Killarney/Glengarry, Calgary: infill moves from semis to rowhouses

Killarney/Glengarry builds more infill than any other Centre community in the City's data, and the type is changing. City of Calgary open data shows semi-detached permits there fell from 45 in 2023 to 25 in 2025, while rowhouse and townhouse permits rose from 5 to 28 over the same years. Since January 2023 the community has had 113 semis and 66 rowhouse permits, both the most of the 18 Centre communities we compare, and 145 detached garages to go with them.

What is being built in Killarney/Glengarry?

Semis, rowhouses and the garages behind them. New single-detached houses were a small part of it, at 35 permits.

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.

Semis went 45, 32 and 25 in 2023, 2024 and 2025, with 11 so far in 2026. Rowhouses moved the other way and passed semis in 2025. A semi permit had a median declared value of $254,626 and took 38 days to issue. A rowhouse permit, which may cover a building of several homes, had a median declared value of $857,185 and took 96 days. Declared values are what applicants wrote on the application and run below real construction costs.

Detached garages followed the new homes: 57 in 2023, 38 in 2024, 31 in 2025 and 19 to date in 2026. The detached garage cost guide and garage size guide cover cost and the City's stall sizes.

Why so many development permits in Killarney/Glengarry?

Infill drives them, and the zoning shifted during the window. Of 286 applications since 2023, 104 were on R-CG land, 52 on direct control, 43 on R-C2 and 30 on H-GO. Of 238 decided, 237 were approved, with a median of 86 days to a decision, the tenth slowest of the 96 communities on this site with a median.

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.

Calgary's citywide rezoning was approved in May 2024, and council approved its repeal on 8 April 2026; the changes took effect on 4 August 2026, and properties rezoned in 2024 without approved development applications went back to their earlier district (The City of Calgary, 2026). The City's October 2026 land use data shows R-C2 on about 35.7% of Killarney/Glengarry, DC on 19.5% and R-CG on 10.8%. Multi-residential districts take another 16.8%, the seventh highest share of the 97: M-C1, Multi-Residential Contextual Low Profile, at 9.8%, and M-CG, Contextual Grade-Oriented, at 6.8%, a share only Hillhurst tops among the 97 communities on this site.

The same page says rowhouses that meet all the rules can be a permitted use in R-CG again. Check the district on your own lot on the City's land use map, because two neighbouring lots here may now sit in different districts. MU-1 and MU-2, the City's mixed-use districts, cover 5.1% between them.

Why did the suite registry jump in Killarney/Glengarry?

The permits don't explain it. Only 8 Killarney/Glengarry suite permits since 2023 were for altering existing space, and 13 more were classed as new construction (the City's New work class). Yet the registry added 12 suites in 2023, 35 in 2024, 63 in 2025 and 94 in 2026 to date, and now lists 287.

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.

One possible factor: the City's amnesty program waives development permit charges and registration fees for suites brought up to standard before 31 December 2026 (The City of Calgary, 2026). The data can't say how many of the 94 came through it. As of October 2026, a secondary suite is a permitted use in all low-density districts, and the legal basement suite guide covers what a legal suite needs. Three backyard suite permits were issued here; the backyard suites guide explains the development permit each one needs.

Who lives in Killarney/Glengarry?

Small households, in a mixed stock of homes. The 2021 census counted 7,920 residents in 3,620 households, averaging 2.2 people. A third lived alone, only 3% were in households of five or more, and 17% of residents were 14 or younger.

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.

The City's 2019 civic census found 3,927 dwellings: 1,315 single-detached (33%), 867 duplexes (22%, the tenth highest share of the 87 communities on this site with that data), 740 townhouses and 543 apartments, plus 388 converted structures. Half were owner-occupied. That mix suggests many infill buyers here are one- or two-person households, which makes a two-bedroom rowhouse unit a different design problem from a family semi.

How big are new single houses in Killarney/Glengarry?

When they're built, a median of 2,068 sq ft on the permit, across 35 houses. Fourteen were 1,500 to 1,999 sq ft, and 3 were 3,000 sq ft or more.

The floor area the applicant entered on the building permit, for new single-detached houses issued in the same window. It usually excludes the basement. 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 yearly median moved between 1,943 sq ft (2024) and 2,360 sq ft (2023), which says more about how few houses are permitted each year than about a trend.

Walking an infill plan at full size

A semi or rowhouse unit on an inner-city lot is narrow and deep, and the decisions are about width: the stair against the party wall, the run from the front door to the kitchen, and whether a bedroom at the back gets enough light. At the studio, the unit is shown at full size on a walkable LED floor, a storey at a time, with room names and dimension lines and the elevations on a wall-size screen behind.

Studio walls, sofas and a dining table show where the pinch points are. Changes appear on the floor right away, and you keep the recording. Send a PDF or DWG at least three days ahead. Quotes are free and set by the plan's size, with multi-unit plans priced per unit plan: see pricing, book a session, or find other Centre communities on the communities page.