CALGARY- Despite growing calls for local politicians to address Calgary’s affordable housing crisis, city council remains in a stalemate on the issue of secondary suites.
While Calgarians can individually apply to build secondary suites as a way to rent out part of their home, the debate over how to streamline the process and allow the suites on a wider scale stalled again on Monday.
“’It’s my lifetime investment, why do you have the right to change my land use?’” is a common argument Ward 1 Councillor Ward Sutherland said. “Then you have a property owner who says ‘I bought my property, I have the right to do a secondary suite.’ That’s why it is so complicated and divisive right now.”
Calgary has the lowest vacancy rates and the second highest average rental prices in Canada.
Last week, some prominent members of Calgary’s business community called for action on the affordable housing issue. Representatives from WestJet Airlines and the Calgary Chamber of Commerce said the high cost of rent is scaring away potential hires and will impact the city’s economy.
“We had a record number of people coming to Calgary last year,” said Greg Miller from Calgarians for Secondary Suites. “There is acute demand. Rents are second highest in the country.”
Mayor Naheed Nenshi has been a leading proponent for relaxing the rules on secondary suites. At Monday’s council debate, heated exchanges forced the mayor to step in and call a timeout.
Currently, city officials say there are more that 16,000 illegal secondary suites in Calgary. They say the city is currently home to 443 legal secondary suites.
Right now, there are approximately 80,000 Calgary homes located in zones approved for secondary suites.
Council will resume their discussion after a dinner break.
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