Calgary awards $29.3M to non-profits for creation of 566 new affordable homes

Calgary announced the final round of affordable housing units to be built from the federal Housing Capital Initiative.

The City of Calgary is injecting nearly $30 million into the local housing market to fast-track the creation of 566 new non-market homes.

City officials announced Wednesday that $29.3 million has been awarded to six non-profit organizations as part of the second and final round of the Housing Capital Initiative (HCI).

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The funding will support eight separate projects across the city.

One is an apartment conversion, and the rest are new builds.

The investment marks the completion of a council-directed $60 million capital commitment aimed at addressing the city’s urgent need for affordable living spaces.

“Increasing non-market housing supply is a top priority for this city council and for Calgarians,” Mayor Jeromy Farkas said.

Farkas noted that the city is leaning on trusted non-profit partners to ensure low-income residents have access to stable housing “today and into the future.”

Federal and provincial lever

The HCI fund is designed to provide immediate capital, which often serves as the seed money required for non-profits to secure additional funding from provincial and federal governments.

Reid Hendry, the city’s chief housing officer, says the municipal investment is a catalyst for the broader sector.

“This investment strengthens our partnerships with Calgary’s non-profit housing sector and helps unlock additional funding from other orders of government,” Hendry said.

Successful projects

The successful applicants in this round cover several quadrants of the city:

Trellis Foundation for Community Impact: $5.58 million for projects in Beltline and Bowness;

Multi-Generational Housing and Community Care: $5.74 million for a project in Skyview Ranch;

Liberty Housing Organization: $3.94 million for a project in Haysboro;

Norfolk Housing Association: $4.07 million for a project in Sunnyside;

HomeSpace Society: $4.42 million for projects in the Downtown Core and Somerset; and,

Onward Homes Society: $5.55 million for a project in Radisson Heights.

Bernadette Majdell, CEO of HomeSpace Society, says the city’s proactive stance is the difference between a project stalling or moving forward.

“Without this support, this building would sit vacant — but now it’s well on its way to being home for 64 Calgarians in need,” Majdell said regarding the group’s downtown project at 1000 Eighth Ave S.W.

This office conversion project is scheduled to be complete by June 2028.

The 64 units are a mixture of studio and one-bedroom units.

The first round of HCI funding was announced in May 2025.

With this final round, the city expects the combined projects to significantly trim the waitlist for affordable housing in the coming years.