Blanket rezoning: what actually changed

What happened in May 2024

Most residential lots in Calgary were zoned R-C1: single-family only. If you wanted to add a basement suite, build a laneway home, or convert to a duplex, you needed a rezoning application. That meant a public hearing, neighbor notification, and months of process through Council or the Planning Commission.

On May 14, 2024, Council passed a city-wide Land Use Bylaw change. Every R-C1 lot became R-CG, which allows secondary suites, laneway homes, duplexes, rowhouses, and townhouses as-of-right. No more individual rezoning applications. Just pull a building permit.

On March 23, 2026, Council holds a public hearing on whether to repeal that change. Before that debate, here's what the building permit data actually shows.

The big picture

I pulled every new construction permit from the City of Calgary's open data, split into two equal 18-month periods: before (November 2022 through April 2024) and after (May 2024 through October 2025).

Secondary suites went from 39.3 to 74.9 per month (+91%). ADUs from 7.9 to 15.5 per month (+96%). Single family from 385.4 to 422.3 per month (+10%).

Nobody stopped building single-family homes. Apartment permits are down, but that's project timing: a single tower permit can swing a whole month.

The signal: established neighborhoods

The city-wide numbers mix two very different things: established neighborhoods where blanket rezoning actually changed what you could build, and new suburbs where developers had already planned density regardless of the policy.

Strip out the new developments and look only at pre-2000 and inner-city neighborhoods. This is where R-C1 lots became R-CG, where the policy friction was actually removed. The chart below tracks density permits (secondary suites, laneway homes [ADUs], duplexes, and townhouses), the housing types that blanket rezoning made easier to build.

Density permits in established neighborhoods went from roughly 52 per month to around 90; the dashed lines show the period averages. The trend is gradual, not a cliff, but the level shift after May 2024 is clear.

The context: total construction

Now zoom out to all density construction across the city: established neighborhoods and new suburbs combined. The top band appearing after May 2024 is the estimated blanket rezoning effect: established neighborhood permits above their pre-rezoning baseline.

The established-neighborhood increase is real, but look at the proportion. Most density construction happens in developing areas regardless of zoning policy, driven by developer project timelines, not Council votes. That April 2024 spike? Close to half of it is Wolf Willow: 52 duplex permits that month, against 2 in March and 2 in May.

The honest read: blanket rezoning added roughly 38 extra density permits per month in established neighborhoods, about 14% of total density construction. That's roughly 680 additional density permits over 18 months. Whether that's worth the political fight is the question Council will take up on March 23.

Where it's happening

The map below shows established neighborhoods shaded by how many density permits they gained after blanket rezoning. Stronger shading means more new permits. Developing areas and communities with no increase are shown in gray. Hover for details, or see full community profiles.

What comes next

March 23, 2026: public hearing on blanket rezoning repeal. Separately, $129 million in federal Housing Accelerator Fund installments are paused pending rezoning clarity, with the ~$64 million third installment due by March 31. CMHC has warned that repealing blanket rezoning without an alternative strategy could jeopardize the remaining funds.

Meanwhile, 20,859 people moved to Calgary from other provinces in 2024 alone. The baseline is now set. Whatever Council decides, we'll track what happens to these numbers after the vote.