Since 2016, the Citywide Growth Strategy team has led discussions on housing barriers and potential solutions. These discussions are held through the Established Area Working Groups. These working groups include:

• Utility providers
• Community representatives
• The development industry

Many ideas from working group discussions were put forward under this funding program. This includes the Established Area Linear Levy Pilot. The City will facilitate ongoing open engagement regarding the Established Area Linear Levy Pilot. Community representatives and members of industry will be included through the meetings of the Utility Working Group.

The pilot is supported by City utility rates and other funding partners. In October 2023, The City signed a Contribution Agreement in partnership with CMHC. The agreement supports Calgarians with an increase in housing supply. The City is using these funds for Calgary’s Housing Accelerator Fund Action Plan. The plan includes seven initiatives and their associated milestones. The Established Area Linear Levy Pilot is captured under Initiative 5: enabling housing growth in established areas.

Investments made through the Established Area Linear Levy Pilot provide a financial support mechanism. A larger building in select locations requires additional water flow used in fire suppression. Higher densities require increased wastewater capacity.

Through reimbursement of these costs, the Established Area Linear Levy Pilot should:

• incentivize housing developers
• increase the supply and affordability of housing
• increase servicing capacity for subsequent developments 

These investments help prepare industry for the upgrade requirements for citywide rezoning. They ensure servicing levels are safe for new and existing residents.

The City will eliminate the risk associated with a housing developer being “first” to trigger a costly local water or wastewater upgrade during the pilot. The “first” developer is responsible for the full cost of upgrade(s). But, these upgrades support the “next” developments over a much wider geographical area. Therefore, other developers benefit from another being the "first". The Established Area Linear Levy Pilot will cover costs up to $1.0 million per project. This applies to developers who are required to construct the water or wastewater upgrade. 

The City has established a reimbursement process for Applicant. It uses existing planning workflows and processes. The Established Area Linear Levy Pilot has officially launched and is accepting applications. 

While both initiatives address a funding gap for local water and/or wastewater upgrade(s) triggered by new development, the Established Area Linear Levy Pilot will be financially supported by City utility rates and other funding partners rather than developer contributions. A development charge will not be collected from developers during this period. The investment pool to fund these types of upgrades will be supported from a combination of the Housing Accelerator Fund and utility rates. Both mechanisms fund a required water or wastewater upgrade for a development permit to proceed. Upgrades are triggered when the available fire flow and/or wastewater capacity are insufficient for the proposed growth. A future levy will be a development charge dependent on the type of land use for the proposed development. The charges collected will be put into an investment pool to fund these types of upgrades when unexpectedly triggered by growth. 

The development review process determines the need for a local water and/or wastewater upgrade. An Engineering Utility Generalist will identify the need for a Required Fire Flow (RFF) analysis and/or Sanitary Servicing Study (SSS). These evaluate the servicing needs of the development. The City will determine whether an upgrade is required upon review of the RFF/SSS. Housing developers work with the City to deliver the required upgrade. The Engineering Utility Generalist conditions the development upon approved infrastructure construction drawings. Then permission is granted by the City to construct the upgrade.

Typically, applicants are responsible for constructing any water/wastewater main upgrade. These are triggered by their development application. These obligations are specified prior to construction. 

The City may deliver the linear upgrade under the following circumstances:

If a small-scale housing developer is unable to construct an upgrade. 

The City may construct the upgrade on their behalf, pending availability. If there are sufficient resources, The City provides a cost estimate. The housing developer is required to prepay the full upfront cost for the construction. The applicant can request reimbursement after construction. This is up to $1.0 million per project.

For larger offsite water or wastewater upgrades.

The City may choose to construct the main upgrade due to the complexity. The City provides a cost estimate for the work to be done. The applicant is required to prepay the full upfront cost for the construction. The applicant can request reimbursement through the pilot. This is up to a maximum of $1.0 million reimbursed per development application.

The City is accountable for ongoing progress updates and data reports submitted to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This satisfies the terms of the Housing Accelerator Fund Agreement. The City provides a variety of tools to monitor short and long-term growth trends. These include the Growth Monitoring Report and the City of Calgary’s Development Map.  Applications are continually  tracked. The City will leverage these resources to evaluate the impact of funded upgrades.The City is hoping to determine whether investment in an upgrade leads to additional development/building permits with the cost barrier removed. Performance and progress updates will also be shared through the Citywide Growth Strategy’s Utility Working Group.

Program parameters will be re-evaluated on an ongoing basis. This ensures funds are sufficiently leveraged. For example, funding limits of the reimbursement may need to be re-evaluated. The intent of the pilot is to encourage as much housing as possible.

The investment pool will be closely monitored on an annual basis. Commitments are on a first-come, first-served basis. Should the investment pool become depleted, Utilities Infrastructure Planning may delay reimbursements or request more funding. The City may announce that funding is no longer available for a particular year. Further commitments would be put on hold.