Operating Variance & Timeline
When we spend less than we budget for or have higher revenue, we have a favourable operating variance. We keep a close eye on this and report it to Council regularly. Council can use these funds to support Calgarians, businesses and the community.
Managing our finances
We manage money carefully and responsibly. We follow the rules in the Municipal Government Act, City Charter and Council Policy guidelines. We only budget what's needed to run City services.
2025 Q4 operating variance
As of year-end 2025 (fourth-quarter), the annual operating variance is estimated to be $259 million this year.
Q4 2025 favourable operating variance
The variance came from:
- Higher revenues, including:
- Strong investment returns, mainly from one‑time gains after adjusting The City’s investment portfolio and better‑than‑expected returns on public equity investments.
- Higher fines and penalties from taxation, which helped offset lower‑than‑expected returns from utilities and franchise fees.
- Lower than expected costs due to:
- Less corporate contingency requirements for unforeseen events
- Temporary savings from vacancies
- Timing of program implementation, including the One‑Window/Housing Access Program, where spending occurred later than planned.
- Favorable variances are partially offset by:
- Higher investments in additional transit services to support growing ridership, without a corresponding increase in revenue due to the number of Low-Income Transit Passes.
- Higher than anticipated 2025 general election costs, primarily driven by legislative changes, and higher than anticipated claims and insurance claims.
See the details in the Financial and Economic Update Third Quarter 2025.
Using the variance
The 2025 year-end variance are committed towards funding high priority operating and capital requests.
2025
2024
$276.3 million. Here’s where Council allocated these funds:
- $57 million to fund high-priority 2025 investments including:
- Housing
- Community Safety and Social Wellbeing
- Transit and Mobility
- $134 million to the Green Line Capital Fund
- $85.3 million was uncommitted and transferred to the Fiscal Stability Reserve.
2023
$236.4 million. Here’s where Council allocated these funds:
- $100 million to fund high-priority 2024 investments including:
- Affordable housing
- Public safety
- Transit - $137 million was uncommitted and transferred to the Fiscal Stability Reserve.
2022
$258.7 million. Here’s where Council allocated these funds:
- In November, $65 million to:
- maintain public transit fees at 2022 levels
- support Calgary’s Mental Health and Addiction Strategy
- increase funding for the Calgary Fire Department. - In April:
- $32 million as a one-time budget increase for Calgary Transit to offset pandemic impacts. - $161.7 million was uncommitted and transferred to the Fiscal Stability Reserve.
Timeline
Each year, we follow a process to notify Council and confirm our operating variance.
We use the funds to cover:
- emergency operational situations
- unplanned reductions in revenue
- urgent capital expenditures
- one-time operating budget expenditures
Investing for Calgarians
Council uses one-time funds from the operating variance to further support Calgarians, businesses and the community.
See our 2025 service investments