City of Calgary Partnering with Nonprofit Housing Sector in New Land Sale Policy

As Calgary is 15,000 units behind the urban national average for non-market affordable housing, City Council has introduced a new land sale policy to show their support for the nonprofit housing sector. This policy permits up to 10 parcels of City land to be sold every two years at a discounted rate to affordable housing nonprofit developers.

During the 2017-18 year, The City tested this policy by selling six parcels of land at a $6.4 million discount to nonprofit partners. They were able to see a 460% return on investment as they found that nonprofit developers leveraged that discount and attained over $30 million in additional funding. There are now development projects at all six sites which aim to create 160 new affordable housing units, with half being targeted to vulnerable populations.

Overall, this policy will streamline the process for the sale of City land to nonprofit housing development and aligns with The City’s strategy to build more non-market housing units. The goal is to see more affordable homes built in a shorter timeframe and to ultimately better serve the housing needs of Calgarians.