Highlights from the first quarter 2025

The City's Quarterly Report Highlights from the first quarter 2025

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The first quarter of 2025 has been a time of momentum, innovation, and continued commitment to delivering on Calgary’s priorities. From infrastructure advancements to public safety enhancements, we have made meaningful strides to ensure our city remains a vibrant, sustainable, and inclusive place to live.

Progress update

The below sections provide highlights to key performance measures and indicators for our priority areas: housing, community safety and social wellbeing, transit and mobility, and infrastructure and maintenance. These priority areas are what matters most to Calgarians, identified through the Fall and Spring Survey of Calgarians.

Key Performance Measures

Performance measures track the progress and results of the initiatives, programs, and services that matter most to Calgarians. They serve as key indicators of how efficiently and effectively services are being delivered, and whether the intended outcomes are being achieved. 

  

City services

At The City of Calgary, we aim to create a city where everyone participates in a strong, diverse economy. We strive to continue improving our service delivery, ensure our spending delivers clear value for Calgary and build trust by being transparent and accountable in our actions.

Q1 highlights:

See full data - City services

Key Performance Measures   2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Q1 2025   Target   Explanation
Business license applications that have been submitted and completed online - Ease of Service (%)   - - - 70% 63% 70%   80% by end of 2026   In Q1 2025, 70% of business license applications were done online, a 7% improvement compared to 2024.
     
% total debt to Council debt limit   47% 48% 41% 40% 40% -   46% for 2025  
Our total debt to Council debt limit is forecasted at 46% for 2025. This means we are using less than half of the available borrowing capacity, showing that we manage money responsibly. 
     
The City of Calgary credit rating Based on Standard & Poor’s (S&P) rating   AA+ AA+ AA+ AA+ AA+ -   AA+ for 2025     
We maintained high credit ratings over the last 10+ years. High ratings show our commitment to long-term financial sustainability. 
     
Financial stability ratio (fiscal stability reserve %)   10.4% 14.8% 12.8% 10.2% 12.6% 11.3%   10.2% for 2025  
In Q1 2025, our financial stability ratio was 11.3%, we aim to keep it at 15%. Our Fiscal Stability Reserve fund must maintain a minimum balance of 5% of The City’s operating, tax-supported gross expenses (net of recoveries). 
     
311 Telephone Service Factor (% of calls answered in 60 seconds or less)   - - - 36% 56% 95%   80% by end of 2026  
In Q1 2025, 95% of all 311 calls were answered in 60 seconds or less. We have hired additional on-call staff to address unplanned events. We also upgraded our app and messaging system to improve customer service.
     
Trust in The City of Calgary   53% 50% 48% 47% 40% 52%   N/A  
In the 2025 Spring Survey of Calgarians, 52% of respondents reported they trust The City, reflecting a notable increase in public confidence since fall 2024.
     
% of Calgarians satisfied with overall City services   72% 71% 69% 68% 63% 61%   N/A  
The 2025 Spring Survey of Calgarians reported that 61% of Calgarians are satisfied with the overall quality and level of services and programs, on par with the 2024 Fall Survey.
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Housing

Through “Home is Here”: The City of Calgary’s Housing Strategy 2024-2030, we aspire to ensure that all Calgarians have an affordable place to call home.

Q1 highlights:

See full data - Housing

Key Performance Measures   2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Q1 2025   Target   Explanation
Number of New Market Homes with Development Permit Approval   - - 13,900 14,300 22,500 5,397   N/A   As of Q1 2025, 5,397 new market housing units received development permit approvals. In 2024, we approved development permits for 22,500 market units, a 57% increase in unit approvals from 2023. Notably in 2024, we saw an 81% year-over-year increase in development permit applications for new low-density housing in established areas. 
                       
Number of New Non-Market Homes with Development Permit Approval   - - 185 94 893 237   3,000 per year   As of Q1 2025, 237 non-market housing units reached the development permit approval stage, continuing an upward trend. In 2024, 893 non-market units reached the development permit stage reflecting strong growth in Calgary’s affordable housing supply, an 850% increase from 2023. 
                       
Total new housing units granted occupancy   12,364 11,094 14,261 16,302 21,542 7,965   N/A   A record 7,965 residential units were granted occupancy in Q1 2025 - an 85% increase from the same time in 2024. We’re helping to speed up occupancy by conducting inspection bookings within two days.
                       
New housing units completed in Calgary’s Downtown through the conversion of office properties   - - - - 112 199   1,500 by end of 2026   We are progressing towards our target of 1,500 homes by 2026 with completions of eleven multi-year office to home conversion projects. The Eau Claire Place 1 conversion was completed in Q1 2025 with 199 units. A total of 680 homes are expected to be completed in 2025. Learn more in the State of Downtown Calgary report. 
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Community safety & social wellbeing

Safety begins with the wellbeing of all Calgarians. We work with community partners to foster a healthy and vibrant city where everyone feels safe, connected, supported, and that they belong.

Q1 highlights:

See full data - Community safety & social wellbeing

Key Performance Measures   2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Q1 2025   Target   Explanation
Initial 9-1-1 calls answered within 15 seconds   97% 98% 96% 95% 95% 97%   95% annually   In Q1 2025, 97% of 911 calls were answered within 15 seconds, improving from 95% in 2024.  To improve emergency call-answering times and ensure Calgarians receive timely assistance, we continue to recruit and train emergency communications officers. Additionally, we are raising public awareness on social media and at community events about the best number to call (i.e., 9-1-1, 2-1-1, or Police non-emergency) depending on the situation.
% of responses to serious and escalating fires (where two engines, one aerial unit, and a minimum of 12 fire fighters arrived) within 11 minutes   66% 70% 63.8% 70.1% 70.9% 72.9%   74.4% by end of 2026  
In Q1 2025, 72.9% of the time fire crews arrived within 11 minutes to serious and escalating fires, improving from 70.9% in 2024. We’re planning to increase staffing on aerial units in 2025 and 2026 to support response time improvement while assessing demands of new community growth on performance. 
Number of responses to encampment sites   - 4,500 - 11,065 10,148 1,212   5,600 per year by 2026  
In Q1 2025, we responded to 1,212 encampment sites.  Response numbers for the first quarter in 2025 reflect a typical decrease in encampments during the coldest months of the year. Response numbers to encampment sites in 2024 declined approximately 8% compared to 2023, although the need for support from the Vulnerable Persons Team remains high. 
Number of applications processed for ​the Fair Entry program   38,808 36,833 47,167 61,841 74,980 13,364   N/A  
In Q1 2025, 13,364 applications were processed for the Fair Entry program. Growing population combined with affordability challenges continue to drive high demand for Fair Entry. Q1 2025 application numbers indicate we will meet or surpass record 2024 totals (74,980) by the end of this year.
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Transit & mobility

Calgary Transit is a convenient and affordable way to connect to home, people, and places with more connections, seamless transfers, faster travel, easy access, and less waiting.

Mobility maintains, rehabilitates, and reconstructs the city’s roadways and bridges, and manages traffic and parking infrastructure.

Q1 highlights:

See full data - Transit & mobility

Key Performance Measures   2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Q1 2025   Target   Explanation
Number of Km of road repaved   385 350 300 265 400 -   500 Km for 2025   We rehabilitated 400 kms of roadways in 2024, and an additional 500 kms are planned for 2025 in 320 locations.
Total number of transit trips (Calgary Transit ridership) (millions)   50.9 31.3 56.9 90 101.1 8.1   N/A  
Calgary Transit ridership is growing, showing a 12% increase in 2024 (101.1 million trips) compared to 2023 (90 million trips).  Contributing factors include service improvements in Northeast Calgary and additional off-peak services during evenings and weekends.
Trips that arrive within a specified period (%), (i.e. bus on-time performance)   90% 90% 88% 85% 84% 87%  
90% annually by end of 2026		  
In Q1 2025, 87% of transit trips arrived on time. During periods of heavy snowfall, we deploy route detours to keep buses moving.
Customer safety rating rate on Transit   86% 71% 65% 71% 74% 73%   88% annually by end of 2026  
In Q1 2025, 73% of customers reported feeling safe while using our services (compared to a 65% low in 2022). This improvement reflects proactive efforts including a 30% increase in uniformed personnel.
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Infrastructure & maintenance

We are committed to strategically investing in the design, delivery, and maintenance of infrastructure to provide Calgarians with essential services while enhancing the resilience and vibrancy of our communities and furthering our position and reputation as one of the most livable cities in the world.

Q1 highlights:

See full data - Infrastructure & maintenance

Key Performance Measures   2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Q1 2025   Target   Explanation
Facility Management Assets in Poor & Very Poor Condition (%)   8% 16% 16% 16% 13% -   < 17% annually   Our proactive assessment and maintenance programs enable improvements in our facilities, with the most recent data showing those in ‘poor and very poor’ condition decreasing from 16% in 2023 to 13% in 2024.
Properties impacted by water outages per 1,000 properties   36 32 26 41 29 11   33 annually by end of 2026  
The rate of water service interruptions per 1,000 properties saw a substantial decrease from 41% in 2023 to 29% in 2024, aligning with typical annual trends and our service target.
Snow and ice control completion on priority 1 & 2 routes within targeted timeframes (%)   100% 95% 94% 98% 100% 100%   95% annually by end of 2026    
In Q1 2025, 100% of Priority 1 and 2 route clearing targets were met. We have updated the snow and ice clearing policy to ensure effective planning and equitable service delivery.
Snow and ice control completion on pedestrian infrastructure within targeted timeframes (%)​   - - - 74% 75% 100%   N/A  
In Q1 2025, 100% of pedestrian infrastructure snow and ice clearing targets were met.
Kilometres of concrete sidewalk repairs completed   31 30 34 40 38 -    N/A  
Approximately 38 km of sidewalks were repaired in 2024. We are committed to pedestrian mobility and have allocated an additional $20 million to repair concrete sidewalks prioritized through 311 service requests and staff inspections.
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View the reports

Previous reports can be found below. Reports older than 2020 can be found in Council meeting records.

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