The Calgary Police Service is seeking a 19 per cent increase in its annual operating budget by 2030, along with 309 net new police officers and 214.5 additional civilian full-time-equivalent positions over the next four years.
Chief Katie McLellan and the Calgary Police Commission presented the 2027–2030 business plan and budget request in a public briefing on Thursday, October 29. The proposal is intended to address population growth, increasingly complex investigations, frontline response pressures and aging equipment. Calgary City Council has not approved the request.
What police are requesting
The police operating budget would rise from $684.5 million in 2026 to $741.1 million in 2027, $771.5 million in 2028, $795.5 million in 2029 and $816.7 million in 2030. That amounts to a $132.2-million increase in the annual operating budget by 2030 compared with the 2026 baseline.
The service also proposes $191.9 million in capital expenditures over the four-year 2027–2030 cycle, compared with $110.58 million in the preceding cycle, an increase of approximately 73 per cent.
CPS presents these figures in a table with a combined $324.1-million request, made up of $132.2 million in incremental annual operating-budget increases across the plan and $191.9 million in capital allocations spread over four years. The categories have different accounting time bases: $324.1 million is neither a single-year police budget nor the cumulative cost of the service's annual operations between 2027 and 2030.
The proposed four-year capital allocation includes $73.1 million for the police vehicle fleet, $56.1 million for building upgrades, $55.2 million for information technology and $7.5 million for equipment and tools. The request does not include funding for construction of a new downtown police station.
Hundreds of new positions proposed
Under the plan, the number of sworn officers would grow from 2,304 to 2,613 by 2030, a net increase of 309 positions. The service says it intends to recruit approximately 660 officers over the four years when hiring to replace departing members is included.
Civilian staffing would grow from 946.5 to 1,161 full-time-equivalent positions, an increase of 214.5. Civilian roles include analysts, information technology staff, mechanics, administrative specialists and other employees who support operational policing.
CPS says its ratio of sworn officers to population declined from 167 per 100,000 Calgarians in 2017 to 144 in 2026. If approved and fully staffed, the plan projects a ratio of about 155 officers per 100,000 residents in 2030, still below the ratio seen in 2017.
The service bases its projections on City population estimates increasing from approximately 1.58 million in 2026 to 1.69 million by 2030. It says the additional employees and technology could increase the proportion of patrol time available for proactive work, including visible patrols, community contact and crime prevention, from about 20 per cent to an estimated 34 per cent. These are targets in the budget plan, not outcomes already achieved.
Chief warns of consequences if the request is not approved
At the October 29 briefing, McLellan said she was requesting only what the service believes it can realistically hire, train and support during the four-year period. She warned that inadequate funding would further limit police response capacity and put added pressure on existing staff. CPS also says roughly 300 other full-time-equivalent positions it identified as needed were deferred from the proposal.
Mayor Jeromy Farkas voiced support for increased police funding, citing Calgary's growth and public-safety pressures. However, he also said the absence of a downtown police station from the capital plan remains an issue he wants to address. City Council must weigh the police request against spending on fire services, infrastructure, transit and other municipal priorities.
What would this mean for taxpayers?
The proposal would be considered as part of Calgary's broader 2027–2030 municipal budget. It does not yet establish how much an individual homeowner or business would pay in additional property taxes. That depends on final City funding decisions, revenue, assessments and the full set of approved budget items.
Calgary Police Commission submits a recommended police budget to Council. Council sets the total funding amount, and the Commission approves the allocation of the approved funds. Police spending and performance are subject to reporting and oversight requirements.
The City says it will release its proposed 2027–2030 budget publicly on November 10. Public submissions and Council's budget deliberations begin November 23, with final decisions expected later in the month.
Sources
Calgary Police Service: budget priorities and supporting context.
City of Calgary: official 2027–2030 budget development and Council deliberation schedule.
Calgary Police Commission: legal responsibilities for budget approval and oversight.