How does Calgary’s Future decide who to endorse?

In the 2021 municipal election, Calgary’s Future registered as a third-party advertiser. A big part of our role was endorsing city council candidates in all 14 wards, as well as a mayoral candidate. 

Why? Because their platforms championed important issues like housing affordability, better public transit, and good-paying jobs. Through our endorsement process, we help Calgary voters identify the candidates who are ready to fight for what’s most important to our communities. 

Why should you care?

Because we champion issues that affect all of us!  

Since Calgary’s Future began in 2021, we’ve built a community of Calgarians who want to help make our city better. Together, we’ve made progress on housing affordability, public transit, climate issues, and supporting Calgary’s continued growth and prosperity. 

The impact we’re making is fueled by voices like yours. It’s you who tell us what’s most important. It’s you who sign petitions, send emails to councillors, and show up to speak at public hearings. 

But the impact of our voices can be helped or hindered by the people we elected to represent us. 

Do endorsements even work?

We think they do! It can be challenging for municipal candidates to build recognition and get heard. Through our endorsement process, Calgary’s Future helps amplify the voices of real community leaders and hold them accountable to what Calgarians care about. 

In the 2021 municipal election, eight of our endorsed candidates were elected to council. That’s a pretty big deal! Voters chose to elect candidates that prioritize the issues Calgarians care about, and that made it easier to pursue solutions collaboratively. We need to do that again in 2025.

By endorsing candidates that prioritize key issues, we can help elect city councillors who are ready to fight for real solutions and make our city better for everyone. 

A non-partisan process

When it comes to building a better future for Calgarians, it’s important to welcome diverse perspectives. That’s why Calgary’s future will always take a non-partisan approach to advocacy. That commitment applies to our candidate endorsement process, too. 

What does it mean to be non-partisan? It means we don’t care about left versus right labels. We care about the issues that matter to working people, and the policies that create real results. We believe that  we can work together towards real solutions and that things can get better. 

In the 2025 election, for the first time in Calgary’s history, candidates can align themselves with political parties. Do we care if a candidate is connected to a certain political party? No! Good ideas come from all kinds of diverse perspectives, and good ideas are exactly what we’re focused on.

How does Calgary’s Future know what voters care about?

We ask. At the beginning of each calendar year, we survey our supporters. These surveys give you and community members across the city an opportunity to let us know what’s top of mind. Right now, we have a survey open asking specifically for you to share your election priorities. 

Not only that, we’re out in the community, hosting events and visiting with Calgarians in-person. These are such great opportunities to connect and get feedback from Calgarians about the priorities in their communities.  

For the past several years, housing affordability has been the top issue for our supporters. In response to that feedback, we create opportunities for Calgarians to advocate for solutions to the housing crisis. Opportunities like petitions, email actions, in-person events and training for how to speak at council hearings.

This year, investment in public transportation and more good jobs also ranked high in our survey. We have current election petitions open for those issues too. 

And because our supporters tell us that these issues are important, we’ll use them as a lens to evaluate candidates for city council. 

How does Calgary’s Future evaluate a candidate’s platform?

Before we endorse a candidate, we get to know them. How? By researching their platform, looking at their previous experience, and getting them to respond to a questionnaire. 

We ask about the issues we know matter most to Calgarians and determine which candidates are ready to work collaboratively towards real solutions. 

While there is no such thing as a perfect candidate, Calgary’s Future strives to endorse Candidates who champion the issues that Calgarians care about. 

Together, let’s make our city better.

Stay tuned for more election news and announcements about which candidates we’ll be endorsing. Together, let’s elect a Calgary City Council that’s ready to fight for what matters most to Calgarians!