Coventry Hills, Calgary: garage permits doubled to 50 in 2025

Coventry Hills is finished building houses and busy improving them. City of Calgary open data shows one new house permit there from January 2023 to 29 September 2026, against 133 detached garages, 119 renovations and 90 basement developments. Garage permits more than doubled, from 24 in 2023 to 50 in 2025.

What are Coventry Hills owners building?

Garages first, then renovations and basements. The permit table shows almost no new construction: a single new house in nearly four years.

Permits issued, excluding cancelled ones. "Share of Calgary" is this community's part of the citywide count for the same project type and years. Declared value is what the applicant wrote on the permit application. It is not a quote and runs below real costs. Medians are shown only where a category has at least 5 permits. Source: City of Calgary open data (building permits, development permits, secondary suite registry, census 2021 population, census 2021 households, civic census 2019, land use districts), retrieved 5 October 2026.

Renovations have run at a steady 33, 36 and 31 a year from 2023 to 2025. Basement developments barely moved either: 24, 25, 24, then 17 so far in 2026. Garages are the category that grew. Within the North sector, only three communities had more.

Additions are rarer, with 15 permits, but that's the second most in the North sector. They took a median 42 days to issue and carried a median declared value of $46,834. Declared values are what applicants wrote on the permit and run below real costs. The home addition cost guide has real figures.

What does a garage cost in Coventry Hills?

The permit can't tell you. The median declared value on the 133 garages was $46,677, and it's a number the applicant wrote down, below what a garage really costs. For real prices by size, use the detached garage cost guide, and the garage size guide for stall widths and depths.

What the data does show is speed. Half of Coventry Hills garage permits were issued within 8 days of the application, so the permit is rarely what holds up a garage here.

Can you add a suite in Coventry Hills?

On most lots, yes, and more owners are doing it. Permits to create a suite by altering existing space rose from 3 in 2023 to 18 in 2025, with 11 more by 29 September 2026. They took a median 30 days to issue.

Development permits applied for from 1 January 2023; many home projects in Calgary need only a building permit, so these are a subset of all work. The registry lists suites the City has confirmed meet the rules, not every suite that exists. Source: City of Calgary open data (building permits, development permits, secondary suite registry, census 2021 population, census 2021 households, civic census 2019, land use districts), retrieved 5 October 2026.

Suites also show up in the development permit record. Of 179 applications since 2023, 66 were for secondary suites, 18th most of 97 communities. Of the 127 decided, 125 were approved and 2 refused, with a median of 35 days to a decision. The registry lists 195 Coventry Hills suites, and 32 were added in 2025.

As of October 2026, the site's legal basement suite guide lists a secondary suite as a permitted use in R-1N, R-1 and R-2, the three districts that cover most of the community. A suite that meets every zoning rule now goes straight to a building permit. Your lot can have a secondary suite or a backyard suite, not both. Only two backyard suite permits were issued here, one in 2025 and one in 2026.

How is Coventry Hills zoned?

Mostly for houses. R-1N covers about 37.1% of the area, R-1 about 21.8% and R-2 about 12.1%, the largest R-2 share of any of the 97 communities. Residential districts take 71.7% of Coventry Hills in the City's groupings, seventh highest of the 97.

The share of the community's districted area in each land use district, from the City's district and community boundary maps intersected exactly. Districts change by lot and by amendment: check a specific lot on the City's land use map before you plan. Source: City of Calgary open data (building permits, development permits, secondary suite registry, census 2021 population, census 2021 households, civic census 2019, land use districts), retrieved 5 October 2026.

The City describes R-1N as single-detached homes on narrow or small parcels, R-1 as single-detached homes, and R-2 as single-detached, semi-detached and duplex homes (The City of Calgary, land use districts). S-SPR, at about 11.6%, is the City's district for public parks, schools and reserve land, and S-TUC, at 8.6%, is what the City labels a transportation and utility corridor. C-R3, regional commercial, sits just outside the table at 3.4%.

You may notice R-G on 73 of the development permit applications. Those date from citywide rezoning, which Council repealed effective 4 August 2026; lots rezoned in 2024 went back to their earlier district unless an R-CG, R-G or H-GO development had been applied for or approved (The City of Calgary, 2026). Check your own lot on the City's land use map.

Who lives in Coventry Hills?

Larger households in houses. The 2021 census counted 17,350 residents in 5,480 households, an average of 3.2 people, tied for eighth highest of 84 communities with census data. Seventeen per cent of households had five or more people.

Population and household figures are from the 2021 Census of Canada as published by the City of Calgary; dwelling types are from the City's 2019 civic census, the last one it ran. Newer communities have grown since. Source: City of Calgary open data (building permits, development permits, secondary suite registry, census 2021 population, census 2021 households, civic census 2019, land use districts), retrieved 5 October 2026.

Only 6% of residents were 65 or older, and 22% were 14 or younger. In 2019, 79% of dwellings were owner-occupied. Big households in owned houses suggest the demand behind all those basements and suites: more bedrooms, or a separate space for an adult child or a parent. If you're finishing the basement as bedrooms, the egress window guide covers the window each one needs.

Seeing a Coventry Hills basement at full size

The common project here is a basement, often with a suite, under a house that's already built. Your existing walls and stairs are fixed, so the walkthrough is about what fits around them. On the studio's LED floor, the basement plan is lit at full size with its room names and dimension lines. You can stand where the suite kitchen goes and see how much room the stair and mechanical space leave, with freestanding walls showing where the new partitions fall.

Changes are made on the spot and shown on the floor, and you keep the recording. Send the plan as a PDF or DWG at least three days ahead. The quote is free and depends on the plan's size: see pricing, book a session, or see the communities hub.