Secondary suite amnesty may be extended to end of 2026

The City of Calgary is proposing a three year extension for its amnesty to encourage landlords to bring illegal secondary suites into compliance.

The amnesty was approved by city council in 2018.

Since then, more than 10,000 secondary suites have been added to its registry of legal, safe suites.

Under the program, the city agrees to forgo enforcement of existing rules on illegal suite landlords. But they must agree to shutdown their suites or bring them up to current safety codes.

The city is also waiving all related fees during the amnesty.

But with the amnesty due to expire at the end of 2023, city administration is proposing that council extend the measure until Dec. 31, 2026.

Committee backs extension

Council's infrastructure and planning committee threw its support behind the measure during its meeting on Wednesday.

The chair of the committee, Coun. Sonya Sharp, said she's in favour of the extension as it helps add to the inventory of safe and affordable suites.

"The main part of the amnesty was to make sure that secondary suites are safe, and that is critical," said Sharp.

"I know affordability is important but safety in a secondary suite, a basement or second story, whatever that happens to be, you need to make sure that your tenants are safe." 

An average of 2,500 secondary suites have been added to the city's registry annually. This year, the number is expected to be closer to 3,000 units.

During the amnesty, enforcement of safety rules has also been on hold as the city works with the owners of reported illegal suites to bring them into compliance.

Coun. Andre Chabot also supports the extension of the amnesty, but not permanently. 

Chabot said he feels it's time for enforcement to be resumed against landlords of illegal suites.

"There's a lot of folks right now that are like, 'nobody's enforcing it.' But if they knew that somewhere down the road that is was going to be enforced and there are reduced requirements today, it might actually push some people to move forward," said Chabot.

City council will vote on the amnesty extension during a meeting later this month.