Develop a more consistent approach to mitigating potential challenges due to construction and improve how businesses and customers experience City-led construction.

This approach will include input from Calgary’s business community and their customers, partners in the construction industry, and City Administration. The team will report back to Infrastructure and Planning Committee with a draft policy and recommendations in early 2026.

Input from businesses and their customers is important for shaping the policy objectives. This feedback helps us ensure we are focused on the things that will support Calgary’s businesses while enabling The City to continue investing in infrastructure and amenities for the benefit of all Calgarians.

Throughout 2025, we will engage with the public to better understand the perspectives of businesses and Calgarians experiencing City-led construction. This will allow us to gather valuable ideas and input, ensuring that the policy objectives are informed by the needs of businesses and their customers.

In recent years, The City has been piloting a variety of business-friendly construction approaches aimed at supporting businesses by mitigating potential challenges due to construction impacts and encouraging business patronage during construction.

These initiatives have included alternative parking solutions, dedicated business liaisons, impact assessments, improved directional signage and marketing campaigns. More information on The City’s business-friendly approaches can be found at Calgary.ca/cbr.

On March 19, 2024, City Council directed Administration to advance work on establishing a Business-Friendly Construction Policy and present the Policy to the Infrastructure and Planning Committee.

Through this project, we are refining business-friendly construction approaches and actively seeking input from Calgarians to help shape clear and effective policy objectives. These policy objectives will be focused on a common set of priorities and help guide The City’s overall approach to supporting businesses and their customers during planned City-led construction. As we implement the policy, we will continue to evaluate and report on progress.

We are now moving into the final phase of public engagement and collecting feedback through the online survey below. We have taken the feedback collected in Phase 1 and Phase 2 and created a summarized report of both phases of engagement and key findings from research that was also conducted.

What We Heard Reports and other feedback:

• Phase 1

• Phase 2

• Summary of Phase 1 and 2 of engagement and results from research conducted: here

8 key themes emerged from the feedback, providing an overview of what we heard from businesses, customers and business organizations. The themes represent what these interest-holders would like us to focus on to improve their experience during City-led construction.

The feedback was also used to develop 5 draft policy objectives which are being shared as part of this phase of engagement.

We want to know if you think we are on the right track with our themes and with the draft objectives!

Throughout the research and engagement conducted for this policy project to date, some overarching themes have emerged. These are listed below. For a complete summary, check out the Summary of Phase 1 and 2 engagement and results from research conducted.

It is important to note that the current policy themes and objectives are in draft form, developed using feedback from Phases 1 and 2 of engagement. In Phase 3, we will share these drafts with businesses, internal City teams, and the construction industry to refine and adjust the policy objectives.

Phase 3 includes:

• June: Share draft policy objectives with businesses and customers to confirm we’re on the right track and gather input to refine and adjust them.
  

• July to September: Report back on Phase 3 engagement (July). Work with internal City teams and the construction industry to further test, validate and adjust the draft objectives.

The project team will present the final policy, along with implementation plan and recommendations to the Infrastructure and Planning Committee in early 2026.

Phase 2 focused on gathering feedback from customers through an online survey. Pop-up engagements were held across the city to promote the survey and provide opportunities for customers to talk directly with the project team.

Follow up meetings and workshops were also held with business organizations. During Phase 2, the team built on the feedback gathered during phase 1 to further explore the emerging themes.

The Phase 1 What We Heard Report is available here.

The results from the business-focused survey promoted during phase 1 are being summarized and will be shared together with the What We Heard Report for Phase 2. Draft policy objectives will be made available in early June to gather further feedback from interested parties.

The City is listening to a wide range of interest holders including businesses and their customers, construction industry partners and City Administration. This approach ensures the final policy recommendation is reflective of business and customer needs and practical to implement.