The City of Calgary should introduce a landlord licensing program to protect tenants from unsafe living conditions and neglectful landlords, says a group that advocates on behalf of low-income renters.
Roughly 10 members of ACORN’s Calgary chapter picketed in front of Historic City Hall on Friday morning, enduring chilly temperatures to call on the new council to better safeguard the city’s most vulnerable tenants.
ACORN — Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now — is a membership-based union for low- and moderate-income people, with branches around the world.
In the past, the association’s Calgary-based members have lobbied city council to consider a heat protection bylaw that would require landlords to keep their units below a maximum temperature during the summers.
The group has also lobbied MLAs to consider introducing rent control in Alberta.
Abi Martin, one of ACORN’s Calgary chapter chairs, said Friday’s rally targeted unsafe and unsanitary living conditions experienced by many of the city’s renters.
Martin, who uses they/them pronouns, said renters have had to endure pest infestations, bed bugs and mould issues.
A landlord licensing system would give bylaw officers more authority to strengthen provincial health code standards and safety regulations in rental units, they said, adding a landlord licence would be similar to a business licence.
“I’m a business owner,” said Martin, who operates a cleaning business. “I have a business licence and insurance. I do my due diligence . . . and landlords need to step up and do the same.”
Abi Martin with ACORN Calgary speaks with media during a rally outside Calgary City Hall on Friday, February 20, 2026.
Some municipalities in Canada have introduced a landlord licence or registry, including multiple cities in Ontario.
The City of Brampton is piloting a Residential Rental Licensing program that requires owners of rental properties with one to four units to receive a licence from the city, according to the municipality’s website.
Also in Ontario, Hamilton’s city council recently voted to make permanent a rental-housing licensing pilot program, despite complaints from landlords that it would add red tape. According to Hamilton media reports, the program was aimed at ensuring minimal health and living standards were being upheld in three parts of the city with heavy concentrations of post-secondary students.
In Alberta, both Calgary and Edmonton require landlords to obtain business licences. Edmonton requires a rental accommodation business licence to ensure rental units are well maintained, while Calgary landlords are required to obtain a business licence in the category of “apartment building operator” if they own or operate three or more units in an apartment building, according to the city’s website.
While the Alberta Tenancy Act and Minimum Housing and Health Standards fall under provincial jurisdiction, Martin argued the Alberta government hasn’t been responsive to ACORN’s advocacy in the past, pointing to their previous lobbying for rent control. Thus the idea of rallying out front of city hall.
“They (the province) don’t listen or show up for us, so we’re calling on the local government to implement local systems,” they said.
In response to a request for comment, the office of Dale Nally, Alberta’s minister of Service Alberta and red tape reduction, said there are already strong legal protections in place for renters.
“Under Alberta’s Residential Tenancies Act, there are clear rights and responsibilities for both landlords and tenants,” his office wrote. “This includes the requirement that landlords ensure dwellings must meet public health and safety standards.”
Nally’s statement added that if renters are concerned about the health and safety of their dwelling, they may consider contacting local authorities, or escalate their case to the residential tenancy dispute resolution service.
But Cole Bowkett, who was among those picketing on Friday, said a landlord licensing system would help keep landlords in Calgary accountable.
“It would make it so the landlords can’t make excuses anymore,” he said. “It would hold them to a certain standard, similar to restaurants and whatnot. It wouldn’t make sense to go eat somewhere that has a bunch of rats and bugs in it, so why would you want to live somewhere with a bunch of rats and bugs in it?”
Bowkett said he’s lived in the same downtown-area property for three years and called the state of his rental building “deplorable.” He said he pays $2,000 monthly in rent, electricity and pet fees.
“The counters are falling apart, pipes are bursting yearly at this point in the wintertime,” he said. “We don’t really have proper insulation so we’re lucky if it stays above 10 C inside. It’s gotten to the point where I can’t just sit around doing nothing.”
Mayor Jeromy Farkas said his office had been in touch with organizers Friday and is “always interested in engaging” with various advocates on ways to provide more housing stability and certainty.
“I haven’t looked into the fine details of what they’re specifically requesting of council to do, and whether that may or may not be within our authority under the Municipal Government Act, but I’m very much looking forward to continued conversations with them,” he said, after an unrelated news conference.