Growth Spurt: A look at what Calgary's growth means for both new and long-term residents
Elise Stolte, Karina Zapata | CBC News | Posted: December 9, 2024 9:00 AM | Last Updated: December 19
CBC Calgary is looking deeper at the impact of growth all week
Image | Growth Spurt, Calgary
Caption: (Brooke Schreiber/CBC)
This is not another oil boom.
It's a different boom — an affordability-driven boom — which means a different motivation and demographic mix, and a different squeeze on the people and services already here.
CBC Calgary is looking deeper at the impact of growth all week.
We'll hear from those who arrived and fell in love with this city. From people settling in and making friends. We'll also hear from people feeling the squeeze in the school system, in the job market and next door to new row-house projects.
Watch, read and listen to these stories across all our CBC platforms. And check back for more of this reporting here.
Media Audio | This is Calgary : From chapstick to cowboy boots, newcomers to Calgary talk about moving here
Caption: Calgary has been experiencing a rate of population growth not seen since the 1980s. We talk with three newcomers to Calgary — from elsewhere in Canada, Kenya and Ukraine — to hear what surprised them about the big move.
Media Audio | Calgary Eyeopener : Growth Spurt: part one
Caption: We launch a series looking at how Calgary's population is growing in leaps and bounds, and meet one family who are glad they took the leap to move here.
Media Audio | Calgary Eyeopener : Calgary Eyeopener podcast - Thursday, December 12
Caption: On today's show: lawmakers will meet face-to-face with airline executives this week about charging for carry-on bags. We connect with the CEO of WestJet; why hundreds of AHS workers are being switched over to a new agency, as the province continues its overhaul of the healthcare system; in the latest on our series looking into population growth in Calgary, we hear how complete strangers are ending up at the same dinner table.
Media Audio | The Homestretch : Public school overflow
Caption: Calgary’s public school system is full to bursting. Overall, schools are at 95 per cent capacity now and space is so hard to come by, with thousands of kids are being turned away from their neighbourhood schools.
Media Audio | The Homestretch : Growth Spurt: dream home in Lethbridge
Caption: As many of us have seen, Alberta is growing. Big cities have seen the majority of that influx, but it's now spilling over to the smaller towns as cities. The CBC’s Lethbridge Bureau reporter Ose Irete tells us the story of one couple who left the big city and found their dream home in southern Alberta.
Media Video | Here are the top 4 Calgary communities for row-house rezoning applications
Caption: The City of Calgary has received 189 development permit applications for R-CG developments (mainly row houses) since city council approved upzoning in May. A CBC News analysis found that the top four communities for those developments are Bowness, Glenbrook, Mount Pleasant and Capitol Hill. Industry experts explain why those communities are seeing an uptick and which neighbourhoods could be next.
Media Video | How have Calgarians' habits on the road changed?
Caption: Calgary driving instructor Drashko Vujanovic says the city's roads are very different from the '90s, when he started teaching the rules of the road. He explains factors that may have led to these changes.
Media Video | CBC News: Calgary at 6:00 : Cleaning jobs hard to find according to newcomers to Calgary
Caption: Calgary's surging population has created a downside for some of its newest residents. Already facing a stretched housing market and schools with high enrolments, finding an entry-level job can be difficult. The CBC's Karina Zapata spoke with Rob Brown about one example.
Media Video | Thousands of kids turned away from neighbourhood schools
Caption: Calgary's public school system is under massive pressure from the growing population, with one official at the Calgary Board of Education calling the situation "more challenging than it's ever been." But what is the CBE doing about it — and what does record enrolment mean for parents looking to register their kids at the local public school?