Airdrie Minute: Issue 82

Airdrie Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Airdrie politics

📅 This Week In Airdrie: 📅

• It’s Election Day! Polls are open from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm. In case you missed it, check out our 2025 Municipal Election Survey, revealing where Mayoral and Council candidates stand on key issues like safety, affordability, taxation, and accountability. We have published their unedited responses so voters can make informed choices. Some candidates answered, others declined - but all responses, or lack thereof, offer insight into their priorities.
  
  
• Airdrie residents can now watch the recorded mayoral forum held on October 10th at Kingdom City Church. The event featured all six mayoral candidates - Tina Petrow, Vern Raincock, Dylan Harty, Dave Douglass, Eeshnah Qureshi, and Heather Spearman - answering questions designed to reveal their vision, values, and leadership plans for the city. Councillor candidates also gave brief introductions during the forum. You can access it here.
  
  
• A social media post claiming Airdrie plans annual property-tax increases of 9.75% and intends to spend its $25-million Tax Stabilization Reserve sparked debate among residents and Council candidates. The City clarified that no multi-year tax plan has been approved, and the figures cited were based on outdated 2022 financial modelling. The Tax Stabilization Reserve, which held $28 million at the end of 2024, is a strategic tool for phasing in operating costs for major new facilities, not a “slush fund,” and has not been used for the new downtown library. Future reliance on the reserve is expected to decrease with new developer levies for community facilities. Council reviews multiple financial scenarios each year, with budgets adjusted based on priorities, economic conditions, and service demands. The 2026 operating and capital budgets will be deliberated in November.
  
  
• Airdrie’s rental market has seen prices decrease compared to last year, making the city one of Canada’s more affordable larger rental markets. Rentals.ca reports the average one-bedroom rental now costs $1,436, down 8% from last year, while two-bedroom units average $1,772, a 7.7% decline. Calgary’s rentals remain slightly higher, and North Vancouver tops the list as the most expensive market. The city also recorded a September high of 295 new housing listings, contributing to a drop in home prices, with the benchmark price at $526,000 - nearly 5% lower than a year ago. Slower sales have increased supply, with total inventory reaching 571 homes and marking the first time since 2020 that Airdrie has more than four months of housing supply. The added availability of units is helping ease both rental and housing pressures in the city.
  
  
• Council unanimously approved an amendment to the Land Use Bylaw to allow for a more diverse mix of housing in the Southwinds neighbourhood. The redistricting covers 2.3 hectares of residential land and will add 21 homes, increasing townhouse units so that 34% of the neighbourhood’s housing stock is multi-family, meeting the City Plan’s minimum requirement of 30%. The changes also align with policies promoting housing affordability and a variety of housing types, without exceeding limits on small or narrow single-detached lots. Adjustments to the local street network aim to improve connections, including pathways to the future Rocky View High School site.
   

🚨 This Week’s Action Item: 🚨

Make sure to cast your vote in the municipal election today! 

Polls are open from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm. 

Click below to find your polling station and other relevant voter information.

🪙 This Week’s Sponsor: 🪙

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