City Charter

The City of Calgary and The City of Edmonton are working with the Government of Alberta to develop City Charters.

A city charter is a regulation that provides a city with specific flexibilities and authorities to better meet the needs of citizens. The city charters for Calgary and Edmonton will enable the cities to modify or replace provisions in the Municipal Government Act (MGA) or any other provincial Act or regulation, where the province has specifically granted authority to do so.

A City Charter is intended to cover a range of issues from simple administrative efficiencies to complex regulatory changes. Unless explicitly outlined in the charters, all other legislation will continue to apply to the two cities.

Having Calgary-specific legislation in the form of a City Charter will better enable us to make local decisions and policies to address the large-scale challenges we face. The Charters will create the appropriate mechanisms to provide increased authority or flexibility to Calgary in a wide range of areas, including governance, planning and development, assessment and taxation, social policies and programs, energy and the environment, transportation and economic policies.

The Charter will also enable Council to develop new fiscal frameworks to provide programs and services to Calgarians to optimize efficiencies and build a strong, economically vibrant Calgary.

Fiscal framework

The cities of Calgary and Edmonton and province have agreed to a scope of work to develop a renewed fiscal framework that will consider the following elements.

New infrastructure funding formula

The province has agreed to work with the cities to replace the existing capital grants system with a funding formula based on provincial revenues.

This would mean that the cities share in the variability of provincial revenues. It provides greater predictability for both the cities and the province. This would also mean that funding would grow with the economy, which would allow cities to make investments to keep up with growth pressures.

This new system would provide predictability to both the cities and the province about funding levels, and recognize the important role that the cities have in making investments that support economic growth in Alberta.

Administrative efficiencies

The three parties will explore options for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of existing municipal authorities.

This will be limited to authorities that are currently authorized by the Municipal Government Act, and may include changes to the length and duration of Local Improvement Taxes. The three governments will also review eligible uses for special taxes to determine if the current list is appropriate for modern infrastructure projects.

Improve the administration of the destination marketing fee

The three parties will explore potential opportunities to improve the administration of the existing voluntary destination marketing fee that is charged by some hotels. The goal is to enhance the transparency and accountability of the revenue generated from the fee, which will continue to be directed towards tourism activities.

Increase municipal responsibility for debt management

The three parties have agreed to develop options for increasing accountability of the cities for their debt by allowing them to adopt their own stringent debt management policies, including the need to get a credit rating. This recognizes the cities’ capacity to manage their own debt.

Currently both Edmonton and Calgary’s policies far exceed the minimum standards set out in the MGA, and this will allow them to set out stringent and accountable standards for themselves.

For more information on the City Charter and Fiscal Framework please contact Jeremy Clarke at 268-1104 or jeremy.clarke@calgary.ca.