Calgary city council voted 9-6 on Tuesday to approve annual water rate increases for residents and businesses from 2027 to 2030, to help pay for work on the city's water, wastewater and stormwater systems.
Council approved yearly increases of 19.9 per cent for drinking water, 15.2 per cent for wastewater and 5.8 per cent for stormwater. CBC News reported that residential rates would rise by 74 per cent over the four years and business rates by 86 per cent. The rates are not locked in until council approves next year's budget in November.
City officials have said the city needs $6.5 billion to address its water infrastructure needs, and that delayed investment would raise the risk of service disruptions, emergencies and higher long-term costs. They have also said past rates did not keep pace with inflation or growth.
"The critical part is that our city administration, external experts have come to the table and identified that our stormwater and wastewater systems are on the verge of collapse," Mayor Jeromy Farkas told reporters on Tuesday. He acknowledged the decision would disappoint residents and businesses because council could not continue the 10-year freeze on water bills.
Michael Thompson, chief operating officer of the city's water utility, pointed to two breaks along the Bearspaw feeder main, which carries roughly 60 per cent of Calgary's drinking water. He told council the city had focused on keeping rates low over the past decade rather than on infrastructure.
Residential customers will pay roughly $14.50 more per month next year, $20.05 more in 2028, $24.48 more in 2029 and $28.70 more in 2030, leaving the monthly bill about $90 higher by 2030, CBC reported. Global News reported that the average household bill would go from $119 a month this year to $134 in 2027 and $206 a month by 2030.
The Calgary Chamber of Commerce called the business increases "egregious." It said a medium-sized business using 400 cubic metres of water a month could see its bill rise from $1,661.33 a month this year to $3,093.19 a month in 2030.
"It really renders our businesses very uncompetitive, it will squeeze their bottom lines significantly," said Deborah Yedlin, the chamber's president.
Farkas said that giving a large break to the biggest industrial users and shifting the burden to residential customers did not make sense to him, and suggested businesses use less water.
Councillors Landon Johnston, Rob Ward, Kim Tyers, Mike Jamieson, Jennifer Wyness and Dan McLean voted against. Tyers said she had hoped colleagues would heed calls from Calgarians and businesses to slow the increases, and said the budget debate leaves room to revisit them.
McLean said he understood the need but did not think every option had been examined, and said the increase comes on top of a proposed municipal property tax. He said he hopes administration will look at alternatives such as municipal bonds.
Coun. Nathaniel Schmidt said during debate that, with a couple of exceptions, no councillor had offered an alternative. Coun. DJ Kelly said he was reluctantly supporting the increase because he saw no other option.
Council approved an amendment to review the rates more often in case federal or provincial funding comes through, which would allow council to reduce the planned increases. Global News reported the amendment, from Coun. Andre Chabot, calls for a review next year rather than in 2028.
The rates are to go to council's four-year budget deliberations in November.
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