Although not all businesses are required to obtain municipal licensing, all businesses that operate within Calgary are required to register with The City to obtain a business identification number (BID), and are required to obtain land use approval for the business location even if it does not require a licence.

To find out if your proposed business activity would require a business licence and the necessary approvals required, visit Business licencing and permits to find your business activity type.

A Building Permit is granted when the building design and construction plans adhere to the Alberta Building Code, protecting both citizens and owners by ensuring current standards are met.

Inspections are done to ensure construction is completed in accordance with current standards, keeping citizens and owners safe.

A development permit process ensures things like building height, size of the structure, parking and location on the lot are appropriate for the land use and in adherence to the land use bylaw. Relaxations to the bylaw are also approved at this stage if merited based on the context of the development overall.

Calgary does not have legislated approval timelines, but allows for approval timelines to be negotiated, where appropriate, between the municipality and the applicant.  This enables the timeline to be customized to accommodate extra time to support better alignment to the applicant’s schedule.

The use of customized timelines is always agreed to by the customer, and promotes increased communication, collaboration, predictability, and a realistic line of sight to the decision date.

This process shows the detailed land uses and pattern of development for an area, including roads, open space like parks and in some cases placement of school sites or other community service amenities. It ensures there is a clear picture of what the ultimate area build out will include and where.

While the outline plan may initially be a time-consuming process, subsequent tentative plans (which are actual “subdivisions”) for later individual phases can be approved in a quick and efficient manner.

This process ensures appropriate residential and commercial uses will be located in areas that align to the goals within local and municipal plans. It also allows citizens and communities the opportunity to better understand, review and comment directly to City Council on proposed changes within their neighbourhoods.

A certificate of compliance is confirmation that the location of buildings and structures on a property comply with Land Use Bylaw (1P2007). Many financial institutions require this type of due diligence documentation for real estate transactions.

*** Site Dependent (the location of the closest service and investment policies)