Development permits in Calgary, and how they differ from building permits

When a development permit is required

The City’s general rule is that development permits are required for new projects, changes in use, or additions to existing structures. In practice, on the residential work most contractors run, it is triggered by one of these.

• The use is listed as discretionary in your land use district. Discretionary means exactly that: the City says there is no guarantee of approval.
• The design or location does not meet a Land Use Bylaw rule, so you are asking for a relaxation. Again, no guarantee of approval.
• For all new commercial projects, including new buildings and additions, an approved development permit is required before a building permit can be issued.
• Most tenant improvements and repair projects generally do not require one — unless the work alters the approved development permit.

City of Calgary: building permit and development permit, common questions

City of Calgary: when a residential project also needs planning approval

What happens after you apply

The development permit process is not one review. It is a sequence with other people’s clocks inside it, and three of those clocks belong to the public rather than to you or to the file manager.

• Bylaw review. Your plans may go to a specialized group that cross-references the proposal against Land Use Bylaw rules, sometimes ordering historical files to check parking history before site parking can be calculated.
• Notice posting. Where the Land Use Bylaw requires it, notice posting must occur at least 7 days prior to a decision being made, and anyone may submit written comments during that period.
• Circulation. The proposal may be circulated to internal departments, community associations, utilities and the Province. Where comments are invited, the formal commenting period generally lasts between 7 and 21 days, and the file manager may keep considering feedback while the application is under active review.
• Detailed review. The file manager may visit the property, prepares a written review, and may ask for changed plans or more information. Time is provided to respond, and the response time is yours.
• Decision, then the appeal period. Applicants have 21 days after the date of decision to file an appeal; all affected parties have 21 days after the public notice advertisement date. Discretionary permits take additional processing time because they generally require extra circulation plus the advertising and appeal period.
• Prior-to-release conditions, then release. Some permits are approved before you have supplied required information or payment so you can apply for a building permit sooner; the file manager cannot release the permit until those conditions are complete. Approved is not released, and released is what you build on.

City of Calgary: the development permit process

How long a development permit takes

The City reports its permit timelines by quarter, against a target it sets itself. The figures below are its published targets and its own measured results for April 1 to June 30, 2026. They are not a promise about your application.

The process page itself publishes no number: it says timelines vary with complexity, community impact, when public comments arrive and when you reply. The numbers are on the City’s separate timelines page, as a target and the measured result for April 1 to June 30, 2026.

• Single, semi-detached and duplex dwellings in the developed area: 90-day target, met 81 per cent of the time, averaging 70 days.
• Other technical development applications: 60-day target, met 89 per cent of the time, averaging 36 days.
• Multi-disciplinary development permits — the review a new multi-residential, commercial, mixed-use or industrial project gets: 120-day target, met 65 per cent of the time, averaging 109 days. This is the lowest on-target rate in the development table.
• Land use amendments: 180-day target, met 71 per cent of the time, averaging 157 days. If your project needs a redesignation first, this runs before everything above it.
• Subdivisions: 21-day target by instrument, met 100 per cent of the time and averaging 18 days; 60-day target by tentative plan, met 89 per cent of the time and averaging 44 days.

For a small residential project that needs a relaxation, the City publishes a simpler figure on the project pages themselves: 60 days to decision plus a 21-day advertisement and appeal period, for a total of 10 to 12 weeks.

City of Calgary: development approval timelines

What makes it take longer

The City publishes its own advice on this, and it is mostly about not making the file manager wait. Every item here is something you control.

• Provide plans drawn to professional standards.
• Submit proposals that either comply with the Land Use Bylaw rules or seek a minor relaxation — and when you seek one, give the reason the rule should be relaxed.
• Obtain letters of support from neighbours and the community association where they are required.
• Submit additional plans and information quickly when they are requested.
• Expect the appeal window even on a decision that went your way. Twenty-one days after the decision is not dead time you can schedule through; it is the period in which the decision can still change.

City of Calgary: the development permit process

Commencement, not expiry

A development permit does not expire on a fixed day count the way a building permit’s 180 days does. Its conditions name a commencement date — the day you must start construction by for the permit to stay valid. Miss it and you are requesting an extension of commencement rather than building. Track that date with the permit, because it is written into the conditions rather than printed on the front.

City of Calgary: permit expiry and extension of commencement