ACORN Goes to Calgary City Hall – Budget 2026

On November 24 and 25, Calgary ACORN packed City Hall for the public hearings on Calgary’s 2026 budget—two marathon days that ran from 9:30 AM to 9:30 PM. One by one, twelve ACORN leaders spoke directly to council about our core budget priorities, with most stepping up to the microphone for the very first time. ACORN cut through the noise of a crowded agenda and put tenant issues squarely on the map.

ACORN’s three key budget priorities:

1. Funding the Old Y Building by securing the public investment needed to reopen this critical, centrally located hub for community organizations, where the Calgary ACORN office once operated.
2. Establishing a Landlord Licensing Program with funding to design and create a municipal inspection and enforcement system for Calgary’s apartments to ensure healthy homes and stronger protections for tenants across the city.
3. Implementing a Maximum Temperature Bylaw with funding to design and create municipal protections for renters from dangerous heat in their homes.

ACORN’s powerful testimony resonated deeply with councillors. 

Vanessa Badger, Chair of the East End ACORN Chapter, delivered a presentation that shook the room. Newly elected Mayor Jeromy Farkas addressed her and the council by saying that in his nearly 15 years of being on Council, no presentation had affected him as profoundly as Vanessa’s. Vanessa Badger’s courage and clarity captured exactly why ACORN continues to lead the fight for safe, healthy, affordable housing.

ACORN also joined our partners in the Save the Old Y Coalition, representing the community groups displaced from the Old Y and fighting to get the City to fund essential repairs at the historic building. Dozens of speakers—from ACORN, Arusha, Calgary Climate Hub, Calgary-Buffalo MLA Joe Ceci, longtime Calgary activist Sharon Stevens, and many others—told Council what saving the Old Y would mean for the Beltline and all of Calgary.

Allied councillors Nathaniel Schmidt (Ward 8), Myke Atkinson (Ward 7), and Harrison Clark (Ward 9) are now actively working on a budget amendment to allocate funds to the Old Y.

ACORN’s message from the public hearing was loud and clear: Calgary needs better protections for renters, and real investment in community infrastructure. ACORN’s leadership showed up, spoke up, and helped shift the conversation inside City Hall.

We’re just getting started.