Calgary’s mayor says it’s a benefit to the community — but the constant conversation surrounding the city’s low-income transit pass causes too much uncertainty.
Jeromy Farkas says he’s written a letter to the Alberta government, hoping to figure out a new way to fund the program.
The low-income transit pass program uses a sliding scale system that assigns a purchase price based on income. The less an applicant earns, the less they will need to pay.
Calgary offers three levels of discounts: 95 per cent, 65 per cent and 50 per cent. In 2025, the program cost the city $58 million.
Provincial funding covered $6.3 million of that figure.
“Initially this was a partnership — it was a cost sharing arrangement. Right now we see about 10 per cent of the cost coming from the provincial government and the remainder comes from the municipal government… that’s just not fair,” Farkas told reporters outside council chambers on Tuesday.
Earlier in the morning, Farkas confirmed he sent a letter to Jason Nixon, Alberta’s Minister of Assisted Living and Social Services, in February.
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“To ensure long-term, sustainable funding, the City of Calgary is seeking a more predictable and enhanced provincial funding commitment … including exploring longer-term finance and governing models,” Farkas said.
Farkas added he’s received no response from the provincial ministry since the letter was sent on Feb. 12.
“Frankly there’s a human element to it,” Farkas added. “Every single year, Calgarians worry about whether this program will be discontinued. This is essential infrastructure – it’s an essential service.”
“It’s completely unfair to ask Calgarians to come to our budget proceedings every single November to share their personal stories. It’s incredibly hard, it’s incredibly vulnerable to come to city council to essentially beg for this service to be continued.”
The 2025 city budget, approved in December 2025 by the newly elected council, included a $76-million funding boost for Calgary Transit to improve frequency across the system, purchase new buses and expand funding for the low-income transit pass program.
The program is typically a part of budget deliberations at Calgary city hall each year, but Farkas hopes a multi-year approach could provide more certainty moving forward.
In a statement to Global News, press secretary for the Ministry of Assisted Living and Social Services, Amber Edgerton, says provincial funding decisions for the program are made through its annual budget cycle, which requires that allocations be confirmed on a year-by-year basis.
“Alberta’s government remains committed to working with municipalities and other community partners to find solutions to ensure Albertans continue to have access to transit,” Edgerton said. “That’s why Budget 2026 maintains $16 million in funding to support the transportation needs of low-income and vulnerable Albertans.”
Edgerton says Nixon’s office also sent a response to Farkas’ letter on Tuesday, adding the province has provided $36.6 million to support the low-income transit program since it
fair entry is comprised of more than just bus passes I think I use mine more for the swimming and also had an opportunity to visit the zoo when my son was in town which I would never have been able to do so I hope Jeremy is looking at everything and not just the picture of the transit because the money covering that cost is not the only thing there’s people using other services that are contributing money in other ways