“Our city is in an incredibly strong position right now.”
Mayor Jyoti Gondek is bullish on her city, despite talks of trade, tariffs and an uncertain partner in Parliament taking leadership in little more than a month.
“We’ve done the groundwork to ensure we’re a strong inland port… we’re developing solutions locally to keep our supply chains strong,” Gondek said.
Gondek delivered a wide-ranging but generally optimistic speech at her annual State of the City address Tuesday, hosted by the Rotary Club of Calgary.
Her address touched on new economic activity created by the future Prairie Economic Gateway, an industrial hub along the city’s southeast border, positive developments in the Green Line light-rail transit project and decreases in social disorder, crime and drug overdoses.
“We’re creating a 24/7 downtown, where people don’t just commute in and out, but walk their dogs, raise their kids, launch businesses and build lives,” Gondek said.
But the challenges of the day are too large to ignore — namely the ever-evolving impact of trade relations south of the border.
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Gondek named the agriculture industry as one in particular she’s advocating to other levels of government.
She says she’s also sending a letter to all federal party leaders, pushing for increased communication with Ottawa — no matter who wins the upcoming federal election.
“The biggest thing I could tell you is that cities deserve respect from the federal government,” Gondek said. “We are the economic engines of this country and we do not have a seat at the table as often as we should.”
Calgary’s business community feels the upcoming federal vote is a chance for their voice to be heard as well.
“Part of what we’ve been advocating for is better connectivity between all levels of government,” explained Ruhee Ismail-Teja with the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
“With a federal election coming in the next few weeks, I think businesses see there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, regardless of who is elected. We’ll have more stability and we’ll have more clarity on where the Canadian economy is headed.”
The Chamber also explained that Calgary’s economy is uniquely sheltered from some of the trade-related challenges tariffs have presented in Canada — due to some of Alberta’s main commodities trading in U.S. dollars, for example.
Advocates believe the national trend is something the city is also seeing in the national housing crisis.
“We’ve seen a decrease in rental prices… we’ve seen an increase in housing starts… the recent sale of five city-owned sites to affordable housing providers,” said Alka Merlin of Vibrant Communities Calgary.
New data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corportation showed Calgary housing starts increased in February by 44 per cent compared to 2024.
At the same time, Canadian cities overall saw a drop of 17 per cent.
“I think it’s fairly obvious to not only our city council and administration, but also the provincial government that investing in Calgary’s future is just vital for the future of the province,” Merlin said.
While the average Calgarian may feel the struggles of the current situation nearly every day, Gondek believes they’re still able to share in her optimism.
“We’ve realized what an incredible country we have, and what a great city we live in,” she explained.
“I think that pride goes a long way in making people feel we’re going to be alright.”
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