Summary#

Calgary City Council approved a city-wide direction to implement Option 4 for maintaining actively maintained parkland. The goal is to improve park maintenance, but the decision does not approve the report’s requested extra funding.

• City staff must keep grass at 6 inches or less during the season; regional parks and playfields are to be kept shorter. The report says this could require up to 22 mows per season at regional parks and playfields, up to 14 at local parks and up to 6 on roadside greens.
• All turf is to receive annual maintenance, including agronomic care and integrated pest management (ways to prevent and manage pests).
• Shrub beds are to receive maintenance up to once every two years.
• Garbage bins are to be emptied before overflowing, with at least one extra collection round in high-use areas.
• Council also directed staff to consider needed operating investments when prioritizing the 2027–2030 business plans and budgets. A proposed minimum rating of “Good” for regional parks and “Fair” for local parks was removed before Council approved the item.

What it means for you#

• Park users: The decision sets service directions for actively maintained parks. It does not guarantee a particular maintenance schedule at a specific park or create an individual complaint or review process.
• Taxpayers: The changes may require more ongoing City operating funding, but Council did not approve the requested amount as part of this decision.
• City staff: They must implement Option 4 and consider the investments needed in the next business-plan and budget prioritization.

Money#

The report requests an additional $14 million in annual operating funding for 2027–2030; this decision did not approve that funding.

• The report says $33 million was spent on core maintenance of actively maintained parkland in 2025.
• Staff say actively maintained parkland grew by 36 per cent over the past decade, while operating costs rose by 28 per cent.
• Council directed staff to consider the required investments in budget prioritization. Whether the full request will be funded is not settled here.

What is unclear#

• The decision does not say when the new service levels must be fully in place.
• The report does not explain how the service levels will be measured or reported publicly.
• It is unclear how much funding will be allocated, or whether the full $14 million annual request will be included in the 2027–2030 budgets.
• The final decision does not set the proposed “Good” and “Fair” minimum customer ratings for regional and local parks.

Case for#

• City staff say maintenance has fallen behind as parkland and costs grew faster than funding, contributing to longer grass, weeds, declining shrub health and overflowing bins.
• Staff report that park-maintenance 311 requests quadrupled between 2014 and 2025. In the 2025 parks survey, maintenance, cleanliness and landscaping were the most requested improvement, at 19 per cent.
• The specified service levels give staff a concrete direction for improving maintenance, including annual turf care and more frequent shrub-bed maintenance.

Case against#

• The report seeks $14 million more each year, but Council did not approve that funding. If the necessary investments are not prioritized, the service levels may be difficult to deliver. (This is an inference from the decision and funding request.)
• The final decision removed the proposed minimum customer ratings for regional and local parks, leaving those rating floors out of Council’s direction.
• The report does not set a completion date or public measurement and reporting process, making it harder to tell when the service changes have been achieved.