The following are the speaking notes delivered by Mayor Jyoti Gondek during a media availability on Thursday, April 10, 2025, at 12:45 p.m. regarding a Notice of Motion to support Calgary’s community spaces through strategic investments. A PDF of the related news release is attached below.
Over the last three years, we’ve announced several significant infrastructure projects, including Scotia Place, Arts Commons, and Olympic Plaza. These initiatives are world-class and undoubtedly contribute to our city’s economy and the vibrancy of our cultural landscape. However, alongside these spectacular projects, we must also focus on the heart of our community—the places where everyday life unfolds.
It’s crucial that we invest in the spaces that matter most to Calgarians in their daily lives. From community rinks to community centres and community gardens, these are the places where families come together, where friendships are formed, and where neighbourly spirit is strengthened.
At the beginning of this year, I had the opportunity to sit down with community associations from across this city at a fireside chat hosted by the Federation of Calgary Communities. The consistent message from all members attending was this: we volunteer because we care about our communities, we are burning out because there are so many expectations upon us, and we could use more support from the City in terms of resources and funding.
For me, it was like stepping back in time to the early 2000s when I spent five years on the Northern Hills Community Association board. The message was the same back then.
What changed from then to now is my ability to bring about positive change through my role as the mayor. At a time when a lot of folks are stretching every dollar and looking for access to local facilities and programs for their families, I see a role for the City to make life better in our neighbourhoods.
I’m committed to making sure there are plenty of free, fun places around town where families can relax and have a good time together.
Whether it’s picnicking in a park, or lacing up the skates, we want to make sure these experiences are available across the city, for everyone, all year round.
That’s why I’m bringing an important Notice of Motion to Executive Committee next week. This work highlights my commitment to revitalize and build community spaces that will be the backdrop of family and neighbourhood memories for years to come.
I believe we can bring life to our neighbourhoods through tangible investments in amenities like splash pads, recreation centres, and wading pools. Just think about a place like Prairie Winds Park and its splash pad as an example of this. It’s so much more than just a place to cool off on a hot day – it’s a gathering place for families, across generations.
And while that critical piece of community infrastructure deserves regular upgrades and maintenance, we are faced with such a shortage of funds that we can only attend to these amenities when they start to fail.
We have to do better as a City – and we’re trying – through measures like the Facilities Management Annual Investment Program. But that program is sorely underfunded. We’re also trying through small grants to community associations, which have also been desperately underfunded.
My Notice of Motion is an effort to address this chronic underfunding, for at least the near term. I’m proposing that we help communities across Calgary through responsible investments, such as allocating $20 million from this year’s excess ENMAX dividend to the Facilities Management Annual Investment Program, which would allow us to fund critical upgrades to community facilities and ensure that our public amenities remain available in our growing city.
In addition to that $20 million, I’m proposing a collaboration with the Federation of Calgary Communities by investing $2.85 million over the next three years in their flagship Placemaking program. We can fund hundreds of much needed community-led projects through this initiative, whether that’s maintaining or creating seating, shade structures, murals, gazebos, gardens – or any other important community-led projects.
By making bold, future-focused investments in community life, we can create spaces where life happens, where memories are made, where community is felt, and where life is truly lived. As we continue to develop our city with grand projects, I remain equally committed to nurturing the places that make Calgary a great place to call home.
I trust that my council colleagues also see the value in these investments so we can make this vision a reality.
I’m grateful to the many community associations and Federation of Calgary Communities for raising the need for the actions I am proposing.
Let’s build a city that is rooted in community as the heart of who we are and builds resilience by taking care of its neighbourhoods and the people who thrive in them. Thank you.