Calgary’s Bearspaw Marina at risk of being shut down, city cites public safety
Posted Mar 27, 2025 9:23 am.
Last Updated Mar 28, 2025 10:16 am.
Despite only opening last year, Calgary’s Bearspaw Marina is at risk of closing.
The Bearspaw Marina sits on the edge of Calgary’s northwest, and has been providing Calgarians with water activities on the Bearspaw reservoir since 2024.
The City of Calgary is citing public safety as the reason for the closure.
“It’s going to be a tragic loss,” Lance Males, co-owner and manager of Bearspaw Marina, told CityNews.
Males said the city is moving to close the only two legal public access roads to the reservoir.
“People that have lived here their whole lives [are] coming down and saying ‘I have lived here my whole life, and I have never seen the edge of this water,’ they were just absolutely ecstatic that this opened up,” he added. “And then all of a sudden, we find that the city, without any real notice to us, is trying to close it down.”
The marina offers row boats, kayaks, paddle boards and e-bike rentals.
Males said not being able to reopen this summer would be devastating for the people who use it, eliminating over 20 local jobs in the process.
“Students and adults that have worked here will be losing their jobs,” he said.
The city confirmed to CityNews it’s redesignating two historic road allowances that lead through Haskayne Park directly to the Bearspaw Reservoir as park spaces, saying in a statement that it will “ensure public safety, protect Calgary’s drinking water supply and maintain the efficient operation of critical infrastructure in the Bearspaw Reservoir.”
The city continues, saying “redesignating these road allowances restricts unregulated access to the Bearspaw Reservoir. It will also ensure the long-term protection of environmentally sensitive grasslands in the area.”
The city will present the redesignation application at the Calgary Planning Commission on April 10, with a public hearing on May 6.
“We would like the city to join with us, and make this a really good recreational opportunity for everyone in the city,” Males said.
Males hopes the city has a change of heart, and asks for the community for help by sharing their comments with the city on why the marina should remain accessible to everyone.
