Citizen satisfaction down, population and inflation up in Calgary at 2024 midway mark

The first six months of 2024 have come and gone and the City of Calgary is taking stock of its wins and losses in the first half of the year.

A report released Thursday shows citizen satisfaction with city services is at a near decade low, falling from 80 per cent to 63 per cent. The city chalks this up to population growth, inflation, financial constraints, aging infrastructure, capacity constraints, increase in service demand, and service complexity.

As of April 1, Calgary’s population is estimated to be 1,491,900 people, a year-over-year growth of almost five per cent. The estimated addition of 69,000 people to the city’s population is one the most significant annual increases in Calgary’s history, according to officials. This change is population is nearly equal to the entire population of Medicine Hat moving to Calgary in one year.

Inflation is impacting the city and those who live in it; the increased cost of supplies and materials impacts the ability to finish capital projects on time and on budget and adequately deliver services.

This includes a decline in first- in-unit response times for the fire department, pavement condition, and processing building permit applications.

‘We continue to do our best to meet the needs of Calgarians with the resources we have,” Carla Male, Chief Financial Officer at The City of Calgary, said ina statement. “However, as our costs and our population grow beyond what we planned for, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain service levels without adjusting the budget.”

Despite its struggles, the city says it has had its share of successes so far this year.

This includes the start of construction for almost 9,000 homes in the city, filling more than 18.055 potholes, and clearing snow ands ice within the desired 24-hour timeframe.

Other positives in the city so far this year include a 26 per cent decrease in social disorder calls at downtown CTrain stations, the opening of the BMO Centre Expansion, and the approval of citywide rezoning.

City officials also highlighted the current financial situation, including a favourable year-to-date operating variance.