Calgary city council agrees to March public hearing date on repealing blanket rezoning

Calgary city council has unanimously agreed to the planned date for a public hearing that will decide if city-wide rezoning will be repealed.

The date, which was first discussed when the law was repealed, is now set for March 23 at 9:30 a.m. Council agreed to the procedural request during a Regular Meeting of Council on Tuesday.

The rezoning policy was approved in 2024 as part of the city’s housing strategy to allow for denser housing. However, the policy quickly became controversial.

That stemmed from a 2024 hearing, which ran 15 days, over 100 hours, and had over 736 speakers. It also came with a pricetag of $1.3 million.

Council passed the rezoning 9-6 despite nearly 70 per cent opposition.

The issue became a major theme in October’s municipal election. Several councillors, including Mayor Jeromy Farkas, campaigned on a promise to repeal the policy.

Back in December 2025, the newly elected city council voted 13-2 to begin the repeal process and bring back pre-2024 zoning rules.

The city also faces a deadline, with $64 million in federal housing funds at risk if a new strategy is not in place by March 31, 2026.

Critics argued that rezoning worsens traffic and parking, strains infrastructure, and changes the character of established neighbourhoods.

Those against the repeal say rolling back the policy won’t fix existing problems around housing affordability or density.

In 2025, development activity remained high under the existing rules, including over 7,000 housing starts in Q2 — up 55.6 per cent from the year before.