Calgary’s Metropolitan Region's Growth Plan

Calgary uses many strategies to direct how we grow.

Within our city boundaries, our Municipal Development Plan and Calgary Transportation Plan form an integrated land use and mobility plan that guides our current decision-making.

Regionally, we work collaboratively with our municipal neighbours to support the long-term social, environmental and economic wellbeing of the Calgary Metropolitan Region. This work is led by the Provincially-mandated Calgary Metropolitan Region Board (CMRB), which is comprised of elected officials from each of the Region’s 8 member municipalities: City of Airdrie, City of Calgary, City of Chestermere, Town of Cochrane, Foothills County, Town of High River, Town of Okotoks, and Rocky View County.

The CMRB’s Growth Plan, a new strategy for sustainable growth for the Calgary Metropolitan Region, has been approved by The Government of Alberta and comes into effect on August 15, 2022. Together, the Growth and Servicing Plans’ policies and direction will equip us as a region to collaborate and work together, making better and more coordinated decisions about servicing, mobility options and stewardship of our water and other environmental resources.

The Growth and Servicing Plans set a new path forward to manage growth in the Calgary Metropolitan Region differently than we have in the past:

• Supporting compact and contiguous growth with a focus on transit-oriented development at the regional scale;
• Reinforcing the role of core urban areas as economic, cultural and social centres;
• Making efficient and cost-effective use of existing and planned infrastructure;
• Recognizing the Calgary Metropolitan Region is water-constrained, and that growth must be managed accordingly; and,
• Supporting growth in rural municipalities, while also conserving agricultural land and resources.

Through higher density, more redevelopment, shared servicing and collaboratively planning for transit-ready development along future transit corridors, we can reduce land consumption, save money and realize the benefits of regional planning. And by working together, we can create complete communities with more choices for our residents to live, work, move and gather. 

Collaborating and coordinating with our regional neighbours allows us to build a more socially, economically and environmentally sustainable region. By coordinating and collaborating regionally, we can:

• Use tax dollars more efficiently.
• Better coordinate services such as public transit, recreation facilities, water and wastewater.
• Collaborate on major infrastructure projects such as roads.
• Reduce our impacts on the environment – reducing emissions, land consumption, impervious cover (areas that can’t absorb rainfall) and water demand.
• Collectively address climate risks like flooding and drought, which do not recognize jurisdictional boundaries.
• Compete as a region for investment, jobs and talent against other North American metropolitan regions. This makes us more competitive than working on our own or against each other.

Per household, the Growth Plan’s policies and directions will deliver reductions in vehicle kilometres travelled, road, infrastructure and energy costs, land and water consumption and total carbon dioxide emissions.