The City of Calgary Newsroom

Thursday, March 3 – Calgary, AB: Research released today reinforces that the vast majority of Calgarians are ready to legalize safe secondary suites in their communities, however, the poll also indicates that many community associations are not reflecting the views of their constituents.

Commissioned by the University of Calgary Students’ Union and conducted ZINC Research, the new poll confirmed previous research and asked new questions that were previously unexplored.

“These results illustrate something that I’ve been hearing for some time: that Calgarians support legal secondary suites,” said Mayor Nenshi. “But the poll also shows that 77 per cent of Calgarians are comfortable with their neighbours building legal secondary suites as close as right next door.”

The research explores Calgarians’ awareness of the issue showing that, while many know Mayor Nenshi’s position on legalizing secondary suites, few know the position of their own community associations which have traditionally spoken for the people of a community.

57 per cent of Calgarians polled are aware of the Mayor Nenshi’s position
Seven per cent of Calgarians polled are aware of their community association’s position

“Some community associations support the legalization of secondary suites and some do not,” said Mayor Nenshi. “What this demonstrates is that those community associations that have been vocal in their opposition do not reflect the true views of the people who live in their communities.”

Due to the large sample size of the research (1,585 respondents), Calgarians can see a snapshot of opinion in some of the city wards. Although there is some slight variation between wards, most wards reflect the opinion of the entire city. For example, Wards 1 and 6 (located in west Calgary) and Wards 13 and 14 (located in east Calgary) are within a range of 72 per cent to 79 per cent in support for their neighbours building secondary suites next door.

“It is important to me to lead with the best available facts and information,” said Mayor Nenshi. “This survey strongly reinforces information we’ve known previously, and reminds me that we are doing what is right for the future of Calgary and its citizens.”

The ZINC Research poll results mirror the results of a study conducted by Mustel Group in 2009 for The City of Calgary.

79 per cent of Calgarians polled favour legalization of existing secondary suites
75 per cent of Calgarians polled support secondary suites in their neighbourhood

The detailed results of the research can be found here: http://www.su.ucalgary.ca/system/files/content/news/images/MAR2011/_secondary_suites_-_march_3_2011.pdf