Work is now underway to implement a new overarching plan to improve safety and well-being in Calgary, as some on city council raise concerns over the potential costs.
The plan, entitled Safer Together, aims to address safety in public spaces, homelessness, domestic violence, poverty and social isolation.
It outlines five priorities including communities where everyone belongs, enhanced safety where people live, work and play, building supports for well-being, meeting housing needs and fostering financial security.
Although city council approved the framework in May, an update on how it would be implemented and the plan’s potential costs were presented to councillors this week.
“The pursuit of community safety and individual safety is a multi-dimensional pursuit,” Katie Black, the City of Calgary’s general manager of community services, told council. “No one initiative is going to deliver the outcomes that you and we all are looking for.”
The action plan presented to council includes 15 initiatives city officials hope to move forward with over the next four years, including design and maintenance improvements for infrastructure in public spaces, a strengthening of the availability and coordination of supports for individuals experiencing homelessness, and a boost to access and promotion of free and low-cost supports and services.
According to city administration, Safer Together draws from existing initiatives like the Safety Hubs, which coordinate resources from the Calgary Police Service, bylaw and transit peace officers, as well as social sector teams.
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“You don’t just send police in to bust up an encampment because they’ll be right back there a week later; you need to have wraparound supports to make sure everyone in those situations are getting the supports they need,” Ward 4 Coun. DJ Kelly told reporters Wednesday.
“I’m really glad the city is looking at this in a holistic way to make sure we can actually make some movement against this rather than simply the revolving door that we’ve had previously.”
The plan’s implementation comes with a cost over the next four years, in which city council will need to decide between three options during November’s budget deliberations.
The first option is a full investment which would total $38 million per year, administration said, allowing for greater enforcement capacity, easier access to programs and earlier support.
A partial investment of $28 million annually is the second option, which city officials said would result in reduced outcomes, and would mean seven less peace officers in parks and public spaces, smaller investments in downtown and transit improvements, garbage cleanup in business zones, and community programs.
The third option of $23 million would put outcomes at risk, city administration said, and would mean no investment in downtown or transit safety improvements, and the city couldn’t hire 14 security guards for parks and public spaces.
The proposed budget request reflects 34 investments across 12 city departents for the four-year budget cycle, council heard.
Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness said she isn’t convinced the plan will work and argued the issue isn’t municipal jurisdiction.
“When we sit here and debate all day long, talking about how this is going to stop the crisis and this is going to help our community, it will only stop when the federal and provincial governments pull their heads out of their butt and actually work with us,” Wyness told council.
“The blank cheques don’t work, this plan won’t work.”
According to city administration, the goal is to have increased access to supports and services, improved safety and perceptions of safety, and stronger incident response by 2030.
“People in Calgary can expect better connections to supports, more coordinated safety services and stronger community wellbeing as the plan is implemented over time,” a city spokesperson said in a statement.
“Building on work already underway across Calgary, Safer Together aims to create a city where people feel safe, connected, supported and that they belong.”
City council will receive its first progress update on the implementation of the plan next spring, but will hear results of engagement with the Calgary Police Commission on the framework in early 2027.
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