The City of Calgary’s 2023-2026 Service Plans and Budgets have largely supported economic growth across all sectors and sizes of business. With noticeable improvements and key investments moving forward across the city – including the recent announcement of three new hotels with Calgary’s Culture and Entertainment District, the recovery in LRT ridership and a moderate improvement in crime rates in the downtown area – it’s apparent the City’s budgetary planning is yielding positive results. Moreover, City Council’s commitment to shifting the non-residential to residential tax split by one percent annually between 2024 and 2027 continues to support businesses by providing much-needed cost pressure relief.
However, data released as part of the Q3 2025 Canadian Survey on Business Conditions shows business optimism in Calgary has declined significantly, dropping 10 per cent year-over-year. Businesses are being challenged: costs continue to rise, and while inflation may be cooling, businesses remain concerned about the future. Persistent labour shortages and disruptions continue to limit business growth and dissuade investment across sectors – and issues like the recent postal strike disproportionately affected smaller businesses. Stemming from these challenges, 61 per cent of small businesses in Calgary anticipate cost-related obstacles to growth in the next quarter, and at the same time 28 per cent expect a decrease in profitability.
Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, making up more than 95 per cent of businesses in the Calgary area – and there are specific, targeted measures the City can take to support their continued growth and success across the city.
For this mid-cycle adjustment, we are calling on the City to prioritize competitiveness, safety, vibrancy and connectivity, ensuring Calgary is the best place to start and scale a business. With Calgary’s continually growing population, we are also calling on the City to make investments that will support Calgarians for years to come.
We would encourage City Council to make the following adjustments:
- Rebalance property taxes, shifting 2 per cent from non-residential properties to residential properties. The City of Calgary should continue this shift 2 per cent per year until 2027, reaching a 60-40 split between residential and non-residential account holders.
- Support investing an additional $3.3 million to expand the Day Space network from 2 to 5 locations, city-wide.
- Support Administration’s work on the Notice of Motion passed September 16, 2025, to explore a new bylaw to address open-air drug use and fund new Police and Peace Officers to enforce the new bylaw provision.
- Allocate permanent funding of $2.7 million to sustain and expand the Community Court program.
- Deliver $1 million in new incentives and grants to support local businesses and Business Improvement Areas, while advancing strategies that optimize private security spending, unlocking resources for reinvestment in enhanced cleaning and safety initiatives.
- Expanded funding to support infrastructure that keeps pace with population growth.
We are encouraged to see the following investments and would like to see them continue and stabilize:
- One time funding of $25 million for the Low-Income Transit Pass Program, this funding should be stabilized to provide long term certainty for users.
- Continued investments in various housing initiatives, including affordable housing and conversion programs.
- On-going operating funding of $14 million for increasing transit frequency on key routes.
- $1.1 billion in investments to upgrade water and wastewater infrastructure.
- Continued and expanded investment in policing and public safety.
Through engagement with our diverse membership, representing more than 400,000 employees across sectors and sizes of firm, we have also identified priority recommendations for the next phase of the Service Plans and Budgets that would support businesses in the coming years. Based on this input, we encourage City Council and City Administration to consider the recommendations included the appendix below – these recommendations mirror the election platform we released in Fall 2025, Business Matters: A vision for a thriving, inclusive Calgary.
