2025 MUNICIPAL ELECTION PLATFORM
Ahead of this October’s Municipal Election, the Calgary Construction Association is proud to release our Civic Policy Platform. Titled, Calgary: Built to Respond, Designed to Last. The following platform highlights challenges and opportunities for municipal policymakers as they contemplate the role Calgary’s construction industry has in building a better Calgary.
Formed in 1944, the Calgary Construction Association (CCA) is a professional association of over 850 member companies throughout the Calgary region. Through our partnerships with the residential and commercial construction industry, we represent over 100,000 Calgarians employed in the industry and their families. As an advocate for the construction industry, our mission is to help our members thrive now and into the future.
Construction in Calgary and Alberta
Construction plays a significant role in both Calgary and Alberta’s economy. According to the City of Calgary, construction contributed about 8.9 percent of the City’s total GDP in 2024 –a figure that excludes manufacturing, logistics, offices role, and more. According to the Government of Alberta, construction contributed over $27 billion to the Alberta economy in 2024 and represented over $52.3 billion of investment.
In 2024, Calgary saw a record 20,165 new housing starts, the highest on record, which was driven by population growth and strong housing demand. In 2024, energy project spending and investment in energy-related construction projects in the region totaled $8.7 billion, driven by oil and gas expansion and renewable energy initiatives.
Through our own estimates, we can confidently project over $15 billion in construction work arriving over the next three to five years—work that for the first time is decoupled from the volatility of Calgary’s traditional commodity driven boom-and-bust cycles. This sustained pipeline of projects provides an unparalleled chance to strengthen the city’s construction ecosystem, but only if we act now to align policy, workforce, and economic development efforts. With long-term stability comes the urgent need to address skilled labour shortages, streamline permitting processes, and ensure that public policy supports the industry’s capacity to deliver.
The impacts are far-reaching: a steady flow of work will allow firms to retain and train workers, apprentices to complete their programs without interruption, and new talent to see Calgary as a secure destination for their careers. To fully capture this opportunity, municipal, provincial, and federal partners—alongside Calgary Economic Development—must work together to ensure our industry is equipped to meet demand. This is about more than construction; it is about securing Calgary’s economic future and improving quality of life for all Calgarians. Sustained investment and steady construction activity will be critical to ensuring our city can keep pace with the needs of a rapidly growing population.
Meeting Calgary’s Growth Needs
Between January 2020 and January 2025, Calgary’s population grew from approximately 1.31 million to 1.56 million residents an increase of more than 250,000 people in just five years. This surge represents one of the fastest growth periods in our city’s history and underscores both the opportunities and challenges ahead.
For Calgary’s construction industry, this rapid population growth brings a dual responsibility: to build the homes, infrastructure, and community spaces needed to support a larger population, and to do so in a way that is sustainable, efficient, and aligned with the city’s long-term planning goals. Demand for housing, transit, schools, and utilities is intensifying, while labour and material constraints remain a pressing concern.
The Calgary Construction Association continues to emphasize that population growth is not just a demographic trend—it is a call to action. Our industry is central to ensuring that Calgary remains a livable, affordable, and competitive city. Meeting these needs will require coordinated investment, innovation, and collaboration between industry, government, and community stakeholders.
Calgary’s Growing Infrastructure Deficit
Calgary is facing a municipal infrastructure deficit of more than $7 billion gap that reflects years of underinvestment in the roads, pipes, transit, and community spaces that keep our city running. As Calgary grows at unprecedented rates, this deficit means our infrastructure is already struggling to keep up, never mind grow. Without steady investment, everyday systems that people count on—from clean water to reliable transportation—risk falling behind, making it harder for Calgary to deliver the quality of life its residents expect.
Why It Matters for Calgarians
The impacts of this shortfall are felt directly by Calgarians. The watermain crisis of 2024 was a stark reminder of how quickly things can go wrong when infrastructure fails. One catastrophic failure disrupted entire neighbourhoods, businesses, and families across the city. Beyond emergencies, the deficit also shows up in slower commutes, fewer recreation amenities, and greater strain on basic services. Left unchecked, it threatens Calgary’s ability to remain a city where people want to live, work, and raise their families.
Industry Ready to Help
The good news is Calgary’s construction industry is ready to step up. We have the experienced people, skills, and capacity to deliver the critical projects our city needs—whether that’s upgrading water systems, expanding transit, or building new community facilities. What’s needed now is a clear commitment to sustained investment and a willingness to work together across government and industry. By closing the infrastructure gap, we can not only prevent future crises but also build a stronger, more resilient city that supports the well-being of every Calgarian.
PRIORITY #1: EXPANDING OUR WORKFORCE
Addressing the Skilled Labour Shortage
Calgary continues to experience severe labour shortages in construction and construction management roles. According to Statistics Canada, in the third quarter of 2024, the Calgary Economic Region reported 5,890 job vacancies across key trades and construction-related management roles, from a total of 26,345 total vacancies in the region. The proportion of construction and trade roles within the total job vacancies remained steady at 22 percent of all total vacancies.
Provincially, Alberta’s construction industry is facing an increasingly critical workforce gap, with over 40,000 skilled workers needed by 2030 due to retirements and industry growth. Without action, the province risks delays and rising costs for critical infrastructure projects.
The role of the City in addressing the skilled labour challenge
While the responsibility for skilled trades development has traditionally rested with the Province and Federal Government, we believe there is an important role for the City of Calgary—through Calgary Economic Development (CED)—in supporting efforts to attract and retain these workers. As the city’s economic agency, CED already plays a key role in talent attraction and workforce development across a range of sectors. Expanding this focus to include the skilled trades would strengthen Calgary’s ability to meet the labour needs of its construction and infrastructure sectors, ensuring that economic growth is matched with the workforce required to sustain it. By leveraging its talent attraction mandate, CED can complement provincial and federal programs, promote Calgary as a destination of choice for skilled workers, and help ensure the city remains competitive in securing the talent needed to build its future.
PRIORITY #2: ADDRESSING THE MUNICIPAL INFRASTRUCTURE DEFICIT
The consequences of continued deferral related to the infrastructure deficit and growth are being felt across our city. From roads and bridges to water and sewer lines, these are the core systems that make life in Calgary possible. Yet year after year, critical maintenance and renewal projects have been pushed back in favour of other priorities. The 2024 watermain crisis was the canary in a coal-mine: when scheduled maintenance was cancelled or deferred, the system failed, and Calgarians paid the price through disruptions to daily life, costly emergency repairs, and diminished confidence in the city’s ability to manage essential infrastructure.
Why Council Must Act
Addressing this deficit may not be glamorous work, but it is absolutely essential. Municipal infrastructure is the foundation on which everything else is built. While major new projects or public-facing investments often draw attention, the unglamorous work of maintaining watermains, roads, and utilities is what truly keeps a city functioning. The lesson is clear: deferring investment only compounds the costs and risks down the road to future generations. Calgary cannot afford another crisis that threatens public safety, disrupts businesses, and erodes quality of life. That is why we are calling directly on City Council to commit meaningful resources in planning and addressing this deficit—not just in words, but in dollars; decoupled from election cycles.
A Clear Path Forward
The City has the financial capacity to make progress. Surpluses, windfall revenues, and prudent fiscal management should be directed toward closing the infrastructure gap. This is a chance for Council to show leadership by putting resources where they are most needed and most impactful. By investing today, we can avoid larger failures tomorrow, strengthen public trust, and create the stable foundation required for Calgary’s growth. It may not be “sexy,” but it is critical—and it is time to treat municipal infrastructure with the seriousness it deserves.
PRIORITY #3: PLACEMAKING AND CITY BUILDING
Calgary has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape the spaces where people live, work, and play. With an estimated $15–20 billion in major projects moving forward over the next five years, the stage is set for our city to grow in ways that will define it for decades. But this opportunity requires steady stewardship. In the past, political risk has too often led to decision paralysis, hesitation, or outright cancellation of projects—as was the case with the original event centre. These setbacks erode public confidence, create uncertainty for industry, and delay the economic and social benefits that such projects bring.
The Need for Stewards, Not Roadblocks
Now more than ever, Calgary needs City Council to act as stewards who shepherd projects to completion, not as roadblocks that stall or derail progress. To be successful, Calgary requires leadership that sticks to key priorities and the bigger picture. The $15 billion in planned investment represents housing, transit, entertainment, and community-scale projects that are critical to Calgary’s continued growth and prosperity. Delivering these projects is not just about bricks and mortar—it is about building the public and private spaces that attract new residents, support businesses, and create the vibrant communities that make Calgary competitive on the national and global stage.
Building for Livability
City Council must also recognize its direct role in approving and advancing the recreation, cultural, and livability projects that enhance everyday life for Calgarians. Recreation facilities, libraries, and community amenities may not generate headlines in the same way as megaprojects, but they are essential to the social fabric of the city. These are the spaces where families gather, youth develop skills, and communities thrive. To truly build a city where people want to live, work, and play, Council must prioritize and deliver both the headline-making projects and the community-focused investments that sustain our quality of life. Calgary’s growth depends on it.
