has started on 6,271 units in Calgary since Jan. 1
Construction has started on 6,271 units in Calgary since Jan. 1
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The housing construction boom in Calgary shows no signs of slowing.
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Calgary’s housing starts rose by 16 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared to last year, according to new figures from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC). The data reveals construction has started on 6,271 units in Calgary since Jan. 1, compared to 5,385 in the same time frame in 2024.
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That’s in stark contrast to a 12.5 per cent decrease in housing starts Canada-wide in centres with a population of 10,000 or more.
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And there have been 7,965 new homes deemed ready for occupancy since Jan. 1, which a city official claimed Thursday is more than double the number of homes made move-in-ready during the first quarter of 2024.
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Calgary’s housing strategy paying off say city officials
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The city’s new chief housing officer, Reid Hendry, said the numbers reflect that Calgary’s housing strategy, which council approved in the fall of 2013, is bearing fruit. He added the nearly 8,000 new homes coming online will house approximately 21,000 people.
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“Calgary has implemented a lot of meaningful changes to our policies and our standards that we’re now seeing the benefit of 12 to 18 months after the fact, of those being implemented through the Home is Here strategy,” Hendry said at a media availability at city hall on Thursday.
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“And I think what we’re seeing in the numbers is businesses responding to that and choosing to allocate their capital here, to invest here and build homes here.”
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The city’s housing strategy included nearly 100 recommendations to boost the supply of both market and below-market housing Calgary.
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The strategy came in response to a worsening crisis that saw one in five households struggle to afford their shelter – a key finding of the city’s 2023 housing needs assessment.
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“Whether it’s upzoning for housing, whether it’s non-market land sales, whether it’s downtown-to-office to residential conversions, we have a variety of programs that each on their own are not going to make the change, but . . . they all act in concert to see the result in the numbers we’ve seen today,” Hendry said.
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Hendry argued that Calgary is setting the pace nationally for housing development, compared to Canada’s other large cities.
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The CMHC’s figures indicated Toronto’s housing starts are down 58 per cent year-over-year, at 5,072, while Vancouver’s are down 37 per cent, at 4,834.
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Montreal’s housing starts are up 89 per cent, though the city’s total number of housing starts last quarter still falls nearly 1,000 below Calgary’s.