11% of City of Calgary infrastructure in poor condition, report says

A new assessment of Calgary's infrastructure shows a growing concern, and it isn't just about the water mains.

An updated assessment of the city’s most critical infrastructure has increased its profile to an “extensive” risk—the highest and most urgent rating officials in Calgary use.

The new report, set to go before the city’s audit committee on Thursday, comes as officials confirm work to add a parallel pipe to the Bearspaw South feeder main will begin this week, months ahead of the long-planned schedule to start in the spring.

“The city’s understanding of risks associated with critical infrastructure and lack of system redundancy has changed given the 2025, December 30, break of the Bearspaw South feeder main and overall pipe condition,” the report reads.

“Approximately 11 per cent of the city’s infrastructure (including water infrastructure, IT assets, fleet, buildings, bridges and roads) is in poor or very poor condition.”

The risk profile report says there’s an “urgent need” to better understand the condition of critical infrastructure across the city and that a proper plan is needed to design “system redundancy” where single points of failure exist.

The Calgary Chamber of Commerce says it is “deeply concerned” by the assessment and is urging action to better protect the city from future infrastructure failures.

“Their reliability is fundamental to business operations and long-term growth, as well as maintaining Calgary’s economic competitiveness and quality of life,” said Deborah Yedlin, Chamber president and CEO.

“We encourage city hall to explore new funding mechanisms, such as municipal bonds or collaboration with provincial and federal governments, to repair and modernize infrastructure without passing the cost on to Calgarians through higher property taxes or continuing to utilize reserves.”

Sole-source contract awarded

Calgary had planned a spring start to replace the Bearspaw water main, the pipe that supplies about 60 per cent of the city’s drinking water and has burst twice in two years.

But city administration announced Tuesday it was fast-tracking the work and has already awarded the contract.

“We evaluated the risks we were facing as a community and made the decision to cancel the existing procurement and to award it directly to a contractor who could start immediately,” said Michael Thompson, the city’s general manager of infrastructure services.

The first stage of the project will see micro-tunnelling from the Shaganappi pump station to 73rd Street N.W.

The second stage of the project, still yet to be fully designed, will see the work to twin the pipe continue from 73rd to 89th streets.

Full costs for the work have yet to be determined.

“On Friday, we ordered the materials for the replacement pipe, returned equipment and started bringing it to Calgary. You will see equipment starting to show up in the field at the end of this week, and you will see construction happening,” Thompson said.

The project was initially expected to be completed in 2028, but a new timeline indicates surface restoration for some of the work is now set to begin in the spring of 2027.