Community and Business Relations General Support

Advancing Business-Friendly Construction Approaches

The City recognizes how important businesses are for the local economy. As we continue to invest in infrastructure and amenities for Calgarians, we are working to enhance the way businesses and customers experience City-led construction.

Business-Friendly Construction Approaches

In recent years, The City has been piloting and testing a variety of business-friendly approaches aimed at mitigating potential challenges from construction and supporting businesses leading up to and during planned City-led construction.  

These initiatives have included construction area parking management, dedicated business liaisons, construction impact assessments, improved directional signage and marketing campaigns.

Providing directional signage to help customers access shops during construction.

City business-liaisons meeting with Calgarians at community events, to answer questions, hear concerns and share construction plans.

Hosting community office hours to allow business owners and residents to connect with a member of the project team in person.

Partnering with Business Improvement Area to provide signage informing customers about alternative parking availability

Encouraging Calgarians to continue supporting local businesses during construction

Providing a temporary parking lot to offset the temporary removal of on-street parking during construction

This work is delivered in partnership with the Community and Business Relations team at The City. Have a question or comment? Reach out to the team at cbr@calgary.ca

Provide your feedback!

Help The City develop a business-friendly construction policy. See more details.

Developing a Business-Friendly Construction Policy

As directed by City Council, work is underway to establish a business-friendly construction policy that will clarify The City’s approach to mitigating potential challenges from construction and improving how businesses and their customers experience City-led construction.  

Throughout 2025, we will engage with the public to better understand the experiences of businesses and Calgarians with City-led construction. We will be building on what we have been learning, and we are actively seeking input from businesses and their customers and working with our partners in the construction industry to shape clear and effective policy objectives.  

A policy recommendation, including recommendations on construction business support grants, will be presented to the Infrastructure and Planning Committee in early 2026.

Learn more about the Business-Friendly Construction Policy and the engagement process at  Engage.Calgary.ca/BusinessFriendlyPolicy

Evaluating The Main Streets Business Support Grant Pilot

In 2024, at the direction of City Council, The City implemented a one-time Main Streets Business Support Grant pilot with the objectives of

1) helping businesses prepare for construction and

2) implementing strategies to encourage business patronage during construction. Research and engagement are underway to evaluate the grant pilot’s effectiveness in achieving its objectives.

Initiated as a pilot, the grant is being used to learn from and evaluate its effectiveness in achieving these objectives; it is one of several business-friendly construction approaches The City has been testing. 

For more information on the Main Streets Support Grant pilot and the evaluation process visit Calgary.ca/MainStreetsGrant

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is The City focusing on supporting businesses during construction? 

The City recognizes how important businesses are to the local economy. Construction projects can be inconvenient and can create challenges for businesses and their customers. The City is committed to helping businesses prepare for and manage potential challenges and is looking to hear from the business community on how we can improve our approach.

What has The City already been doing to support businesses during construction?

  • In recent years, The City has piloted a variety of initiatives to support businesses, including alternative parking solutions, testing BIA grants, providing business liaisons, improving  directional signage for customers and launching support local marketing campaigns. These efforts were designed to mitigate disruptions and support businesses before and during planned construction projects.
  • Plans are underway for the 2025 construction season. As requested by Council, The City will continue to implement business-friendly approaches to mitigate potential challenges from construction and enhance customer experiences.   

How can Calgarians provide feedback on the Business-Friendly Construction Policy?

Visit Engage.Calgary.ca/BusinessFriendlyPolicy to learn more about the engagement process.

How will the Business-Friendly Construction Policy impact the overall City budget?

While developing and refining the draft policy and recommendations, we will gather information on the potential budget impacts and costs associated. These findings will be presented to Infrastructure and Planning Committee to inform their decision-making process. 

This information has no legal status and cannot be used as an official interpretation of the various bylaws, codes and regulations currently in effect. The City of Calgary accepts no responsibility to persons relying solely on this information. Web pages are updated periodically. ​

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