Infrastructure & Engineering plan and budget
The Infrastructure & Engineering service enables the highest asset and project management standards on The City’s infrastructure projects for public safety, regulatory compliance and investment optimization. This support service is provided to teams involved in new capital projects or managing existing assets. The service includes:
- Asset and project management
- Capital contract management
- Corporate energy oversight
- Engineering practice oversight
- Field surveying
- Right of way management
- Grants, Partner & Industry Relations
Our customers
- City of Calgary business units
- Civic partners and related authorities
- External utilities
- Private/not for profit organizations
Our partners
- ENMAX Corporation
- Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA)
- Consulting Engineers of Alberta
- Calgary Construction Association
- Government of Alberta
- The City of Calgary business units including, but not limited to: Information Technology, Supply Management, Law.
Value to Calgarians
- maximizes infrastructure value for Calgarians
- minimizes service disruption and public safety and security risks
- reduces The City's legal, financial and reputational risk
- reduces environmental impacts
- improves accountability and transparency to taxpayers using industry best practices and legislative requirements
What we deliver
- Infrastructure investment plans
- Lifecycle cost and risk analysis
Project documentation - Energy audits
- Drawings
- Survey control
Budget breakdown
Operating and capital budgets explained
The budgets you see here are expenditures net of recoveries.
The City develops two budgets to create impact aligned with Council’s Strategic Direction:
- The four-year (2023-2026) operating plans and budgets
- The five-year (2023-2027+) capital plans and budgets
The operating budget includes revenues, recoveries and spending related to ongoing operations. These include:
- Salaries, wages and benefits.
- Day to day programs, maintenance and services.
- Administration costs (e.g., insurance).
- Fuel
- Utilities
- Capital financing costs.
The City's total net operating budget is zero. This means we budget to collect the revenue needed to deliver services to Calgarians — no more, no less. We collect this revenue through property taxes and other sources.
The capital budget pays for long-lived assets. These provide the foundation for the services Calgarians rely on. They include:
- Maintenance of current infrastructure (e.g., bridges, buildings and playgrounds).
- Upgrades to existing community infrastructure.
- New infrastructure to provide services in areas that are underserved (e.g., Green Line).
- New infrastructure for growing areas of the city.
Learn more about our 2023-2026 Service Plans and Budgets.
See how the budget has been adjusted since November 2022
Measuring performance
We are measuring our performance in five areas. Each value is the goal we expect to reach by 2026.
What we've heard
Calgarians believe in prioritizing investments in our city, including new businesses that will help create jobs, encourage trade and tourism, and invest in multipurpose infrastructure and downtown revitalization. Calgarians continue to expect high value for their tax dollars and depend on our services such as: engineering and project management services and energy management through sustainable building policy. We will continue to oversee the practice of engineering and geoscience at The City to deliver safe and resilient infrastructure. Resilience is a Council focus, including investing in infrastructure lifecycle maintenance and a review of asset strategy to ensure citizens are getting best value for infrastructure investment. We will continue to build partnerships, improve service delivery and protect The City’s interests.
Participate and view results of City researchWhat we're watching
- Limited and unpredictable funding will widen the infrastructure gap (difference between available and needed investment to fund maintenance, growth, and operating requirements of our assets). Along with inflation and supply chain issues, this could delay infrastructure investments impacting service levels and our ability to address assets deterioration.
- We must monitor climate change impacts to our assets and services and develop mitigation strategies by leveraging innovative technology. Infrastructure asset management plays a large role in reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
- There is continued public expectation for strict compliance to engineering standards and practices, legislation/regulation requirements and industry best practices to ensure public safety.
- Given the trends and competing priorities, the service plays a crucial role in supporting investment decision-making and project delivery while balancing public safety, municipal resiliency, and affordability.
Our initiatives
What we plan to do
Continue further adoption and improvement of the asset and project management practices and infrastructure-related services while modernizing technology (including implementation of the project and asset management systems) and implementing a shift to a more centralized asset management network.
How we're going to get there
- Optimize investment in Calgary infrastructure by successful integration of the corporate project management software system across City operations to improve consistency and maximize efficiencies in planning, delivery, monitoring and reporting on capital projects.
- Champion project and contract management excellence at The City as foundational for successful project delivery by providing project and contract management supports, training and stewarding of policy and standards.
- Deliver a seamless customer service experience for Calgary businesses by continuing to effectively manage access to City lands for installation of shallow utilities and implementing a new online solution for effective processing of requests for access to City assets for installation of wireless infrastructure.
- Maximize The City’s efforts in securing funding for capital projects and strengthen our relationship with the development and construction industry by launching a capital grant management program and continuing to organize annual partnering with industry events.
- Maximize The City's infrastructure value for Calgarians by optimizing capital contract management practices across the organization.