From Blue Sky City to winter blues
Manveet Kaur Waraich, Staff Writer & Zafir Nagji, Sports Editor
November normally brings a heavy serving of unforgiving winter weather. This year, though, the expected start of winter began by teasing the city of Calgary, keeping us on edge about all of its impending doom with microdoses of snow and spatterings of flurries.
As families unpack boxes of toques, mittens and down jackets in preparation, the word ‘snow’ becomes almost taboo, bringing menacing glares each time as if speaking the word would unleash the final wave of chill across the city.
However, Calgary’s cold season brings real consequences at the personal, municipal and even provincial level.
At the personal level, this could bring winter blues, which leads many Calgarians to huddle up in the warmth of their homes, giving up their desire for the outdoors until bluer skies return.
It could also bring about more severe consequences, as according to the Canadian Psychological Association, seasonal affective disorder affects around 15 per cent of Canadians, who are “particularly at risk, as we have decreased sunlight during the winter months.”
At the municipal and provincial levels, this means a slow economic freeze. Fewer Calgarians choose to spend their time and money out on the town during the winter months, and fewer non-Calgarians come into town with their time and money.
Plus, as the census metropolitan area responsible for 31 per cent of the province’s GDP in 2021, the Alberta economy takes a toll when it comes to winter’s anti-capitalistic slowdown.
To combat this, the city council drafted its own Winter City Strategy in 2018 to keep Calgary rolling through its cold season. The strategy came into effect in 2022, but how does the report look in its fourth year, and what’s in store for Calgary’s 2025 winter?
Better late than never
Calgary was late to the game when it came to organising a winter strategy. First approved by council in 2018, Calgary’s first winter strategy didn’t come into effect until the final quarter of 2022.
Published in November of that year with the title, “City of Calgary Winter City Strategy,” it aimed to provide structure to help the city handle the season that reigns over 40 per cent of the year.
Even though the city has yet to make significant alterations to the strategy four years after its official beginning, much of the Winter City Strategy is still relevant today and has defined the city’s post-pandemic winters.
The Winter City Strategy is centred around 12 goals broken into four distinct pillars — economic diversification, accessibility and equity, infrastructure and design, and Calgary’s winter story.
Within that structure were 35 implementable actions intended to fill in the “gaps in the city’s current winter-focused activities, business practices, levels of accessibility and winter-oriented infrastructure design and safety,” as the report reads.
Money in the (snow)bank
With winter occupying almost half of Calgary’s annual seasonal rotation, the Winter City Strategy aims to make the long season a positive facet of Calgary’s identity and keep the vibrancy of one of the country’s most popular municipalities alive.
The strategy also looks to use that to market Calgary as a preferred wintertime destination to reduce the city’s economic dependence on its short summer season, finding ways to capitalise when the famous blue skies turn grey, and streets hide under a snowy blanket.
As Travel Alberta Chief Commercial Officer, Jon Mamela, put it in the Winter City Strategy, Calgary’s economy is in serious need of a proverbial jump-start in the winter, something that could benefit cold-season commerce across the entire province.
“Year-round visitation is a critical part of our recovery and long-term success,” Mamela said. “Showcasing Calgary as a vibrant winter city supports our goal of attracting international visitors to Alberta and driving revenue for the province.”
Snow one left behind
As important as adding new dimensions to the city’s economy is, so too is the need for improving accessibility and equity to foster inclusivity and create an inviting environment during the chilly months.
As part of the Winter City Strategy, Calgary has pledged to support initiatives such as creating interactive multilingual maps of winter activity locations, facilitating better transportation for seniors and people with disabilities, and increasing support for vulnerable populations.
The report also indicates the city’s intention to formalise snow removal, with the goal of operating 24/7 during major storms, and to build more warm bus stops to make the stressful winter transportation process easier for everyone in the city.
Breaking the ice
Many of these lead into the city’s desire to improve infrastructure and design. Some of the key goals highlighted in the 2022 report include increasing comfort, beauty and ease of usage of public spaces during winter, as well as taking a future-conscious approach to designing and using them.
According to the Executive Director of the Federation of Calgary Communities, Leslie Evans, there’s no limit to the impact those changes can have.
“A winter strategy could encourage our outdoor rinks to come alive with other complementary activities like bonfires, music in the park, or a hot chocolate fest,” Evans said. “The possibilities to turn our winter city into a year-round gathering place are endless – that is where the Winter Strategy will play a role.”
From stampede city to “winter city”
Last but certainly not least on the list of pillars is writing Calgary’s winter story. The city’s summer story is effortlessly picturesque with Stampede, plenty of outdoor festivals, and a downtown that is almost always buzzing. With the Winter City Strategy, Calgary looks to embed its winter season into its identity and keep that energy flowing through winter, as Crescent Heights Village BIA Executive Director Camie Leard indicated in the report.
“Focusing outdoor programming solely in the summer months is like trying to jam appetizers, main course and dessert into the cocktail hour,” Leard said. “Calgary is a winter city. And people want to savour it in all seasons. All we need is something cool to do, the infrastructure to make it safe and comfortable to do at any temperature and a commitment to making it all accessible to all Calgarians and visitors. A winter city strategy is crucial to creating year-round vibrancy. ”
In the report, TELUS Spark CEO Mary Anne Moser shared how the strategy “triggered a foundational shift” in her view of Calgarian winters.
“It’s a small switch with big impact,” Moser said. “Having the term ‘winter city’ to rally around was all it took.”
Winter Bow-nuses
According to the Winter City Strategy, 390,000 people attended the inaugural Chinook Blast in 2021, turning the three-week event into a yearly staple that returns this year.
According to Calgary Arts Development, the 2024 event generated $15.7 million, over $2 million more than 2023’s iteration.
There are also plenty of ways to put the “win” in “winter” outside that aren’t officially a part of the Winter City Strategy. Calgary plays host to a myriad of different sporting events throughout the winter. With the Saddledome’s demolition only coming faster, city residents will be given plenty of opportunities to enjoy one of the many teams that call the dome home. Collegiate sports are also in full swing in Calgary, providing budget-friendly sporting experiences all over the city.
Artists like Lauryn Hill and comedians like Kurtis Conner are also scheduled to visit the Blue Sky City this winter, with the former bringing her best bars to the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium and the latter eliciting laughs at MRU’s Bella Concert Hall.
The holiday season is also around the corner, bringing Zoolights back for its 29th season in Calgary and boasting plenty of themed areas and activities.
With plenty of activities within and outside the Winter City Strategy report to keep Calgary vibrant during the cold season, Calgarians can resist the urge to hibernate and choose to capitalise on winter.
