Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in Canada. Calgary is situated at the confluence of the Bow River and the Elbow River in the south of the province, in the transitional area between the Rocky Mountain Foothills and the Canadian Prairies, about east of the front ranges of the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies (french: Rocheuses canadiennes) or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part ...

, roughly south of the provincial capital of Edmonton and approximately north of the

Canada–United States border The border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Can ...

. The city anchors the south end of the

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

-defined urban area, the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. Calgary's economy includes activity in the energy, financial services, film and television, transportation and logistics, technology, manufacturing, aerospace, health and wellness, retail, and tourism sectors. The Calgary Metropolitan Region is home to Canada's second-highest number of corporate head offices among the country's 800 largest corporations. In 2015, Calgary had the highest number of millionaires per capita of any major Canadian city. In 2022, Calgary was ranked alongside Zürich as the third most livable city in the world, ranking first in Canada and in North America. In 1988, it became the first Canadian city to host the

Olympic Winter Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were he ...

Etymology

Calgary was named after

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

on the

Isle of Mull The Isle of Mull ( gd, An t-Eilean Muileach ) or just Mull (; gd, Muile, links=no ) is the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides (after Skye) and lies off the west coast of Scotland in the Council areas of Scotland, council area of Arg ...

, Scotland, United Kingdom. In turn, the name originates from a compound of and , similar Old Norse words, meaning "cold" and "garden", likely used when named by the Vikings who inhabited the

Inner Hebrides The Inner Hebrides (; Scottish Gaelic: ''Na h-Eileanan a-staigh'', "the inner isles") is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, whic ...

. Alternatively, the name might be

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

, meaning "beach of the meadow (pasture)", or Gaelic for either "clear running water" or "bay farm". The Indigenous peoples of Southern Alberta refer to the Calgary area as "elbow", in reference to the sharp bend made by the Bow River and the Elbow River. In some cases, the area was named after the reeds that grew along the riverbanks, reeds which had been used to fashion bows. In the

Blackfoot language The Blackfoot language, also called Siksiká (its denomination in ISO 639-3, ; Siksiká ik͡siká syllabics ), often anglicised as ', is an Algonquian language spoken by the Blackfoot or ''Niitsitapi'' people, who currently live in the nort ...

(Siksiká) the area is known as , meaning "elbow many houses", reflecting its strong settler presence. The shorter form of the

Blackfoot The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'' or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bla ...

name, , simply meaning "elbow", is the popular Indigenous term for the Calgary area. In the Nakoda or Stoney language, the area is known as or , both meaning "elbow". In the

Cree language Cree (also known as Cree– Montagnais–Naskapi) is a dialect continuum of Algonquian languages spoken by approximately 117,000 people across Canada, from the Northwest Territories to Alberta to Labrador. If considered one language, it is th ...

, the area is known as () meaning "at the elbow" or meaning "elbow". In the

Tsuutʼina language The Tsuutʼina language (formerly known as ''Sarcee'' or ''Sarsi'') is spoken by the people of the Tsuutʼina Nation, whose reserve and community is near Calgary, Alberta. It belongs to the Athabaskan language family, which also include the Nav ...

(Sarcee), the area is known as (older orthography, ) meaning "elbow". In Kutenai language, the city is referred to as . In the

Slavey language Slavey (; also Slave, Slavé) is a group of Athabaskan languages and a dialect continuum spoken amongst the Dene peoples of Canada in the Northwest Territories – or central Denendeh – where it also has official status.Calgary Stampede and the city's settler heritage. There have been several attempts to revive the Indigenous names of Calgary. In response to the

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC; french: Commission de vérité et réconciliation du Canada []) was a truth and reconciliation commission active in Canada from 2008 to 2015, organized by the parties of the Indian Reside ...

, local #Post-secondary, post-secondary institutions adopted "official acknowledgements" of Indigenous territory using the Blackfoot name of the city, . In 2017, the Nakoda people, Stoney Nakoda sent an application to the Government of Alberta, to rename Calgary as meaning "elbow town"; however, this was challenged by the Piikani Blackfoot.

History

Early history

The Calgary area was inhabited by pre-

Clovis Clovis may refer to: People * Clovis (given name), the early medieval (Frankish) form of the name Louis ** Clovis I (c. 466 – 511), the first king of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler ** Clovis II (c. 634 – c. 657), ...

people whose presence has been traced back at least 11,000 years. The area has been inhabited by the multiple First Nations, the Niitsitapi ( Blackfoot Confederacy; Siksika,

Kainai The Kainai Nation (or , or Blood Tribe) ( bla, Káínaa) is a First Nations band government in southern Alberta, Canada, with a population of 12,800 members in 2015, up from 11,791 in December 2013. translates directly to 'many chief' (fro ...

, Piikani), îyârhe Nakoda, the Tsuutʼina peoples and

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

Nation, Region 3. As Mayor Naheed Nenshi said in 2018, "There have always been people here. In Biblical times there were people here. For generations beyond number, people have come here to this land, drawn here by the water. They come here to hunt and fish; to trade; to live; to love; to have great victories; to taste bitter disappointment; but above all to engage in that very human act of building community." In 1787, David Thompson, a 17-year-old

cartographer Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

with the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) spent the winter with a band of Peigan encamped along the Bow River. He was also a

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

r and surveyor and the first recorded European to visit the area.

John Glenn John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space, and the first American to orbit the Earth, circling ...

was the first documented European settler in the Calgary area, in 1873. In spring 1875, three priests Lacombe, Remus, and Scollen built a small log cabin on the banks of the Elbow River. FortCalgary1878

In the fall of 1875, the site became a post of the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian para-military police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert’s Land and North-Western Territory ...

(NWMP) (now the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or RCMP). The NWMP detachment was assigned to protect the western plains from US whisky traders, and to protect the

, and Inspector Éphrem-A. Brisebois led fifty Mounties as part of F Troop north from Fort Macleod to establish the site. The

I. G. Baker Company The I. G. Baker Company was a mercantile and grocery company based in Fort Benton, Montana, started by Isaac Gilbert Baker and his brother, George Amos Baker, as I. G. Baker & Brother in 1866.Klassen, Henry Cornelius. ''Eye on the future: business p ...

Fort Benton, Montana Fort Benton is a city in and the county seat of Chouteau County, Montana, United States. Established in 1846, Fort Benton is the oldest continuously occupied settlement in Montana. The city's waterfront area, the most important aspect of its 1 ...

, was contracted to construct a suitable fort, and after its completion, the Baker company built a log store next to the fort. The NWMP fort remained officially nameless until construction was complete, although it had been referred to as ''"The Mouth"'' by people at Fort Macleod. At Christmas dinner NWMP Inspector Éphrem-A. Brisebois christened the unnamed Fort ''"Fort Brisebois"'', a decision which caught the ire of his superiors Colonel James Macleod and Major

Acheson Irvine Acheson Gosford Irvine, ISO (December 7, 1837 – January 8, 1916) served as Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) from November 1, 1880, to March 31, 1886. Irvine was born in Lower Canada in 1837, the son of John George Irvi ...

. Major Irvine cancelled the order by Brisebois and wrote

Hewitt Bernard Hewitt Bernard, (1825 – 24 February 1893) was a Canadian lawyer, militia officer, editor, and civil servant. Life and career Bernard was born in Spanish Town, Jamaica. He was educated in Bath, England, and practiced law education in Jam ...

, the then Deputy Minister of Justice in Ottawa, describing the situation and suggesting the name ''"Calgary"'' put forward by Colonel Macleod. Edward Blake, at the time Minister of Justice, agreed with the name and in the spring of 1876 Fort Calgary was officially established. In 1881 the federal government began to offer leases for cattle ranching in Alberta (up to for one cent per acre per year) under the '' Dominion Lands Act'', which became a catalyst for immigration to the settlement. The I. G. Baker Company drove the first herd of cattle to the region in the same year for the

Cochrane Cochrane may refer to: Places Australia *Cochrane railway station, Sydney, a railway station on the closed Ropes Creek railway line Canada * Cochrane, Alberta * Cochrane Lake, Alberta * Cochrane District, Ontario ** Cochrane, Ontario, a town wit ...

area by order of Major James Walker. The

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

(CPR) reached the area in August 1883 and constructed a railway station on the CPR-owned Section 15, neighbouring the townsite across the Elbow River to the east on Section 14. The difficulty in crossing the river and the CPR's efforts to persuade residents resulted in the core of the Calgary townsite moving onto Section 15, with the fate of the old townsite sealed when the post office was anonymously moved across the icy Elbow River during the night. The CPR subdivided Section 15 and began selling lots surrounding the station, $450 for corner lots and $350 for all others; and pioneer Felix McHugh constructed the first private building on the site. Earlier in the decade it was not expected that the railway would pass near Calgary; instead, the preferred route put forward by people concerned with the young nation's defence was passing near Edmonton and through the Yellowhead Pass. However, in 1881 CPR changed the plans preferring the direct route through the prairies by way of Kicking Horse Pass. Along with the CPR, August 1883 brought Calgary the first edition of the ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...

'' published on the 31st under the title ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate and General Advertiser'' by teacher Andrew M. Armour and printer Thomas B. Braden, a weekly newspaper with a subscription price of $1 per year. Over a century later, the CPR headquarters moved to Calgary from Montreal in 1996. Residents of the now-eight-year-old settlement sought to form a local government of their own. In the first weeks of 1884, James Reilly who was building the Royal Hotel east of the Elbow River circulated 200 handbills announcing a public meeting on January 7, 1884, at the Methodist Church. At the full meeting Reilly advocated for a bridge across the Elbow River and a civic committee to watch over the interests of the public until Calgary could be incorporated. The attendees were enthusiastic about the committee and on the next evening a vote was held to elect the seven members. A total of 24 candidates were nominated, which equalled 10 per cent of Calgary's male population. Major James Walker received 88 votes, the most amongst the candidates, the other six members were Dr. Andrew Henderson, George Clift King, Thomas Swan, George Murdoch, J. D. Moulton, and Captain John Stewart. The civic committee met with Edgar Dewdney,

Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories This is a list of historical lieutenant-governors of North-West Territories, Canada. The position of Lieutenant-Governor lasted from the acquisition of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory in 1869 to the creation of Alberta and Saskatc ...

, who happened to be in Calgary at the time, to discuss an allowance for a school, an increase from $300 to $1,000 grant for a bridge over the Elbow River, incorporation as a town, and representation for Calgary in the

Legislative Council of the North-West Territories The Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly, or Legislative Council of the Northwest Territories (with Northwest hyphenated as North-West until 1906), is the legislature and the seat of government of Northwest Territories in Canada. It is a uni ...

. The committee was successful in getting an additional $200 for the bridge, and eventually a by-election was held on June 28, 1884, where

James Davidson Geddes James Davidson Geddes (c. 1844 – March 30, 1895) was a Canadian accountant, rancher and politician who served a term in the Northwest Territories Legislature. Early life Geddes, originally from the United States, lived in Galt, Ontario and ...

defeated James Kidd Oswald to become the Calgary electoral district representative to

1st Council of the North-West Territories The 1st Council of the North-West Territories, also known as the North-West Council in Canada, lasted from October 7, 1876, to 1888. It was created as a permanent replacement to the Temporary North-West Council which existed prior to 1876. A 2nd C ...

. As for education, Calgary moved quickly: the Citizen's Committee raised $125 on February 6, 1884, and the first school opened for twelve children days later on February 18, led by teacher John William Costello. The private school was not enough for the needs of the town, and following a petition by James Walker the ''Calgary Protestant Public School District No. 19'' was formed by the Legislature on March 2, 1885. On November 27, 1884, Lieutenant Governor Dewdney proclaimed the

incorporation Incorporation may refer to: * Incorporation (business), the creation of a corporation * Incorporation of a place, creation of municipal corporation such as a city or county * Incorporation (academic), awarding a degree based on the student having ...

of ''The Town of Calgary''. Shortly after on December 3, Calgarians went to the polls to elect their first mayor and four councillors. ''The North-West Municipal Ordinance of 1884'' provided voting rights to any male

British subject The term "British subject" has several different meanings depending on the time period. Before 1949, it referred to almost all subjects of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Dominions, and colonies, but excluding protectorates ...

over 21 years of age who owned at minimum $300 of property. The election was held under

multiple non-transferable vote The multiple non-transferable vote (MNTV) is a group of voting system, in which voters elect several representatives at once, with each voter having more than one vote. MNTV uses multi-member electoral districts or only one district, which conta ...

where each elector was able to cast a ballot for the mayor and up to four ballots for separate councillors. George Murdoch won the mayoral race in a landslide victory with 202 votes over E. Redpath's 16, while Simon Jackson Hogg, Neville James Lindsay, Joseph Henry Millward, and Simon John Clarke were elected councillors. The next morning the Council met for the first time at Beaudoin and Clarke's Saloon. Law and order remained top of mind in the frontier town, in early 1884 Jack Campbell was appointed as a constable for the community, and in early 1885 the Town Council passed ''By-law Eleven'' creating the position of Chief Constable and assigning relevant duties, a precursor to the Calgary Police Service. The first chief constable, John (Jack) S. Ingram, who had previously served as the first police chief in Winnipeg, was empowered to arrest drunken and disorderly people, stop all fast riding in town, attend all fires and council meetings. Calgary Town Council was eager to employ constables versus contracting the NWMP for town duty as the police force was seen as a money-making proposition. Constables received half of the fines from liquor cases, meaning Chief Constable Ingram could easily pay his $60 per month salary and the expense of a town jail.

Turmoil in 1885 and 1886 and "The Sandstone City"

For the Town of Calgary, 1884 turned out to be a success; however, two dark years lay ahead for the fledgling community. The turmoil started in late 1885, when Councillor Clarke was arrested for threatening a plain-clothes Mountie who entered his saloon to conduct a late-night search. When the officer failed to produce a search warrant, Clarke chased him off the premises; however, the Mountie returned with reinforcements and arrested Clarke. Clarke found himself before

Stipendiary Magistrate Stipendiary magistrates were magistrates that were paid for their work (they received a stipend). They existed in the judiciaries of the United Kingdom and those of several former British territories, where they sat in the lowest-level criminal ...

Jeremiah Travis Jeremiah Travis (January 21, 1830 – April 27, 1911) was a Canadian politician and attorney. He was a member of the 1st Council of the Northwest Territories in the 1880s, serving as stipendiary magistrate. He was an attorney and judge. Trav ...

, a proponent of the temperance movement who was appalled by the open traffic of liquor, gambling and prostitution in Calgary despite prohibition in the Northwest Territories. Travis' view was accurate as the Royal Commission of Liquor Traffic of 1892 found liquor was sold openly, both day and night during prohibition. Travis associated Clarke with the troubles he saw in Calgary and found him guilty, and sentenced Clarke to six months with hard labour. Murdoch and the other members of Council were shocked and a public meeting was held at Boynton's Hall in which a decision was made to send a delegation to Ottawa to seek an overruling of Travis' judgement by the Department of Justice. The community quickly raised $500 and Murdoch and a group of residents headed east. The punishment of Clarke did not escape Hugh Cayley the editor of the ''Calgary Herald'' and Clerk of the District Court. Cayley published articles critical of Travis and his judgment, in which Travis responded by calling Cayley to court, dismissing him from his position as Clerk, ordering Cayley to apologized and pay a $100 fine. Cayley refused to pay the fine, which Travis increased to $500, and on January 5, the day after the election, Cayley was imprisoned by Travis. Murdoch returned to Calgary on December 27, 1885, only a week before the upcoming election to find the Town in disarray. Shortly before the 1886 election, G. E. Marsh brought a charge of corruption against Murdoch and council over irregularities in the voters' list. Travis found Murdoch and the councillors guilty, disqualifying them from running in the 1886 election, barring them from municipal office for two years, and fining Murdoch $100, and the councillors $20. This was despite the fact Murdoch was visiting Eastern Canada while the alleged tampering was occurring. Travis' disqualification did not dissuade Calgary voters and Murdoch defeated his opponent James Reilly by a significant margin in early January to be re-elected as Mayor. Travis accepted a petition from Reilly to unseat Murdoch and two of the elected Councillors, and declare Reilly the Mayor of Calgary. Both Murdoch and Reilly claimed to be the lawful Mayor of the growingly disorganized Town of Calgary, both holding council meetings and attempting to govern. Word of the issues in Calgary reached the Minister of Justice John Sparrow David Thompson in Ottawa who ordered Justice

Thomas Wardlaw Taylor Sir Thomas Wardlaw Taylor (March 25, 1833 – March 2, 1917) was a Canadian lawyer and judge. Born in Auchtermuchty, Scotland, he studied at Edinburgh University, and was admitted to the Upper Canadian bar in 1858. From 1872 to 1883 he was M ...

of Winnipeg to conduct an Inquiry into the ''"Case of Jeremiah Travis"''. The federal government acted before receiving Taylor's report, Jeremiah Travis was suspended and the government waited for his official tenure to expire, after which he was pensioned off. Justice Taylor's report which was released in June 1887 found Travis had exceeded his authority and erred in his judgements. The Territorial Council called for a new municipal election to be held in Calgary on November 3, 1886. George Clift King defeated his opponent John Lineham for the office of Mayor of Calgary. Big fire on 9th Avenue SE, Calgary, Alberta

Big fire on 9th Avenue SE, Calgary, Alberta

Calgary would only have a couple days peace following the November election before the Calgary Fire of 1886 destroyed much of the community's downtown. Part of the slow response to the fire can be attributed to the absence of functioning local government during 1886. As neither George Murdoch or James Reilly was capable of effectively governing the town, the newly ordered chemical engine for the recently organized Calgary Fire Department (Calgary Hook, Ladder and Bucket Corps) was held in the CPR's storage yard due to lack of payment. Members of the Calgary Fire Department broke into the CPR storage yard on the day of the fire to retrieve the engine. In total, fourteen buildings were destroyed with losses estimated at $103,200, although no one was killed or injured. The new Town Council sprung into action, drafting a

bylaw A by-law (bye-law, by(e)law, by(e) law), or as it is most commonly known in the United States bylaws, is a set of rules or law established by an organization or community so as to regulate itself, as allowed or provided for by some higher authorit ...

requiring all large downtown buildings were to be built with sandstone, which was readily available nearby in the form of Paskapoo sandstone. Following the fire several quarries were opened around the city by prominent local businessmen including Thomas Edworthy, Wesley Fletcher Orr, J. G. McCallum, and William Oliver. Prominent buildings built with Sandstone following the fire include Knox Presbyterian Church (1887), Imperial Bank Building (1887), Calgary City Hall (1911), and Calgary Courthouse No. 2 (1914).

1887 to 1900

Calgary continued to expand when real estate speculation took hold of Calgary in 1889. Speculators began buying and building west of Centre Street and Calgary quickly began to sprawl west to the ire of property owners on the east side of town. Property owners on both sides of Centre Street sought to bring development to their side of Calgary, lost successfully by east sider James Walker who convinced the Town Council to purchase land on the east side for a stockyard purposes, guaranteeing meat packing and processing plants would be constructed on the east side. By 1892 Calgary had reached present-day Seventeenth Avenue, east to the Elbow River and west to Eighth Street, and the first federal census listed the boom town at 3,876 inhabitants. The economic conditions in Calgary began to deteriorate in 1892, as development in the downtown slowed, the streetcar system started in 1889 was put on hold and smaller property owners began to sell. The first step in connecting the District of Alberta happened in Calgary on July 21, 1890, as

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

Edgar Dewdney turned the first sod for the Calgary and Edmonton Railway in front of two thousand residents. The railway was completed in August 1891 and immensely shortened travel time between the two communities, previously stagecoach passengers and mail could arrive in five days and animal pulled freight anywhere between two and three weeks, the train was able to make the trip in only a few hours. Smallpox arrived in Calgary in June 1892 when a Chinese resident was found with the disease, and by August nine people had contracted the disease with three deaths. Calgarians placed the blame for the disease on the local Chinese population, resulting in a riot on August 2, 1892. Residents descended on the Town's Chinese-owned laundries, smashing windows and attempting to burn the structures to the ground. The local police did not attempt to intervene. Mayor

Alexander Lucas Alexander Lucas (September 2, 1852 – June 8, 1942) was a Canadian businessman and politician. He was the seventh mayor of the town of Calgary, Alberta and spent six years as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in British Columbia. ...

had inexplicably left town during the riot, and when he returned home he called the NWMP in to patrol Calgary for three weeks to prevent further riots. Finally on January 1, 1894, Calgary was granted a

Charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

by the

2nd North-West Legislative Assembly The 2nd North-West Legislative Assembly was constituted after the 1891 North-West Territories general election which took place on 7 November 1891. The Legislative Assembly lasted from 1891 to 1894. List of Members of the Legislative Assembly ...

, officially titled ''Ordinance 33 of 1894'', the City of Calgary Charter elevated the frontier town to the status of a full-fledged city. Calgary became the first City in the Northwest Territories, receiving its Charter a decade before Edmonton and Regina, the Calgary Charter would remain enforce until it was repealed with the ''Cities Act'' in 1950. The Charter came into effect in such a way as to prevent the regularly scheduled municipal election in December 1893, and recognizing the importance of the moment, the entire Town Council resigned to ensure the new City could choose the first Calgary City Council. Calgary's first municipal election as a City saw Wesley Fletcher Orr garner 244 votes, narrowly defeating his opponent

William Henry Cushing William Henry Cushing (August 21, 1852 – January 25, 1934) was a Canadian politician. Born in Ontario, he migrated west as a young adult where he started a successful lumber company and later became Alberta's first Minister of Public Works and ...

's 220 votes, and Orr was named the first Mayor of the City of Calgary. By late 19th century, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) expanded into the interior and established posts along rivers that later developed into the modern cities of Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton. In 1884, the HBC established a sales shop in Calgary. HBC also built the first of the grand "original six" department stores in Calgary in 1913; others that followed are Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg. In October 1899 the Village of Rouleauville was incorporated by French Catholic residents south of Calgary's city limits in what is now known as Mission, the town would not remain independent for long, and became the first incorporated municipality to be amalgamated into Calgary eight years later in 1907.

Turn of the 20th century

The turn of the century brought questions of provincehood the top of mind in Calgary. On September 1, 1905, Alberta was proclaimed a province with a provisional capital in Edmonton, it would be left up to the Legislature to choose the permanent location. One of the first decisions of the new Alberta Legislature was the capital, and although

advocated strongly for Calgary, the resulting vote saw Edmonton win the capital 16–8. Calgarians were disappointed on the city not being named the capital, and focused their attention on the formation of the provincial university. However, the efforts by the community could not sway the government, and the University of Alberta was founded in the City of Strathcona, Premier Rutherford's home, which was subsequently amalgamated into the City of Edmonton in 1912. Calgary was not to be left without higher education facilities as the provincial Normal School opened in the McDougall School building in 1905. In 1910, R. B. Bennett introduced a bill in the Alberta Legislature to incorporate the "Calgary University", however there was significant opposition to two degree-granting institutions in such a small province. A commission was appointed to evaluate the Calgary proposal which found the second university to be unnecessary, however, the commission did recommend the formation of the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art in Calgary (

SAIT Sait as a given name or surname is the Turkish written form of the Arabic male given name Sa‘id. The name Sait or the abbreviation SAIT may refer to: People (given name or surname) * Sait Faik Abasıyanık, Turkish writer * Talât Sait Halman, ...

), which was formed later in 1915. 1st Street West, Calgary, Alta

Built-up areas of Calgary between 1905 and 1912 were serviced by power and water, the City continued a program of paving and sidewalk laying and with the CPR constructed a series of subways under the tracks to connect the town with streetcars. The first three motor buses hit Calgary streets in 1907, and two years later the municipally owned street railway system, fit with seven miles of track opened in Calgary. The immediately popular street railway system reached 250,000 passengers per month by 1910. The privately owned MacArthur Bridge (precursor to the Centre Street Bridge over the Bow River) opened in 1907 which provided for residential expansion north of the Bow River. The early-1910s saw real estate speculation hit Calgary once again, with property prices rising significantly with growing municipal investment, CPR's decision to construct a car shop at Ogden set to employ over 5,000 people, the projected arrival of the

Grand Trunk Pacific The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway running from Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay) to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, a Pacific coast port. East of Winnipeg the line continued as the National Tra ...

and Canadian Northern Railways in the city and Calgary's growing reputation as a growing economic hub. The period between 1906 and 1911 was the largest population growth period in the city's history, expanding from 11,967 to 43,704 inhabitants in the five-year period. Several ambitious projects were started during this period including a new

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

, the Hudson's Bay Department Store, the Grain Exchange Building, and the Palliser Hotel, this period also corresponded to the end of the ''"Sandstone City"'' era as steel frames and terracotta facades such as the Burns Building (1913) which were prevalent in other North American cities overtook the unique sandstone character of Calgary.

Stampede City

Rounding up for the first Calgary Stampede (38085634056)

The growing City and enthusiastic residents were rewarded in 1908 with the federally funded Dominion Exhibition. Seeking to take advantage of the opportunity to promote itself, the city spent to build six new pavilions and a racetrack. It held a lavish parade as well as

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...

, horse racing, and

trick roping Floreo de Reata or Trick roping is a Mexican entertainment or competitive art involving the spinning of a lasso, also known as a lariat or a rope. Besides Mexico and Mexican Charreria, it is also associated with Wild West shows or Western arts ...

competitions as part of the event. The exhibition was a success, drawing 100,000 people to the fairgrounds over seven days despite an economic recession that afflicted the city of 25,000. Calgary had previously held a number of Agricultural exhibitions dating back to 1886, and recognizing the city's enthusiasm, Guy Weadick, an American trick roper who participated in the Dominion Exhibition as part of the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Real Wild West Show, returned to Calgary in 1912 to host the first Calgary Stampede in the hopes of establishing an event that more accurately represented the "wild west" than the shows he was a part of. He initially failed to sell civic leaders and the Calgary Industrial Exhibition on his plans, but with the assistance of local livestock agent H. C. McMullen, Weadick convinced businessmen Pat Burns, George Lane, A. J. McLean, and A. E. Cross to put up $100,000 to guarantee funding for the event. Program for 1912 Calgary Stampede

The

Big Four Big Four or Big 4 may refer to: Groups of companies * Big Four accounting firms: Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, PwC * Big Four (airlines) in the U.S. in the 20th century: American, Eastern, TWA, United * Big Four (banking), several groupings ...

, as they came to be known, viewed the project as a final celebration of their life as cattlemen. The city constructed a rodeo arena on the fairgrounds and over 100,000 people attended the six-day event in September 1912 to watch hundreds of cowboys from Western Canada, the United States, and Mexico compete for $20,000 in prizes. The event generated $120,000 in revenue and was hailed as a success. The Calgary Stampede has continued as a civic tradition for over 100 years, marketing itself as the ''"greatest outdoor show on earth"'', with Calgarians sporting western wear for 10 days while attending the annual parade, daily pancake breakfasts.

Early oil and gas

While agriculture and railway activities were the dominant aspects of Calgary's early economy, the Turner Valley ''Discovery Well'' blew South-West of Calgary on May 14, 1914, marked the beginning of the oil and gas age in Calgary. Archibald Wayne Dingman and Calgary Petroleum Product's discovery was heralded as the ''"biggest oil field in the British Empire"'' at around 19 million cubic metres, and in a three-week period an estimated 500 oil companies sprang into existence. Calgarians were enthusiastic to invest in new oil companies, with many losing life savings during the short 1914 boom in hastily formed companies. Outbreak of the First World War further dampened the oil craze as more men and resources left for Europe and agricultural prices for wheat and cattle increased. Turner Valley's oil fields would boom again in 1924 and 1936, and by the Second World War the Turner Valley oilfield was producing more than 95 per cent of the oil in Canada. however the city would wait until 1947 for

Leduc No. 1 Leduc No. 1 was a major crude oil discovery made near Leduc, Alberta, Canada on February 13, 1947. It provided the geological key to Alberta's most prolific conventional oil reserves and resulted in a boom in petroleum exploration and developmen ...

to definitively shift Calgary to an oil and gas city. While Edmonton would see significant population and economic growth with the Leduc discovery, many corporate offices established in Calgary after Turner Valley refused to relocate north. Consequently, by 1967, Calgary had more millionaires than any other city in Canada, and per capita, more cars than any city in the world.

Early politics 1910s to 1940s

Early-20th-century Calgary served as a hotbed for political activity. Historically Calgarians supported the provincial and federal conservative parties, the opposite of the Liberal-friendly City of Edmonton. However, Calgarians were sympathetic to the cause of workers and supported the development of labour organizations. In 1909 the upstart United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) formed in Edmonton as a non-partisan lobbying organization to represent the interests of farmers. The UFA eventually dropped its non-partisan stance and when it contested the 1921 provincial election. It was elected to form the province's first non-Liberal government. By that time Calgary was using single transferable vote (STV), a form of proportional representation, to elect its councillors. Calgary was the first city in Canada to adopt PR for its city elections. Councillors were elected in one at-large district. Each voter cast just a single vote, using a ranked transferable ballot. The UFA government elected in 1921 allowed Calgary to elect its MLAs through PR as well. Calgary elected its MLAs through PR until 1956 and its councillors through PR until 1971, although mostly using

instant-runoff voting Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a type of ranked preferential voting method. It uses a majority voting rule in single-winner elections where there are more than two candidates. It is commonly referred to as ranked-choice voting (RCV) in the Un ...

, not STV, in the 1960s. Calgary endured a six-year recession following the First World War, the rising unemployment rate from reduced manufacturing demand compounded with service men returned from Europe eager to seek work created economic and social unrest. By 1921, over 2,000 men (representing 11 per cent of the male workforce) were officially unemployed. Labour organizations began endorsing candidates for Calgary City Council in the late 1910s and were quickly successful in electing sympathetic candidates to office, including Mayor

Samuel Hunter Adams Samuel Hunter Adams (September 3, 1878 – December 10, 1975) was a Canadian lawyer and politician from Alberta. He was elected the 21st List of mayors of Calgary, Mayor of Calgary in 1920, serving as mayor for three years. Early life Samue ...

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

. In 1922, Civic Government Association formed in opposition of growing influence of labour groups, endorsing their own competing slate of candidates. Labour's influence would be short lived on City Council, with Labour candidates failing to receive substantial support after 1924. The city's support of labour and agricultural groups made it a natural location for the founding meeting of the

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; french: Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif, FCC); from 1955 the Social Democratic Party of Canada (''french: Parti social démocratique du Canada''), was a federal democratic socialism, democra ...

(precursor to the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

). The organizational meeting was held in Calgary on July 31, 1932, with attendance exceeding 1,300 people.

Calgary gained further political prominence when

R. B. Bennett Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett, (July 3, 1870 – June 26, 1947), was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, philanthropist, and politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Canada from 1930 to 1935. Bennett was born in ...

's Conservative Party won the 1930 federal election and formed government and became Canada's 11th prime minister. Bennett arrived in Calgary from New Brunswick in 1897, was previously the leader of the provincial Conservative Party, advocated for Calgary as the capital of Alberta, and championed the growing city. Calgary had to wait another decade to have a sitting premier represent the city, when sitting Social Credit Premier William Aberhart moved from his Okotoks-High River to

for the 1940 provincial election after his Okotoks-High River constituents almost successful in recalling the premier.

1960s to 1970s

Trolleybus next to Hudson's Bay Company store in Calgary in 1971

Only a little over a decade after shuttering the municipal tram lines Calgary City Council began investigating rapid transit. In 1966 a

heavy rail transit Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid accelerati ...

proposal was developed, however the estimated costs continued to grow rapidly, and the plan was re-evaluated in 1975. In May 1977 Calgary City Council directed that a detailed design and construction start on the south leg of a light rail transit system, which opened on May 25, 1981, and dubbed the CTrain. The University of Calgary gained autonomy as a degree granting institution in 1966 with the passage of the ''Universities Act'' by the Alberta Legislature. The campus provided as a one dollar lease from the City of Calgary in 1957, had previously served as a satellite campus of the University of Alberta.

1970s and 1980s: economic boom and bust

The

1970s energy crisis The 1970s energy crisis occurred when the Western world, particularly the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, faced substantial petroleum shortages as well as elevated prices. The two worst crises of this period wer ...

resulted in significant investment and growth in Calgary. By 1981, 45 per cent of the Calgary labour force was made up of management, administrative or clerical staff, above the national average of 35 per cent. Calgary's population grew with the opportunity the oil boom brought, the 20-year period from 1966 to 1986 saw the population increase from 330,575 to 636,107. Population growth became a source of pride, the June 1980 ''Calgary Magazine'' exclaimed ''"Welcome to Calgary! Calgary almost specializes in newcomers..."''. The economic boom saw a number of high-rises pop up on the Calgary skyline. The flurry of construction saw Calgary open more office space in 1979 than New York City and Chicago combined. While the end of the oil boom can be tied with the National Energy Program implemented by Prime Minister

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

's government, the end of the construction boom was tied to the completion of the

Petro-Canada Centre The Suncor Energy Centre, formerly the Petro-Canada Centre, is a project composed of two granite and reflective glass-clad office towers of 32 floors and 52 floors, situated in the office core of downtown Calgary, Alberta. The Council on Tall B ...

in 1984. The two tower granite Petro-Canada Centre, commonly referred to by locals as ''Red Square'' alluding to the city's hostile view of the

state-owned State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownersh ...

petroleum company, saw the larger 53-storey west tower rise to 215 metres and become the largest building in Calgary for 26 years, and a smaller 32-storey east tower rise 130 metres. The City further expanded the CTrain system, planning began in 1981 and the northeast leg of the system was approved on to be operational in time for the 1988 Olympics. The boom could not last forever. The

1980s oil glut The 1980s oil glut was a serious surplus of crude oil caused by falling demand following the 1970s energy crisis. The world price of oil had peaked in 1980 at over US$35 per barrel (equivalent to $ per barrel in dollars, when adjusted for inf ...

caused by falling demand and the National Energy Program marked the end of Calgary's boom. In 1983 Calgary City Council announced service cuts to ease the $16 million deficit, 421 city employees were laid off, unemployment rose from 5 to 11 per cent between November 1981 and November 1982, eventually peaking at 14.9 per cent in March 1983. The decline was so swift that the city's population went down for the first time in history from April 1982 to April 1983, and 3,331 homes were foreclosed by financial institutions in 1983. Low oil prices in the 1980s prevented a full economic recovery until the 1990s. Amongst the most invigorating news of the decade came on May 21, 1980, when

Nelson Skalbania Nelson Mathew Skalbania (born February 12, 1938) is an engineer and businessman from Vancouver, British Columbia who is best known for signing a then 17-year-old Wayne Gretzky to the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association, and for his ...

announced the relocation of the Atlanta Flames hockey club to become the Calgary Flames. Skalbania represented a group of Calgary businessmen that included oil magnates

Harley Hotchkiss Harley Norman Hotchkiss, (July 12, 1927 – June 22, 2011) was a Canadian business and community leader who was best known for his contributions to health and sports development in Canada. He was part of the consortium that brought the Atlanta ...

Ralph T. Scurfield Ralph Thomas Scurfield Bachelor of Science, B.Sc (January 7, 1928 – February 18, 1985) was a Canadian businessman. He was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Nu-West Group Limited (1957–1985), and was an original owner of the Calgary ...

Norman Green Norman N. Green (born June 12, 1934) is a shopping mall developer and owner from Calgary, Alberta. He was an original director and one of the principal investors in Sage Telecom, a private, telecommunications company operating in eleven US states ...

, Doc and

Byron Seaman Byron James Seaman (September 7, 1923April 24, 2021) was a Canadian businessman. He was the co-owner of the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL) for three decades from 1980 until 2010. Early life Seaman was born in Rouleau, Saskat ...

, and former Calgary Stampeders great Norman Kwong. A last-ditch effort to keep the team in Atlanta fell short, and Atlanta team owner Tom Cousins sold the team to Skalbania for US$16 million, a record sale price for an

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

team at the time. The team was successful right away making the playoffs each year in the first 10 years in Calgary. The Flames fell short of the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

to the Montreal Canadiens, but finally won the team's only Stanley Cup in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

Olympic legacy

Public concern existed regarding the potential long-term debt implications which had plagued Montreal following the 1976 Olympics. The

Calgary Olympic Development Association The Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA), operating as WinSport, is a non-profit organization based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada whose mandate is to provide training and development to Canada's Olympic athletes, and to maintain the facili ...

led the bid for Calgary and spent two years building local support for the project, selling memberships to 80,000 of the city's 600,000 residents. It secured million in funding from the federal and provincial governments while civic leaders, including Mayor Ralph Klein, crisscrossed the world attempting to woo International Olympic Committee (IOC) delegates. Calgary was one of three finalists, opposed by the Swedish community of Falun and Italian community of

Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; lld, Anpezo, ; historical de-AT, Hayden) is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomitic) Alps in the Province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the Boite river, in an alp ...

. On September 30, 1981, the International Olympic Committee voted to give Calgary the right to host the

1988 Olympic Winter Games ) , nations = 57 , athletes = 1,423 (1,122 men, 301 women) , events = 46 in 6 sports (10 disciplines) , opening = February 13, 1988 , closing = February 28, 1988 , opened_by = Governor General Jeanne Sauvé , cauldron ...

, becoming the first Canadian host for the winter games. The Games' five primary venues were all purpose-built however, at significant cost. The Olympic Saddledome was the primary venue for ice hockey and figure skating. Located at Stampede Park, the facility was expected to cost $83 million but cost overruns pushed the facility to nearly $100 million. The Olympic Oval was built on the campus of the University of Calgary. It was the first fully enclosed 400-metre speed skating venue in the world as it was necessary to protect against the possibility of either bitter cold temperatures or ice-melting chinook winds. Seven world and three Olympic records were broken during the Games, resulting in the facility earning praise as "the fastest ice on Earth". Canada Olympic Park was built on the western outskirts of Calgary and hosted bobsled,

luge A luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine (face up) and feet-first. A luger steers by using the calf muscles to flex the sled's runners or by exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Racing sleds weigh for s ...

, ski jumping and

freestyle skiing Freestyle skiing is a skiing discipline comprising aerials, Mogul Skiing, moguls, Ski Cross, cross, Half-pipe skiing, half-pipe, slopestyle and big air as part of the Freestyle skiing at the Winter Olympics, Winter Olympics. It can consist of a ...

. It was the most expensive facility built for the games, costing $200 million. Despite Canada failing to earn a gold medal in the Games, the events proved to be a major economic boom for the city which had fallen into its worst recession in 40 years following the collapse of both oil and grain prices in the mid-1980s. A report prepared for the city in January 1985 estimated the games would create 11,100 man-years of employment and generate -million in salaries and wages. In its post-Games report, OCO'88 estimated the Olympics created billion in economic benefits across Canada during the 1980s, 70 percent within Alberta, as a result of capital spending, increased tourism and new sporting opportunities created by the facilities.

1990s to present

Thanks in part to escalating oil prices, the economy in Calgary and Alberta was booming until the end of 2009, and the region of nearly 1.1 million people was home to the fastest growing economy in the country. While the

oil and gas industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The largest ...

comprise an important part of the economy, the city has invested a great deal into other areas such as tourism and high-tech manufacturing. Over 3.1 million people now visit the city annually for its many festivals and attractions, especially the Calgary Stampede. The nearby mountain resort towns of Banff, Lake Louise, and

Canmore Canmore may refer to: * Canmore (database), a Scottish national online database of ancient monuments; *Canmore, Alberta, a town in Canada; *the House of Dunkeld, a royal house that ruled Scotland in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries, including **Mal ...

are also becoming increasingly popular with tourists, and are bringing people into Calgary as a result. Other modern industries include light manufacturing, high-tech, film, e-commerce, transportation, and services. Widespread flooding throughout southern Alberta, including on the Bow and Elbow rivers, forced the evacuation of over 75,000 city residents on June 21, 2013, and left large areas of the city, including downtown, without power.

Geography

Calgary is located at the transition zone between the Canadian Rockies foothills and the Canadian Prairies. The city lies within the foothills of the Parkland Natural Region and the Grasslands Natural Region. Downtown Calgary is about

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

, and the airport is . In 2011, the city covered a land area of . Calgary is in southern Alberta and is near subarctic climates and also near mountains. Two rivers run through the city and two creeks. The Bow River is the larger and it flows from the west to the south. The Elbow River flows northwards from the south until it converges with the Bow River at the historic site of Fort Calgary near downtown. Nose Creek flows into Calgary from the northwest then south to join the Bow River several kilometres east of the Elbow-Bow confluence. Fish Creek flows into Calgary from the southwest and converges with the Bow River near

McKenzie Towne McKenzie Towne is a master planned residential neighbourhood in the southeast of Calgary, Alberta being developed by Carma Developers LP (now Brookfield Residential Properties Inc.). The community is bordered on the west by Deerfoot Trail, on the ...

. The City of Calgary, in size, consists of an inner city surrounded by suburban communities of various density. The city is immediately surrounded by two

municipal districts A municipal district is an administrative entity comprising a clearly-defined territory and its population. It can refer to a city, a town, a village, a small grouping of them, or a rural area. Brazil In Brazil, municipal districts are, in genera ...

– Foothills County to the south and Rocky View County to the north, west and east. Proximate urban communities beyond the city within the Calgary Metropolitan Region include: the City of Airdrie to the north; the City of

Chestermere Chestermere, originally named Chestermere Lake, is a city in the Canadian province of Alberta, within Rocky View County. It is largely a commuter town of Calgary and is a member municipality of the Calgary Region. The city, which surrounds Chest ...

, the Town of Strathmore and the Hamlet of Langdon to the east; the towns of Okotoks and

High River High River is a town within the Calgary Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada. It is approximately south of Calgary, at the junction of Alberta Highways 2 and 23. High River had a population of 14,324 in 2021. History The community take ...

to the south; and the Town of

to the northwest. Numerous rural subdivisions are located within the Elbow Valley, Springbank and Bearspaw areas to the west and northwest. The Tsuu T'ina Nation Indian Reserve No. 145 borders Calgary to the southwest. Over the years, the city has made many land annexations to facilitate growth. In the most recent annexation of lands from the surrounding Rocky View County, completed in July 2007, the city annexed Shepard, a former hamlet, and placed its boundaries adjacent to the Hamlet of Balzac and City of Chestermere, and very close to the City of Airdrie.

Flora and fauna

Numerous plant and animal species are found within and around Calgary. The Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii''

var. In botanical nomenclature, variety (abbreviated var.; in la, varietas) is a taxonomic rank below that of species and subspecies, but above that of form. As such, it gets a three-part infraspecific name. It is sometimes recommended that the ...

''glauca'') comes near the eastern limit of its range at Calgary. Another

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

of widespread distribution found in the Calgary area is the white spruce ('' Picea glauca''). Animals that can be found in and around Calgary include white-tail deer,

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...

s, North American porcupines, moose, bats, rabbits,

mink Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the genera ''Neogale'' and '' Mustela'' and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, and ferrets. There are two extant species referred to as "mink": the A ...

, weasels, black bears, raccoons,

skunk Skunks are mammals in the family Mephitidae. They are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or ginge ...

s, and

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large Felidae, cat native to the Americas. Its Species distribution, range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mamm ...

Neighbourhoods

The downtown region of the city consists of five neighbourhoods:

Eau Claire Eau Claire (French for "clear water", ''pl.'' ''eaux claires'') is the name of a number of locations and features in North America. The name is pronounced as if it were spelled "O'Clare". Place names (Canada) Communities *Eau Claire, Calgary, a n ...

(including the Festival District), the Downtown West End, the Downtown Commercial Core,

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

, and the Downtown East Village (also part of the

Rivers District Beltline is a region of central Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The area is located immediately to the south of Calgary's downtown (south of 9th Avenue and the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks), and is sometimes considered part of downtown. The neigh ...

). The commercial core is itself divided into a number of districts including the Stephen Avenue Retail Core, the Entertainment District, the Arts District and the Government District. Distinct from downtown and south of 9th Avenue is Calgary's densest neighbourhood, the Beltline. The area includes a number of communities such as Connaught, Victoria Crossing and a portion of the Rivers District. The Beltline is the focus of major planning and rejuvenation initiatives on the part of the

municipal government A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

to increase the density and liveliness of Calgary's centre. Directly radiating from the downtown core are the first of the inner-city communities. These include Crescent Heights, Hounsfield Heights/Briar Hill,

Hillhurst Hillhurst is a community located within the inner city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The boundaries of the community are 8th Avenue NW to the north, 10th Street NW to the east, the Bow River to the south, and 18th Street NW to the west. The c ...

/ Sunnyside (including

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

BRZ), Bridgeland,

Renfrew Renfrew (; sco, Renfrew; gd, Rinn Friù) is a town west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former ...

, Mount Royal, Scarboro, Sunalta, Mission, Ramsay and

Inglewood Inglewood may refer to: Places Australia *Inglewood, Queensland * Shire of Inglewood, Queensland, a former local government area *Inglewood, South Australia *Inglewood, Victoria * Inglewood, Western Australia Canada * Inglewood, Ontario *Inglewo ...

and

Albert Park/Radisson Heights Albert Park/Radisson Heights is a residential neighbourhood in the southeast quadrant of Calgary, Alberta. It is bounded to the west by the Bow River and Deerfoot Trail, to the north by Memorial Drive and to the south by 17 Avenue SE. The commu ...

directly to the east. The inner city is, in turn, surrounded by relatively dense and established neighbourhoods such as Rosedale and Mount Pleasant to the north; Bowness, Parkdale, Shaganappi, Westgate and

Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...

to the west; Park Hill, South Calgary (including Marda Loop),

Bankview Bankview is a neighbourhood in the southwest quadrant of the city of Calgary, Alberta. The neighbourhood is bounded by 17th Avenue SW on the north, 26th Avenue SW on the south, 14th Street SW on the east and 19th Street SW on the west. It is a re ...

, Altadore, and Killarney to the south; and Forest Lawn/ International Avenue to the east. Lying beyond these, and usually separated from one another by highways, are suburban communities including Evergreen, Somerset, Auburn Bay,

Country Hills Country Hills is a residential neighbourhood in the northwest quadrant of Calgary, Alberta. It is bounded to the north by the Country Hills Boulevard, to the south by Beddington Trail, and to the east by Harvest Hills Boulevard. To the southwest, ...

Sundance A Sun Dance is a Native American ceremony. Sun dance or Sundance may also refer to: Places ;Canada *Sundance, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood *Sundance, Manitoba, a ghost town ;United States * Sundance, New Mexico, a census-designated place ...

, Chaparral, Riverbend, and

. In all, there are over 180 distinct neighbourhoods within the city limits. Several of Calgary's neighbourhoods were initially separate municipalities that were annexed by the city as it grew. These include Bowness, Montgomery, Midnapore, Shepard, and Forest Lawn.

Climate

Calgary experiences a semi-monsoonal humid continental climate ( Köppen climate classification ''Dwb'') within eastern parts of the city and a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

( Köppen climate classification ''Dwc'') within western parts of the city due to an increase in elevation. The city has warm, comfortable summers and freezing, dry (but like all of Alberta extremely variable) winters. It falls into the NRC Plant Hardiness Zone 4a. According to

Environment Canada Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC; french: Environnement et Changement climatique Canada),Environment and Climate Change Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of the Environment ( ...

, average daily temperatures in Calgary range from in July to in January. Dilmaghanian00711

Winters are cold and the air temperature can drop to or below on average of 22 days of the year and on average of 3.7 days of the year, but are frequently broken up by warm, dry chinook winds that blow into Alberta over the mountains. These winds can raise the winter temperature by , and as much as in just a few hours, and may last several days. As well, Calgary's proximity to the Rocky Mountains affects winter temperatures with a mixture of lows and highs, and tends to result in a mild winter for a city in the Prairie Provinces. Temperatures are also affected by the wind chill factor; Calgary's average wind speed is , one of the highest in Canadian cities. In summer, daytime temperatures range from and exceed an average of 5.1 days in June, July, and August, and occasionally as late as September or as early as May, and in winter drop below or at 3.7 days of the year. As a consequence of Calgary's high elevation and aridity, summer days are often comfortable and not humid unlike many other major cities in Canada. Summer evenings also tend to cool off, with monthly average low temperatures below throughout the summer months. Calgary has the most sunny days year round of Canada's 100 largest cities, with slightly over 332 days of sun; it has on average 2,396 hours of sunshine annually, with an average relative humidity of 55% in the winter and 45% in the summer (15:00 MST). Calgary International Airport in the northeastern section of the city receives an average of of precipitation annually, with of that occurring in the form of rain, and as snow. The most rainfall occurs in June and the most snowfall in March. Calgary has also recorded snow every month of the year. It last snowed in July on July 15, 1999. Thunderstorms can be frequent and sometimes severe with most of them occurring in the summer months. Calgary lies within Alberta's

Hailstorm Alley __NOTOC__ Hailstorm Alley is a colloquial term referring to an area of south and central Alberta, Canada where hail storms are frequently produced. These storms frequently produce hail that is damaging to property. This area stretches from High ...

and is prone to damaging hailstorms every few years. A hailstorm that struck Calgary on September 7, 1991, was one of the most destructive

natural disaster A natural disaster is "the negative impact following an actual occurrence of natural hazard in the event that it significantly harms a community". A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property, and typically leaves some econ ...

s in

Canadian history The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of the Paleo-Indians to North America thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present-day Canada were inhabited for millennia by ...

, with over $400 million in damage. Being west of the

dry line A dry line (also called a dew point line, or Marfa front, after Marfa, Texas) is a line across a continent that separates moist air and dry air. One of the most prominent examples of such a separation occurs in central North America, especially T ...

on most occasions, tornadoes are rare in the region. The highest temperature ever recorded in Calgary was on August 10, 2018. The lowest temperature ever recorded was on February 4, 1893. On November 15, 2021, Calgary City Council voted to declare a climate emergency. A

climate emergency declaration A climate emergency declaration or ''declaring a climate emergency'' is an action taken by governments and scientists to acknowledge humanity is in a climate emergency. The first such declaration was made by a local government in December 2016. ...

is a resolution passed by a governing body such as a city council. It puts the local government on record in support of emergency action to respond to climate change, and recognizes the pace and scale of action needed.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

, the City of Calgary had a population of 1,306,784 living in 502,301 of its 531,062 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,239,220. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. At the census metropolitan area (CMA) level in the 2021 census, the Calgary CMA had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. The population of the City of Calgary according to its 2019 municipal census is 1,285,711, a change of from its 2018 municipal census population of 1,267,344. In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the City of Calgary had a population of 1,239,220 living in 466,725 of its 489,650 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 1,096,833. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016. Calgary was ranked first among the three cities in Canada that saw their population grow by more than 100,000 people between 2011 and 2016. During this time Calgary saw a population growth of 142,387 people, followed by Edmonton at 120,345 people and Toronto at 116,511 people. The Calgary census metropolitan area (CMA) is the fourth-largest CMA in Canada and largest in Alberta. It had a population of 1,392,609 in the 2016 Census compared to its 2011 population of 1,214,839. Its five-year population change of 14.6 percent was the highest among all CMAs in Canada between 2011 and 2016. With a land area of , the Calgary CMA had a population density of in 2016. Statistics Canada's latest estimate of the Calgary CMA population, as of July 1, 2017, is 1,488,841. In 2015, the population within an hour commuting distance of the city was 1,511,755. As a consequence of the large number of corporations, as well as the presence of the energy sector in Alberta, Calgary has a median family income of $104,530. The 2021 census reported that immigrants (individuals born outside Canada) comprise 430,640 persons or 33.3% of the total population of Calgary. Of the total immigrant population, the top countries of origin were Philippines (65,430 persons or 15.2%), India (56,515 persons or 13.1%), China (36,240 persons or 8.4%), United Kingdom (20,415 persons or 4.7%), Pakistan (18,375 persons or 4.3%), Vietnam (15,395 persons or 3.6%), Nigeria (12,450 persons or 2.9%), United States of America (10,890 persons or 2.5%), Hong Kong (10,775 persons or 2.5%), and South Korea (8,210 persons or 1.9%).

Ethnicity

According to the 2016 Census, 60% of Calgary's population was of European origin, 4% was of

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

heritage, and 36.2% of the population belonged to a visible minority (that is, non-white, non-aboriginal) group. Among those of European origin, the most frequently reported ethnic backgrounds were British,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, Irish,

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, and

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

. Among visible minorities,

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, ...

s (ethnic backgrounds mainly from India and Pakistan) make up the largest group (9.5%), followed by

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

(6.8%) and Filipinos (5.5%). 5.4% were of African or

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

origin, 3.5% was of

West Asian Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes An ...

Middle Eastern The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (European ...

origin, while 2.6% of the population was of Latin American origin. Of the largest Canadian cities, Calgary ranked fourth in proportion of visible minorities, behind Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg. 20.7% of the population identified as "Canadian" in ethnic origin.

Religion

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Calgary included: * Christianity (575,250 persons or 44.5%) * Irreligion (499,375 persons or 38.7%) *

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

(95,925 persons or 7.4%) * Sikhism (49,465 persons or 3.8%) * Hinduism (33,450 persons or 2.6%) * Buddhism (20,855 persons or 1.6%) * Judaism (6,390 persons or 0.5%) * Indigenous Spirituality (1,370 persons or 0.1%) *Other (9,695 persons or 0.8%)

Economy

Calgary is recognized as a leader in the Canadian oil and gas industry, and its economy expanded at a significantly higher rate than the overall Canadian economy (43% and 25%, respectively) over the ten-year period from 1999 to 2009. Its high personal and family incomes, low unemployment and high GDP per capita have all benefited from increased sales and prices due to a resource boom, and increasing economic diversification. Calgary benefits from a relatively strong job market in Alberta, is part of the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor, one of the fastest growing regions in the country. It is the head office for many major oil and gas related companies, and many financial service business have grown up around them. Small business and self-employment levels also rank amongst the highest in Canada. Calgary is a distribution and transportation hub with high retail sales. Calgary's economy is decreasingly dominated by the oil and gas industry, although it is still the single largest contributor to the city's GDP. In 2006, Calgary's real GDP (in constant 1997 dollars) was billion, of which oil, gas and mining contributed 12%. The larger oil and gas companies are

BP Canada BP Canada was a Canadian petroleum company and subsidiary of BP, British Petroleum that operated between 1955 and 1992. The name refers to a group of companies that engaged in various segments of the petroleum industry lifecycle. BP entered the Ca ...

, Canadian Natural Resources Limited,

Cenovus Energy Cenovus Energy Inc. (pronounced se-nō-vus) is an integrated oil and natural gas company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Cenovus was formed in 2009 when Encana Corporation split into two distinct companies, with Cenovus becoming focused on oi ...

, Encana,

Imperial Oil Imperial Oil Limited (French: ''Compagnie Pétrolière Impériale Ltée'') is a Canadian petroleum company. It is Canada's second-biggest integrated oil company. It is majority owned by American oil company ExxonMobil with around 69.6 percent ...

, Suncor Energy, Shell Canada, Husky Energy, TransCanada, and Nexen, making the city home to 87% of Canada's oil and natural gas producers and 66% of coal producers. As of November 2016, the city had a labour force of 901,700 (a 74.6% participation rate) and 10.3% unemployment rate.
/ref> In 2013, Calgary's four largest industries by employee count were "Trade" (with 112,800 employees), "Professional, Scientific and Technical Services" (100,800 employees), "Health Care and Social Assistance" (89,200 employees), and "Construction" (81,500 employees). In 2006, the top three private sector employers in Calgary were

Shaw Communications Shaw Communications Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications company which provides telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Shaw provides home telecommunications services primarily in Alberta and Br ...

(7,500 employees), Nova Chemicals (4,945) and Telus (4,517). Companies rounding out the top ten were

Mark's Work Wearhouse Mark's (known as L'Équipeur in Quebec) is a Canadian clothing and footwear retailer specializing in casual and industrial wear. Beginning in 1977 as Mark's Work Wearhouse in Calgary, Alberta, it evolved from an industrial accessories dealer ...

, the

Calgary Co-op Calgary Co-operative Association Limited (commonly referred to as Calgary Co-op) is a retail cooperative operating in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. History Opened in the 1940s as a food store operated by the United Farmers of Alberta in Calgary and ...

, Nexen, Canadian Pacific Railway, CNRL, Shell Canada and Dow Chemical Canada. The top public sector employers in 2006 were the Calgary Zone of the Alberta Health Services (22,000), the City of Calgary (12,296) and the Calgary Board of Education (8,000). Public sector employers rounding out the top five were the University of Calgary and the Calgary Roman Catholic Separate School Division. In Canada, Calgary has the second-highest concentration of head offices in Canada (behind Toronto), the most head offices per capita, and the highest head office revenue per capita. Some large employers with Calgary head offices include Canada Safeway Limited, Westfair Foods Ltd., Suncor Energy,

Agrium Agrium was a major retail supplier of agricultural products and services in North America, South America and Australia and a wholesale producer and marketer of all three major agricultural nutrients and a supplier of specialty fertilizers in Nor ...

, Flint Energy Services Ltd., Shaw Communications, and Canadian Pacific Railway. CPR moved its head office from Montreal in 1996 and Imperial Oil moved from Toronto in 2005. Encana's new 58-floor corporate headquarters, the Bow, became the tallest building in Canada outside of Toronto. In 2001, the city became the corporate headquarters of the TSX Venture Exchange. WestJet is headquartered close to the Calgary International Airport, and

Enerjet Lynx Air, legally incorporated as 1263343 Alberta Inc., is a Canadian ultra- low-cost carrier based in Calgary, Alberta. It previously operated as Enerjet and was rebranded as Lynx Air on November 16, 2021. The first flight under the Lynx Air ...

has its headquarters on the airport grounds. Prior to their dissolution, Canadian Airlines and Air Canada's subsidiary

Zip Zip, Zips or ZIP may refer to: Common uses * ZIP Code, USPS postal code * Zipper or zip, clothing fastener Science and technology Computing * ZIP (file format), a compressed archive file format ** zip, a command-line program from Info-ZIP * Zi ...

were also headquartered near the city's airport. Although its main office is now based in Yellowknife,

Canadian North Bradley Air Services, operating as Canadian North, is a wholly Inuit-owned airline headquartered in Kanata, Ontario, Canada. It operates scheduled passenger services to communities in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the Nunavik region o ...

, purchased from Canadian Airlines in September 1998, still maintains operations and charter offices in Calgary. One of Canada's largest accounting firms,

MNP LLP MNP (previously known as Meyers Norris Penny) is one of the largest full-service chartered professional accountancy and business advisory firms in Canada. MNP's head office is in Calgary, Alberta, and has offices from Vancouver Island to St. John' ...

, is also headquartered in Calgary. According to a report by Alexi Olcheski of Avison Young published in August 2015, vacancy rates rose to 11.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2015 from 8.3 per cent in 2014. Oil and gas company office spaces in downtown Calgary are subleasing 40 per cent of their overall vacancies. H&R Real Estate Investment Trust, which owns the 58-storey, 158,000-square-metre

Bow Tower The Bow is a skyscraper in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The 236 metre (774 ft) building is currently the second tallest office tower in Calgary, since construction of Cenovus' Brookfield Place; and the third tallest in Canada outsi ...

, claims the building was fully leased. Tenants such as Suncor "have been letting staff and contractors go in response to the downturn".

Arts and culture

Calgary was designated as one of the cultural capitals of Canada in 2012. While many Calgarians continue to live in the city's suburbs, more central neighbourhoods such as Kensington, Inglewood, Forest Lawn, Bridgeland, Marda Loop, the Mission District, and especially the Beltline, have become more popular and density in those areas has increased.

Stage

Performing arts venues Calgary is the site of the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium performing arts, culture and community facility. The auditorium is one of two "twin" facilities in the province, the other is the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium located in Edmonton, each being locally known as the "Jube." The 2,538-seat auditorium was opened in 1957 and has been host to hundreds of Broadway musical, theatrical, stage and local productions. The Calgary Jube is the resident home of the Alberta Ballet Company, the Calgary Opera, and the annual civic Remembrance Day ceremonies. Both auditoriums operate 365 days a year, and are run by the provincial government. Both received major renovations as part of the province's centennial in 2005. Epcor Centre 5

The city is also home to a number of performing arts spaces, such as Arts Commons, which is a 400,000 square foot performing arts complex housing the Jack Singer Concert Hall, Martha Cohen Theatre, Max Bell Theatre, Big Secret Theatre, and Motel Theatre, the Pumphouse Theatre, which houses the Victor Mitchell and Joyce Doolittle theatres, The GRAND, the Bella Concert Hall, the Wright Theatre, Vertigo Theatre, Stage West Theatre, Lunchbox Theatre, and several other smaller venues. Theatre Some large theatre companies shares the Arts Commons building in Calgary including

One Yellow Rabbit One Yellow Rabbit Performance Theatre (OYR) is based in the Big Secret Theatre in Calgary’s Arts Commons. With its Resident Performing Ensemble, OYR creates original theatrical works each year for its home audiences and also hosts The High Perf ...

, Theatre Calgary, and

Alberta Theatre Projects Alberta Theatre Projects ("ATP") is a professional, not-for-profit, Canadian theatre company, founded in 1972 by Lucille Wagner and Douglas Riske, currently based out of the Martha Cohen Theatre in Arts Commons, in Calgary, Alberta. The compan ...

The Grand The Grand may refer to: Buildings Official names * The Grand (Calgary), a theatre in Alberta, Canada *The Grand (Ellsworth, Maine), an arts center in Maine, U.S. * The Grand Doubletree, condominium and hotel skyscraper in Miami, U.S. * The Grand C ...

is a culture house dedicated to the contemporary live arts. Other companies, groups, and collectives operate in niche theatre such as Storybook Theatre (children's theatre), Sundog Storytellers (immersive theatre), and The Shakespeare Company. Calgary is the birthplace of the Theatresports, which are improvisational theatre games. Music Every three years, Calgary hosts the

Honens International Piano Competition The Honens International Piano Competition is a triennial classical piano competition held in Calgary, Canada that awards prizes in piano performance. In addition to monetary awards, the top prize winner receives access to a career development prog ...

(formerly known as the Esther Honens International Piano Competition). The finalists of the competition perform piano concerti with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra; the laureate is awarded a cash prize (currently $100,000.00 CDN, the largest cash award of any international piano competition), and a three-year career development program. Honens is an integral component of the classical music scene in Calgary. A number of marching bands are based in Calgary. They include the Calgary Round-Up Band, the Calgary Stetson Show Band, the Bishop Grandin Marching Ghosts, and the six-time World Association for Marching Show Bands champions, the Calgary Stampede Showband, as well as military bands including the Band of HMCS Tecumseh, the King's Own Calgary Regiment Band, and the Regimental Pipes and Drums of The Calgary Highlanders. There are many other civilian pipe bands in the city, notably the Calgary Police Service Pipe Band. Calgary is also home to a choral music community, including a variety of amateur, community, and semi-professional groups. Some of the mainstays include the Mount Royal Choirs from the Mount Royal University Conservatory, the Calgary Boys' Choir, the Calgary Girls Choir, the Youth Singers of Calgary, the Cantaré Children's Choir, Luminous Voices Music Society, Spiritus Chamber Choir, and pop-choral group Revv52. Dance The Alberta Ballet is the third largest dance company in Canada. Under the artistic direction of Jean Grand-Maître, the Alberta Ballet is at the forefront both at home and internationally. Jean Grand-Maître has become well known for his successful portrait series collaborations with pop-artists like Joni Mitchell, Elton John, and Sarah McLachlan. The Alberta Ballet resides in the Nat Christie Centre. Other dance companies include Springboard Performance, which hosts the annual Fluid Movement Arts Festival, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, which opened its new $25-million facility in 2016 in collaboration with the Kahanoff Foundation, as well as a host of others, including European folk dance ensembles, Afro-based dance companies, and diasporic dance companies.

Screen

Film and television Numerous films have been shot in Calgary and the surrounding area. Notable films shot in and around the city include ''

The Assassination of Jesse James ''The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'' is a 2007 American epic revisionist Western film written and directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Brad Pitt as Jesse James. Adapted from Ron Hansen's 1983 novel of the same ti ...

'', ''

Brokeback Mountain ''Brokeback Mountain'' is a 2005 American neo-Western romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee and produced by Diana Ossana and James Schamus. Adapted from the 1997 short story of the same name by Annie Proulx, the screenplay was written by O ...

'', '' Dances with Wolves'', ''

Doctor Zhivago ''Doctor Zhivago'' is the title of a novel by Boris Pasternak and its various adaptations. Description The story, in all of its forms, describes the life of the fictional Russian physician and poet Yuri Zhivago and deals with love and loss during ...

'', '' Inception'', ''

Legends of the Fall ''Legends of the Fall'' is a 1994 American epic Western drama film directed by Edward Zwick and starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn, Julia Ormond and Henry Thomas. Based on the 1979 novella of the same title by Jim Harrison, the fil ...

'', '' Unforgiven'', '' The Revenant,'' and ''

Cool Runnings ''Cool Runnings'' is a 1993 American sports film directed by Jon Turteltaub and starring Leon Robinson, Doug E. Doug, Malik Yoba, and John Candy. It is loosely based on the true story of the Jamaica national bobsleigh team's debut in competition ...

''. '' Ghostbusters: Afterlife'' was filmed in downtown Calgary and Inglewood in 2019. Television shows include ''

Fargo Fargo usually refers to: * Fargo, North Dakota, United States * ''Fargo'' (1996 film), a crime film by the Coen brothers * ''Fargo'' (TV series), an American black comedy–crime drama anthology television series Fargo may also refer to: Othe ...

'', ''

Black Summer ''Black Summer'' is a comic book limited series written by Warren Ellis, illustrated by Juan Jose Ryp, and published by Avatar Press starting in June 2007. The plot revolves around the consequences of a superhero, John Horus, who kills the Presi ...

'', '' Wyonna Earp'' '' Wild Roses'', and '' The Last of Us. Media The ''

'' and the '' Calgary Sun'' are the main newspapers in Calgary. Global,

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...

and CBC television networks have local studios in the city.

Visual art

Visual and conceptual artists like the art collective

United Congress The United Congress is a long-standing artist collective active in Calgary, Alberta from the late 1980s to the present day. The group combines conceptual art, silkscreen, music, constructed language, abstraction, and anti-art in its activities. A ...

are active in the city. There are a number of art galleries in the downtown along Stephen Avenue; the SoDo (South of Downtown) Design District; the 17 Avenue corridor; the neighbourhood of Inglewood, including the

Esker Foundation An esker, eskar, eschar, or os, sometimes called an ''asar'', ''osar'', or ''serpent kame'', is a long, winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel, examples of which occur in glaciated and formerly glaciated regions of Europe and North Am ...

. There are also various arts installations in the +15 system in downtown Calgary.

Libraries

The Calgary Public Library is the city's public library network, with 21 branches loaning books, e-books, CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, audio books, and more. Based on borrowing, the library is the second largest in Canada, and sixth-largest municipal library system in North America. The new flagship branch, the Calgary Central Library in Downtown East Village, opened on November 1, 2018.

Museums

Several museums are located in the city. The Glenbow Museum is the largest in western Canada and includes an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...

and First Nations gallery. Other major museums include the Chinese Cultural Centre (at , the largest stand-alone cultural centre in Canada),

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (french: Panthéon des sports canadiens; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canad ...

(at Canada Olympic Park), The Military Museums, the National Music Centre and

The Hangar Flight Museum The Hangar Flight Museum, formerly known as the Aero Space Museum of Calgary is a museum located south of Calgary International Airport in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. History The museum was founded in 1975 as the Aero Space Museum Association of Ca ...

Festivals

2017 Calgary Stampede - Day Eight (9) (35890971326)

Calgary hosts a number of annual festivals and events. These include the Calgary International Film Festival, the Calgary Folk Music Festival, the Calgary Performing Arts Festival (formerly

Kiwanis Music Festival The Kiwanis Music Festival movement consists of regional music competitions. These festivals are named after the Kiwanis Kiwanis International ( ) is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in In ...

FunnyFest Calgary Comedy Festival FunnyFest Calgary Comedy Festival is an annual summer comedy festival held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It was founded by Stu Hughes (stand-up comic and social entrepreneur) in 2001 and has since grown to become Western Canada's largest comedy ...

Sled Island The Sled Island Music & Arts Festival is an annual independent music and arts festival formed in 2007 and held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Each June, the five-day festival showcases over 200 bands, visual artists, filmmakers and comedians as w ...

music festival,

Beakerhead Beakerhead is a multi-day festival held every September in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that combines the arts/culture sectors with the science/technology sectors to encourage collaboration, innovation, and science education through interactive art exhi ...

, the

Greek festival A Greek festival or Greek Fest is an annual celebration of Greek culture presented by many ethnic Greek American communities and organization in the United States and Canada, particularly Greek Orthodox churches. Typically, these events are intende ...

, Carifest,

Wordfest Wordfest is a not-for-profit arts organization that produces one of Canada's largest international literary festivals, taking place each October in Calgary, Alberta. In addition to the yearly festival, Wordfest also facilitates and hosts year-roun ...

, the Lilac Festival,

GlobalFest GlobalFest is an annual cultural celebration in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The festival has been held every August since 2003 (except 2020, when it was cancelled),

, Otafest, the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo,

FallCon FallCon is the largest and only boardgame convention in Calgary, Alberta featuring a broad range of modern boardgames and miniatures. During the three day convention, attendees can learn new games by signing up for hosted game or check-out a g ...

, the

Calgary Fringe Festival The Calgary Fringe Festival is an annual Fringe theatre festival in Calgary, Alberta. History The earliest Fringe-type drama festival in Calgary was the Plan B Festival, held in 2000 at a variety of locations in both Calgary's downtown and the ...

, Summerstock, Expo Latino,

Calgary Pride Calgary Pride is an LGBT pride festival, held annually in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The event is organized by Pride Calgary, a non-profit organization, and is currently held in the final week of August, with the closing parade falling on the fi ...

, Calgary International Spoken Word Festival, and many other cultural and ethnic festivals. The Calgary International Film Festival is also held annually as well as the

International Festival of Animated Objects The International Festival of Animated Objects is a biennial festival sponsored by the non-profit group '' Calgary Animated Objects Society'' that promotes the arts of puppetry, mask, and animated objects. It takes place in downtown Calgary, Alb ...

. Calgary's best-known event is the Calgary Stampede, which has occurred each July, with the exception of the year 2020, since 1912. It is one of the largest

festivals in Canada This is an incomplete list of festivals in Canada. This list includes festivals of diverse types, among them regional festivals, commerce festivals, fairs, food festivals, arts festivals, and recurring festivals on holidays. Sublists by locale ...

, with a 2005 attendance of 1,242,928 at the 10-day

and exhibition.

Arts education

Calgary is also home to several post-secondary institutions that provide credit or non-credit instruction in the arts, including the Alberta University of the Arts (formerly Alberta College of Art and Design), the School of Creative and Performing Arts at the University of Calgary, the Mount Royal University Conservatory, and Ambrose University.

Attractions

Downtown Calgary features an eclectic mix of restaurants and bars, cultural venues, public squares and shopping. Downtown attractions include the Calgary Tower, Calgary Zoo, National Music Centre, Telus Convention Centre, Chinatown district, Arts Commons, Central Library, St. Patrick's Island, Glenbow Museum, the Art Gallery of Calgary (AGC),

Olympic Plaza ''Olympic Plaza'' may refer to one of the following: *Olympic Plaza (Calgary) – A downtown city park and gathering place in Calgary, Alberta, Canada *Pyeongchang Olympic Plaza – Public square situated on the site of the former Olympic Stadium i ...

, the Calgary Stampede grounds and military museums, and various other high rises List of tallest buildings in Calgary. Notable shopping areas include the Core Centre, Stephen Avenue and the Eau Claire Market. The Peace Bridge spans the Bow River in the downtown region. The region is also home to

Prince's Island Park Prince's Island Park is an urban park in the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is developed on an island on the Bow River, immediately north of downtown Calgary. It was named after Peter Anthony Prince, the founder of the Eau Claire Lumbe ...

, an urban park located just north of the Eau Claire district. At , the Devonian Gardens is one of the largest urban indoor gardens in the world, located on the top floor of the Core Centre. Directly south of the city's downtown is the Beltline, an urban community known for its many lively bars, nightclubs, restaurants, and shopping venues. At the Beltline's core is the popular ''17 Avenue SW'', the community's primary entertainment and nightlife strip, lined with a high concentration of bars and entertainment. During the Calgary Flames' Stanley Cup run in 2004, 17 Avenue SW was frequented by over 50,000 fans and supporters per game night. The concentration of red jersey-wearing fans led to the street's playoff moniker, the " Red Mile". Downtown Calgary is easily accessed using the CTrain transit system with 9 train stations in the city's downtown core. The train is also fare-free while downtown. Attractions in other areas of the city include the Heritage Park Historical Village, depicting life in pre-1914 Alberta and featuring working historic vehicles such as a steam train, paddle steamer and

electric streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

. The village itself comprises a mixture of replica buildings and historic structures relocated from southern Alberta. Just west of the city limits is

Calaway Park Calaway Park is an amusement park and campground in Springbank, Alberta, Canada. The park occupies approximately of land, although the amusement park only occupies of it. The park is western Canada's largest amusement park, and is situated app ...

, Western Canada's largest outdoor family amusement park, and just north of the park across the Trans Canada Highway is the Springbank/Calgary Airport where the Wings over Springbank Airshow is held every July 18 & 19. Other major city attractions include Canada Olympic Park, which features

, and

Spruce Meadows Spruce Meadows is a multi-purpose sports facility near Calgary, Alberta built by the Southern family which opened in 1975. The facility contains an equestrian show jumping complex that comprises . The current president and CEO of Spruce Me ...

. In addition to the many shopping areas in the city centre, there are a number of large suburban shopping complexes in the city. Among the largest are Chinook Centre and

Southcentre Mall Southcentre Mall is one of the largest (by area) shopping malls in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, , and contains approximately 190 stores and services over two floors. It is located in the city's southeast quadrant at the intersection of Macleod Tra ...

in the south, Westhills and Signal Hill in the southwest, South Trail Crossing and Deerfoot Meadows in the southeast, Market Mall in the northwest, Sunridge Mall in the northeast, and the newly built

CrossIron Mills CrossIron Mills is a fully enclosed shopping centre development just outside the northern city limits of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and immediately east of the hamlet of Balzac in Rocky View County. It was developed by Ivanhoé Cambridge, a major ...

and

New Horizon Mall New Horizon Mall is a modern shopping mall in the Calgary Metropolitan Region located inside of Balzac, a locality of Rocky View County, Alberta. The mall features a retail floor space of approximately , and features a flea market gimmick where ...

just north of the Calgary city limits, and south of the City of Airdrie.

Sports and recreation

Calgary from Nose hill park (15811489540)

Within Calgary there are approximately of parkland available for public usage and recreation. These parks include

Fish Creek Provincial Park Fish Creek Park is an urban provincial park that preserves the valley of Fish Creek in the southern part of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is bordered on three sides by the city, and on the west by the territory of the Tsuu T’ina Nation (Sarcee) ...

, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Bowness Park,

Edworthy Park Edworthy Park is a city park located in the Northwest section of Calgary along the south shore of the Bow River. The Canadian Pacific Railway crosses the length of the park. It was named after Thomas Edworthy, who immigrated to the Calgary area ...

, Confederation Park,

, Nose Hill Park, and

Central Memorial Park Central Memorial Park is a park located in central Calgary's Beltline district. Sometimes referred to as ''Central Park'' or as ''Memorial Park'', the area is home to the Memorial Park Library, an equestrian statue of Russell Lambert Boyle, and a ...

. Nose Hill Park is one of the largest municipal parks in Canada at . The park has been subject to a revitalization plan that began in 2006. Its trail system is currently undergoing rehabilitation in accordance with this plan. The oldest park in Calgary, Central Memorial Park, dates back to 1911. Similar to Nose Hill Park, revitalization also took place in Central Memorial Park in 2008–2009 and reopened to the public in 2010 while still maintaining its Victorian style. An pathway system connects these parks and various neighbourhoods. Calgary also has multiple private sporting clubs including the Glencoe Club and the Calgary Winter Club. The peace bridge Calgary

In large part due to its proximity to the Rocky Mountains, Calgary has traditionally been a popular destination for winter sports. Since hosting the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

, the city has also been home to a number of major winter sporting facilities such as Canada Olympic Park (bobsleigh,

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

, ski jumping,

downhill skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping), w ...

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...

, and some summer sports) and the Olympic Oval ( speed skating and hockey). These facilities serve as the primary training venues for a number of competitive athletes. Also, Canada Olympic Park serves as a

mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

trail in the summer months. In the summer, the Bow River is very popular among river rafters and fly-fishermen. Golfing is also an extremely popular activity for Calgarians, and the region has a large number of courses. The Century Downs Racetrack and Casino is a -furlong horse track located just north of the city. Calgary hosted the 2009 World Water Ski Championship Festival in August, at the Predator Bay Water Ski Club, approximately south of the city. As part of the wider Battle of Alberta, the city's sports teams enjoy a popular rivalry with their Edmonton counterparts, most notably the rivalries between the National Hockey League's Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers, and the Canadian Football League's Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Elks. 2020 Calgary Saddledome

Calgary is the hometown of the Hart wrestling family and the location of the Hart family " Dungeon", where the patriarch of the Hart Family, Stu Hart, trained numerous professional wrestlers including Superstar Billy Graham, Brian Pillman, the British Bulldogs, Edge,

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Greg Valentine Jonathan Anthony Wisniski (born September 20, 1951) is a retired American professional wrestler, better known as Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He is the son of wrestler Johnny Valentine. Over five decades, Valentine held more than 40 championship ...

, Chris Jericho, Jushin Thunder Liger and many more. Also among the trainees were the Hart family members themselves, including WWE Hall of Fame member and former WWE champion Bret Hart and his brother, the 1994 WWF King of the Ring, Owen Hart. In 1997 Calgary hosted The World Police & Fire Games hosting over 16,000 athletes from all over the world.

Government

The city is a corporate power-centre with a high percentage of the workforce is employed in white-collar jobs. The high concentration of oil and gas corporations led to the rise of Peter Lougheed's Progressive Conservative Party in 1971. However, as Calgary's population has increased, so has the diversity of its politics.

Municipal politics

The City of Calgary is a municipal corporation with a council–manager government structure consisting of a fifteen-member

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

elected every four years. The Council itself consists of an at-large Mayor and fourteen Councillors who represent geographic regions of the city. The legal authority to govern as a "creature of the province" is derived from various regulations and legislation of the Alberta Legislature, of which the ''Municipal Government Act'' and the ''City of Calgary Charter, 2018 Regulation'' provide many of the powers and responsibilities for the city. The current Mayor Jyoti Gondek was first elected in the 2021 municipal election. Three school boards operate independently of each other in Calgary, the public, the separate (catholic) and francophone systems. Both the public and separate boards have 7 elected trustees each representing 2 of 14 wards. The School Boards are considered part of municipal politics in Calgary as they are elected at the same time as City Council.

Provincial politics

As a result of the 2019 provincial election, Calgary is represented by twenty-six

MLAs The Max Launch Abort System (MLAS) was a proposed alternative to the Maxime Faget-invented "tractor" launch escape system (LES) that was planned for use by NASA for its Orion (spacecraft), Orion spacecraft in the event an Ares I malfunction du ...

, including twenty three United Conservative Party and three

New Democratic Party of Alberta The Alberta New Democratic Party (french: Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Alberta), commonly shortened to Alberta's NDP, is a social-democratic political party in Alberta, Canada. It is the provincial Alberta affiliate of the federal New Democr ...

Federal politics

Calgary is currently split between 10 ridings in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

. Historically, all or most of Calgary's federal seats have been held by the major centre-right party of the day, presently the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

. Before 2015, the Liberals had only elected three MPs from Calgary ridings in their entire history-- Manley Edwards (1940–1945), Harry Hays (1963–1965) and

Pat Mahoney Patrick Morgan (Pat) Mahoney, (January 20, 1929 – June 8, 2012) was a Canadian judge, politician, lawyer and businessman. Mahoney was first elected to parliament in the 1968 election as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Calgary Sou ...

(1968–1972). On October 19, 2015, Calgary elected its first two Liberal MPs since 1968, Darshan Kang for Calgary Skyview and

Kent Hehr Kent Hehr (born December 16, 1969) is a Canadian politician from Alberta. He was elected as the Liberal Member of Parliament for the riding of Calgary Centre in the 2015 federal election. Hehr was named Minister of Veterans Affairs in the ...

for

Calgary Centre Calgary Centre (french: Calgary-Centre; formerly known as Calgary South Centre) is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. The riding consists of many young adul ...

. The Tories held the other eight. The Tories won back Calgary Skyview and Calgary Centre in 2019, but the Liberals took back Calgary Skyview in 2021. No Liberal has ever held a Calgary-based riding for more than one term. The federal riding of Calgary Heritage was held by former Prime Minister and CPC leader

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

. That seat was also held by Preston Manning, the leader of the Reform Party of Canada; it was known as Calgary Southwest at the time. Harper is the second Prime Minister to represent a Calgary riding; the first was

from Calgary West, who held that position from 1930 to 1935. Joe Clark, former Prime Minister and former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (also a predecessor of the CPC), held the riding of

during his second stint in Parliament from 2000 to 2004. The

Green Party of Canada The Green Party of Canada (french: Parti vert du Canada) is a federal political party in Canada, founded in 1983 with a focus on green politics. The Green Party is currently the fifth largest party in the House of Commons by seat count. It el ...

has also made inroads in Calgary, exemplified by results of the 2011 federal election where they achieved 7.7% of the vote across the city, ranging from 4.7% in Calgary Northeast to 13.1% in Calgary Centre-North.

Crime

The Calgary census metropolitan area (CMA) had a crime severity index of 60.4 in 2013, which is lower than the national average of 68.7. A slight majority of the other CMAs in Canada had crime severity indexes greater than Calgary's 60.4. Calgary had the sixth-most homicides in 2013 at 24.

Military

The presence of the Canadian military has been part of the local economy and culture since the early years of the 20th century, beginning with the assignment of a squadron of

Strathcona's Horse Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) (LdSH C is a regular armoured regiment of the Canadian Army and is Canada’s only tank regiment. Currently based in Edmonton, Alberta, the regiment is part of 3rd Canadian Division's 1 Canadian Mechanize ...

. A cavalry regiment,

15th Light Horse 15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 and preceding 16. Mathematics 15 is: * A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and . * A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky number, a pernicious nu ...

, was authorized on July 3, 1905. After many failed attempts to create the city's own infantry unit, the

103rd Regiment (Calgary Rifles) The 103rd Regiment (Calgary Rifles) was an infantry regiment of the Canadian Non-Permanent Active Militia, authorized at Calgary, Alberta, Canada, by General Order on 1 April 1910. History The 103rd Regiment was raised in Calgary as a militia ...

was finally authorized on April 1, 1910. Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Calgary was established as Currie Barracks and Harvie Barracks following the Second World War. The base remained the most significant Department of National Defence (DND) institution in the city until it was decommissioned in 1998, when most of the units moved to CFB Edmonton. Despite this closure there is still a number of Canadian Forces Reserve units, and cadet units garrisoned throughout the city. They include Naval Reserve unit, The King's Own Calgary Regiment, The Calgary Highlanders, both headquartered at the Mewata Armouries,

41 Signal Regiment , march = , website = , mascot = Swift Fox , anniversaries = , identification_symbol_4 = 41 Sig Regt , identification_symbol_4_label = Abbreviation ...

3 Squadron Calgary,

41 Canadian Brigade Group 41 Canadian Brigade Group (41 CBG; french: links=no, 41e Groupe-brigade du Canada) is a Canadian Army formation of the 3rd Canadian Division. The formation is composed of Army Reserve units within the province of Alberta and the Northwest Te ...

, headquartered at the former location of CFB Calgary, 14 (Calgary) Service Battalion, 15 (Edmonton) Field Ambulance Detachment Calgary, 14 (Edmonton) Military Police Platoon Calgary,

41 Combat Engineer Regiment 41 Combat Engineer Regiment (41 CER, French: ) is an Army Reserve (militia) unit of the Canadian Military Engineers/Royal Canadian Engineers (RCE) in Alberta, Canada. The unit consists of: * Regimental Headquarters (RHQ), * 25 Engineer Squadron ( ...

detachment Calgary (33 Engineer Squadron), along with a small cadre of Regular Force support. Several units have been granted

Freedom of the City The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

. The

Calgary Soldiers' Memorial The Calgary Soldiers' Memorial is a war monument in Calgary, Alberta that was dedicated on April 9, 2011, the anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The monument is dedicated to Calgary area soldiers who have given their lives in war and mil ...

commemorates those who died during wartime or while serving overseas. Along with those from units currently stationed in Calgary it represents the

10th 10 (ten) is the even natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of the decimal numeral system, by far the most common system of denoting numbers in both spoken and written language. It is the first double-digit number. The rea ...

and 50th Battalions of the

Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany on 15 August 1914, with an initial strength of one infantry division ...

Infrastructure

Transportation

Public transit

Downtown Calgary June 2018 (42856099521)

Calgary Transit provides public transportation services throughout the city with regular bus service,

bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

(BRT), and light rail transit (LRT). Calgary's light rail system, known as the CTrain, was one of the first such systems in North America (behind Edmonton LRT). It currently consists of two lines ( Red Line and Blue Line), with 44 stations and of track. Most of the CTrain runs on both dedicated tracks with partial grade separation across suburban areas, and a street-level section across downtown. The CTrain is one of the continent's busiest, carrying 270,000 passengers per weekday and approximately half of Calgary downtown workers take the transit to work. The CTrain is also North America's first and only rapid transit system to run on 100% renewable, wind-generated energy. In early 2020, city council approved construction of the

Green Line Green Line may refer to: Places Military and political * Green Line (France), the German occupation line in France during World War II * Green Line (Israel), the 1949 armistice line established between Israel and its neighbours ** City Line ( ...

, the third light rail line in the city's rapid transit network. It will be the first rail line in Calgary to operate low-floor trains and is the largest public works project in the history of Calgary, about three-and-a-half times bigger than the second-largest project.

Airports

WestJet 737-800 in front of Calgary skyline (Quintin Soloviev)

Calgary International Airport (YYC), in the city's northeast, is a major transportation and cargo hub for much of central and western Canada. It is Canada's fourth busiest airport, serving 18 million passengers in 2019. The airport serves as the primary gateway into

Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada's oldest National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous terrain, wi ...

, located 90 minutes west, and the entire Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks system. Non-stop destinations include cities throughout Canada, the United States, Europe, Central America, and Asia.

Calgary/Springbank Airport Calgary/Springbank Airport or Springbank Airport is an airport located in the Rocky View County community of Springbank, Alberta, an area to the west of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. The Springbank Airport acts as a general aviation reliever for ...

, Canada's eleventh busiest, serves as a reliever for the Calgary International taking the general aviation traffic and is also a base for aerial firefighting aircraft.

Pedestrian and cycling

9A Street LRT bridge - Bow River Pathway - panoramio

As an alternative to the over of shared bikeways on streets, the city has a network of multi-use (bicycle, walking, rollerblading, etc.) paths spanning over . The Peace Bridge provides pedestrians and cyclists, access to the downtown core from the north side of the Bow river. The bridge ranked among the top 10 architectural projects in 2012 and among the top 10 public spaces of 2012.

Skyway

In the 1960s, Calgary started to develop a series of pedestrian bridges connecting many downtown buildings. Today, these bridges connect between most of the city's downtown office towers and make up the world's most extensive skyway network (elevated indoor pedestrian bridges), officially called the +15. The system shields pedestrians from the city's extremely cold winter temperatures. The name derives from the fact that the bridges are usually above ground.

Roads and highways

Calgary lies at the crossroads of Highway 2 and the Trans-Canada Highway, making it an important hub for the transit of goods across Canada and along the CANAMEX Corridor.

Stoney Trail Alberta Provincial Highway No. 201, officially named Stoney Trail and Tsuut'ina Trail, is an approximately freeway in Calgary, Alberta. It forms part of the CANAMEX Corridor which connects Calgary to Edmonton and Interstate 15 in ...

forms a nearly completed

ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

around the city that will be fully finished by 2024 when the final section opens in west Calgary. Freeways and expressways are mostly called "trails". Highway 2, named Deerfoot Trail, is the main north–south route through Calgary and one of the busiest highways in Canada. Much of Calgary's street network is on a grid where roads are numbered with avenues running east—west and streets running north—south. Until 1904 the streets were named; after that date, all streets were given numbers radiating outwards from the city centre. Roads in predominantly residential areas, as well as freeways and expressways, do not generally conform to the grid and are usually not numbered. However, it is a developer and city convention in Calgary that non-numbered streets within a new community have the same name prefix as the community itself.

Rail

Calgary's presence along the CPR mainline (which includes the CPR Alyth Yard) makes the city an important hub of freight rail throughout the province. There is no inter-city or regional passenger rail serving the city. In June 2020, the

Canada Infrastructure Bank The Canada Infrastructure Bank (french: Banque de l'infrastructure du Canada) (CIB) is a federal Crown Corporation of Canada tasked with financially supporting revenue-generating infrastructure projects that are "in the public interest" throu ...

signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Alberta to build a inter-city rail line from downtown Calgary to Banff, and an express line from Calgary International Airport to downtown Calgary. A

high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...

line running from Downtown Calgary to Downtown Edmonton is planned as well. In July 2021, EllisDon signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Alberta to build the line, and it is expected to open sometime between 2030 and 2032. Between 1955 and 1978, CPR operated a transcontinental passenger rail service called the '' Canadian'', running between Toronto and Vancouver via CPR's right-of-way through Calgary. In 1978, Via Rail assumed responsibility over CPR's Canadian rail service. In the aftermath of another round of deep budget cuts made to Via Rail on January 15, 1990, Via permanently discontinued the ''

Super Continental The ''Super Continental'' was a transcontinental Canadian passenger train operated by the Canadian National Railway from 1955 until 1977, when Via Rail took over the train and ran it until it was cancelled in 1981. Service was restored in 1985 b ...

'' and rerouted the Canadian along the ''Super Continental'' CN route, bypassing Regina and Calgary in favour of Saskatoon and Edmonton. Since then, there has been no intercity rail service to or from Calgary. But two new rail-tour lines have opened along the CPR right-of-way: Rocky Mountaineer and Royal Canadian Pacific. The latter still operates rail-tour services to Calgary, while the former has terminated its westbound services at Banff, two hours to the west.

Health care

;Medical centres and hospitals Foothills Hospital

Calgary has four major adult acute care hospitals and one major pediatric acute care site: the

Alberta Children's Hospital Alberta Children's Hospital (ACH) is the largest public hospital for sick children in the prairie provinces, and is located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is operated by Alberta Health Services – Calgary Health Region. The new facility opened ...

, the Foothills Medical Centre, the

Peter Lougheed Centre Peter Lougheed Centre (PLC) is a 506,000 square foot hospital in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is under the auspices of Alberta Health Services, formerly the Calgary Health Region, providing medical and surgical services to Calgary but also Souther ...

, the

Rockyview General Hospital Rockyview General Hospital (RGH) is a large hospital. It is located in the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on the shores of the Glenmore Reservoir and is administered by Alberta Health Services and formerly by the Calgary Health Region. The hos ...

and the

South Health Campus South Health Campus (SHC) is a large hospital in Calgary, in Alberta, Canada. It is administered by Alberta Health Services. The building was developed by Alberta Infrastructure, and the first phase was built at a cost of $1.31 billion. The South ...

. They are all overseen by the Calgary Zone of the Alberta Health Services, formerly the Calgary Health Region. Calgary is also home to the

Tom Baker Cancer Centre Tom Baker Cancer Centre (TBCC) is a tertiary care facility for Southern Alberta, named for the founding chairman of the ''Alberta Cancer Board'', and is one of two tertiary cancer centres in the province. It is a lead Cancer Centre in southern Al ...

(located at the Foothills Medical Centre), the Grace Women's Health Centre, which provides a variety of care, and the Libin Cardiovascular Institute. In addition, the

Sheldon M. Chumir Centre The Sheldon M. Chumir Centre is a health centre located in Calgary, Alberta. The facility is administered by the Calgary Zone of Alberta Health Services. The centre provides 24/7 Urgent Care services but is not a full-service hospital and does no ...

(a large 24-hour assessment clinic), and the Richmond Road Diagnostic and Treatment Centre (RRDTC), as well as hundreds of smaller medical and dental clinics operate in Calgary. The

Faculty of Medicine of the University of Calgary The University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine was established in 1967 and renamed the Cumming School of Medicine in 2014. It is one of two medical schools in Alberta and one of 17 in Canada. The Faculty and medical school is linked to the hospit ...

also operates in partnership with Alberta Health Services, by researching cancer, cardiovascular, diabetes, joint injury, arthritis and genetics. The Alberta children's hospital, built in 2006, replaced the old Children's Hospital. The four largest Calgary hospitals have a combined total of more than 2,100 beds, and employ over 11,500 people.

Education

Primary and secondary

In the 2011–2012 school year, 100,632

K-12 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993, well known worldwide mainly for its heavyweight division fights and Grand Prix tournaments. In January 2012, K-1 Global Holdings Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong, acquired ...

students enrolled in 221 schools in the English language public school system run by the

Calgary Board of Education Calgary School District No. 19 or the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) is the public school board in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. As a public system, the CBE is required to accept any students who meet age and residency requirements, regardless of ...

. With other students enrolled in the associated CBe-learn and Chinook Learning Service programs, the school system's total enrolment is 104,182 students. Another 43,000 attend about 95 schools in the separate English language Calgary Catholic School District board. The much smaller Francophone community has their own French language school board (

The Southern Francophone Education Region No. 4 The Southern Francophone Education Region No. 4 (french: Conseil scolaire FrancoSud) is a French first language authority within the Canadian province of Alberta operated out of Calgary. A merger between the Conseil scolaire catholique et fra ...

), which is also based in Calgary, but serves a larger regional district. There are also several public

charter schools A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

in the city. Calgary has a number of unique schools, including the country's first high school exclusively designed for Olympic-calibre athletes, the

National Sport School The National Sport School (NSS) is a public high school (secondary school) in Calgary, Alberta which teaches grades 9 through 12. In partnership with Winsport Canada, the school was created to support student athletes with Olympic potential. Dev ...

. Calgary is also home to many private schools including Mountain View Academy, Rundle College,

Rundle Academy Rundle Academy is an Independent School in Calgary, Alberta, part of Rundle College Society, and specializes in the instruction of students who have learning disabilities. Students at Rundle Academy typically have an average to above average inte ...

Clear Water Academy Clear Water Academy is a private university preparatory school managed by the Legion of Christ which is located in Calgary, Alberta. It is one of the few private Catholic schools in Alberta, and is dedicated to its four pillars for Catholic forma ...

, Calgary French and International School,

Chinook Winds Adventist Academy Chinook Winds Adventist Academy is an Independent K–12 Christian school located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, that is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. History Chinook Winds Adventist Academy was originally established in 1945 a ...

Webber Academy Webber Academy is a non-denominational, co-educational, university preparatory, private school located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Webber Academy offers academics spanning from junior kindergarten through grade 12. It was founded in 1997 by Dr. N ...

, Delta West Academy, Masters Academy,

Calgary Islamic School Calgary Islamic School, sometimes abbreviated as "CIS", is a school located in the north-east section of Calgary, Alberta. The school is attached to the Akram Jumu'a mosque (also known as the NE mosque), and teaches grades kindergarten through twel ...

, Menno Simons Christian School,

West Island College West Island College (WIC) is a system of three Canada, Canadian private schools: West Island College Montreal, founded in 1974, West Island College Calgary, founded in 1982, and Class Afloat–West Island College International, founded in 1984. ...

Edge School Edge School is a private school located in the Rocky View County, just west of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Edge School offers training in dance, golf, hockey, soccer, figure skating, basketball, and a flex program for students who would like to purs ...

, Calgary Christian School, Heritage Christian Academy, and Bearspaw Christian School. Calgary is also home to what was Western Canada's largest public high school,

Lord Beaverbrook High School Lord Beaverbrook High School (LBHS) is a public high school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada operated by the Calgary Board of Education. It was founded in 1967 and the first year of attendance was in 1968. It has approximately 1,100 students and 100 st ...

, with 2,241 students enrolled in the 2005–2006 school year. Currently the student population of Lord Beaverbrook is 1,812 students (September 2012) and several other schools are equally as large; Western Canada High School with 2,035 students (2009) and Sir Winston Churchill High School with 1,983 students (2009).

Post-secondary

The publicly funded University of Calgary (U of C) is a research university and is Calgary's largest degree-granting facility with an enrolment of 28,464 students in 2011. Mount Royal University, with 13,000 students, grants degrees in a number of fields.

SAIT Polytechnic The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) is a polytechnic institute in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. SAIT offers more than 110 career programs in technology, trades and business. Established in 1916, it is Calgary's second oldest post-sec ...

, with over 14,000 students, provides polytechnic and apprentice education, granting certificates, diplomas and applied degrees.

Athabasca University Athabasca University (AU) is a Canadian public research university that primarily operates through online distance education. Founded in 1970, it is one of four comprehensive academic and research universities in Alberta, and was the first ...

provides distance education programs. Both

and the University of Calgary have CTrain light-rail stations on or near their campuses. Other publicly funded post-secondary institutions based in Calgary include the Alberta University of the Arts, Ambrose University (associated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance and the Church of the Nazarene),

Bow Valley College Bow Valley College is a public, board-governed college operating as a comprehensive community institution under the Post-Secondary Learning Act of Alberta. The branch campuses are: Airdrie, Banff, Canmore, Cochrane, High River, Okotoks, and S ...

, and St. Mary's University. The publicly funded

Northern Alberta Institute of Technology The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) is a applied sciences institute in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. NAIT provides careers programs in applied research, technical training, applied education, and learning designed to meet the deman ...

(NAIT), and the University of Lethbridge also have campuses in Calgary. Several independent private institutions are located in the city. These include

Reeves College Reeves College is a private for-profit post-secondary facility with five campuses in Alberta, Canada. The college specializes in training students for business, art and design, legal and health care related careers in under two years. Programs are ...

, MaKami College, Robertson College, Columbia College,

Alberta Bible College Alberta Bible College is a Canadian Bible college offering Christian Higher education to young adults and older adults in Alberta. Non-Denominational, ABC is born of roots in Christian Churches and Churches of Christ ABC offers two different wa ...

, and

CDI College CDI College is a private, for-profit career college in Canada. It offers programs in the business, technology and health care fields. The college has 23 campus locations in five Canadian provinces: six in British Columbia, eight in Alberta, one i ...

Media

Calgary's daily newspapers include the ''

'', and '' Calgary Sun'', and formerly '' StarMetro''. Calgary is the sixth largest television market in Canada. Broadcasts stations serving Calgary include CICT 2 ( Global), CFCN 4 (

), CKAL 5 (

), CBRT 9 ( CBC), CKCS 32 ( YesTV), and CJCO 38 ( Omni). Network affiliate programming from the United States originates from Spokane, Washington. There are a wide range of radio stations, including a station for First Nations and the Asian Canadian community.

Notable people

International relations

The City of Calgary maintains trade development programs, cultural and educational partnerships in twinning agreements with six cities: Calgary is one of nine Canadian cities, out of the total of 98 cities internationally, that is in the New York City Global Partners, Inc. organization, which was formed in 2006 from the former Sister City program of the City of New York, Inc.

References

Citations

Works cited

* * * * * ** ** ** ** ** * * * *

External links

* {{Authority control 1884 establishments in Alberta 1884 establishments in the Northwest Territories Cities in Alberta Hudson's Bay Company trading posts Populated places established in 1884

Etymology

History

Early history

Turmoil in 1885 and 1886 and "The Sandstone City"

1887 to 1900

Turn of the 20th century

Stampede City

Early oil and gas

Early politics 1910s to 1940s

1960s to 1970s

1970s and 1980s: economic boom and bust

Olympic legacy

1990s to present

Geography

Flora and fauna

Neighbourhoods

Climate

Demographics

Ethnicity

Religion

Economy

Arts and culture

Stage

Screen

Visual art

Libraries

Museums

Festivals

Arts education

Attractions

Sports and recreation

Government

Municipal politics

Provincial politics

Federal politics

Crime

Military

Infrastructure

Transportation

Public transit

Airports

Pedestrian and cycling

Skyway

Roads and highways

Rail

Health care

Education

Primary and secondary

Post-secondary

Media

Notable people

International relations

See also

References

Citations

Works cited

Further reading

External links