Annual Operating Variance & Timeline

Annual 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.

Timeline

Each year, we follow a process to notify Council and confirm our operating variance.

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March, June and September

Start Date | End Date

Our quarterly progress reports contain an estimate of the operating variance for the current year.

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November

Start Date | End Date

We share an updated estimate of the annual operating variance with Council during budget discussions. They use this information to decide if these funds should be used for one-time initiatives in next year’s budget.

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Following April (Click to see what the funds are used to cover)

Start Date | End Date

We release the Annual Financial Report which contains the confirmed operating variance. Any unused funds are transferred to our Fiscal Stability Reserve.

View Annual Financial Report

 We use the funds to cover:

  • emergency operational situations 
  • unplanned reductions in revenue 
  • urgent capital expenditures 
  • one-time operating budget expenditures 

2024 annual operating variance

The 2024 favourable operating variance is $276.3 million. This is 4.9 per cent of our total planned operating spend (after recoveries).

Detailed description

2024 year end favourable operating variance($ Million)

Investment income - $107.2M

Other corporate - $7.1M

Corporate provisions - $64.9M

Cost of employee benefits - $9.7M

Other corporate impact - $7.2M

Planing and Development Service - $61.1M

Other department - $19.1M

The variance came from:

  • Higher-than-expected revenue, including investment income.
  • Lower costs including lower employee benefit expenses.
  • The Downtown Conversion and Secondary Suite Initiatives now being funded federally by the Housing Accelerator Fund.
  • Other savings in departments like salaries or unfilled positions.

See the details in the Financial and Economic Update 2024 Year-End and 2025 Q1 Report.

Using the variance

Council decides what to do with these additional funds to support Calgarians. Here’s what this year’s variance will go towards:

* Uncommitted funds haven’t been allocated to a project or initiative. They will be 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.

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
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