Kourtney’s Statement Regarding Council Approving Housing Strategy

I am elated that Council passed Calgary’s Housing Strategy this Saturday, after three days of public hearings.
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I want this to give hope to Calgarians struggling with housing and affordability. No single one of the Housing Strategy actions is a complete solution; rather, the combined efforts of the intact strategy enables more housing to be built across the spectrum of affordability.

While the work we do as a city will not mitigate all the other external housing pressures, we are choosing to lead and taking action. We will not wait for the Provincial government. We will not wait for the Federal government. We will adjust our polices to enable more housing and that is the step we have taken because it is the right thing to do.

To the 160 Calgarians who spoke and the many more who wrote in support of this strategy; thank you. You have demonstrated that we are more about the Why than the Why Not, more about what we are For, not what we are Against.
 
- Kourtney
 
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Amendments made to the Housing Strategy include:  

• Leveraging City owned sites for emergency housing for families 
• Including incentives for downtown office conversions to support post-secondary residents 
• Investigating business licensing for residential landlords 
• Considering infrastructure investments for increased densities 
• Adding reporting considerations for planning application processes 

​What happens next?

• Implementation will begin for actions that do not require further budget or Council approval. 
• For actions that cite the budget, Council will consider these during the budget adjustments in  November 2023.  
• Actions that require land-use or bylaw changes will follow the regulated legislation process and will return to Council to a public hearing in the coming months.  
• Approved actions with budgets not yet determined will be presented in future year budget requests. 
• Administration will report to Community Development Committee annually on progress made against the strategy.  

Related information, resources:
If you are interested in listening to the public hearing, including committee questions, amendments, debate, and decisions related to the Housing Strategy, visit Community Development Committee - September 14, 2023 (escribemeetings.com) (Time to watch: ~35 hours).
~20 min: Land Acknowledgement and opening remarks from Committee Chair, Councillor Penner
~28 min: Comments from the City Manager
~30 min: Presentation from Administration
~42 min: The Public Hearing
~25 hour: questions of Administration, amendments, debate, and decision

You can view the agenda and recording of Special Meeting of Council - September 16, 2023 (escribemeetings.com)  where the Strategy was passed by council with amendments: 

The City of Calgary’s Housing Strategy
City of Calgary’s Housing Needs Assessment 
Kourtney's previous statements regarding the Housing and Affordability Recommendations