Renting out a property in Calgary
Calgary's secondary suite rules are the thing most owners get wrong, and the consequences are not theoretical: an unpermitted suite affects insurance, financing and what can lawfully be advertised.
Secondary suites must be permitted and registered. A suite needs development and building permits, and legally registered suites appear in the City's public secondary suite registry. Buying a property advertised as having a suite is not the same as buying a property with a legal suite, check the registry rather than the listing. Property tax in Calgary runs around 0.65% of assessed value as a planning figure. Everything else is provincial and identical across Alberta: the security deposit is capped at one month's rent and returned within 10 days, rent can rise only once every 365 days with 3 full tenancy months' notice on a month-to-month tenancy, and entry needs 24 hours' written notice.
The Calgary rental market
Calgary is really two rental markets and treating it as one produces bad decisions. Purpose-built apartment supply and ground-oriented housing, detached homes, townhouses and secondary suites, have been moving in different directions, so a citywide average describes neither. Which segment a property sits in matters more than which quadrant it is in.
No average rent or vacancy figure is published on this page. Those belong to CMHC's annual Rental Market Survey, which states its own survey period, a rent figure typed into a page goes stale silently and gets quoted for years. Use the yield calculator and rent gap calculator, which show their assumptions.
What is different about Calgary
Secondary suites must be permitted and registered
A suite needs development and building permits, and legally registered suites appear in the City's public secondary suite registry. Buying a property advertised as having a suite is not the same as buying a property with a legal suite, check the registry rather than the listing. Source.
An illegal suite is an insurance and financing problem
Insurers can decline a claim on an unpermitted suite, and lenders may refuse to count its income when qualifying a mortgage. The rent it produces is worth much less than it looks if it cannot be declared or insured.
Short-term rentals need a business licence
Renting short-term in Calgary requires a business licence, and the rules differ from a standard residential tenancy. A property switching between short-term and long-term use is switching regulatory regimes, not just tenants. Source.
What it costs to run
Property tax in Calgary is estimated at roughly 0.65% of assessed value in the calculators on this site. That is a planning figure only, municipal rates change annually and vary by assessment class, so check the actual tax notice for any specific address before relying on it.
The calculators on this site assume total operating expenses of 35–45% of collected rent before any mortgage, which is the band they flag as normal. A result below 35% usually means something has been left out, and the line most often missing is turnover, vacancy, leasing, cleaning and paint between tenants. Run your own figures rather than taking the band as a market statistic.
Alberta tenancy rules, the same province-wide
Tenancy law is provincial; only the civic details above change between municipalities.
- Security deposits: the one-month cap, the 10-day return deadline, and the interest owed
- Rent increases: no cap on the amount, strict rules on timing, with a calculator
- Landlord entry: the 24-hour written notice rule and its exceptions
- Ending a tenancy: notice periods by tenancy type and the grounds a landlord needs
- Unpaid rent: the 14-day notice, RTDRS and who may evict
- Repairs: the minimum housing standards and who enforces them
- Renting out a condo: the corporation's notices and deposit
General information about Alberta's Residential Tenancies Act, not legal advice. Rules change and individual situations vary. For a dispute, contact the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service (RTDRS) or a lawyer. Rules current as of 2026-08-11.
Also worth reading
- Is your rent below market?: long tenancies drift, and Alberta's 365-day rule means catching up takes years.
- Rental yield and cap rate: what the property actually returns.
- All Alberta landlord and renter guides
What would yours actually rent for in Calgary?
Send the address. I'll come back with a rent it can realistically achieve and what it costs to run at 0.65% property tax — the two numbers you need before deciding whether to manage it yourself.
Questions
Do I need a licence to rent out my own property in Calgary?
No. An owner renting out their own property does not need a licence in Alberta. A licence is required to manage property on behalf of someone else, that is a separate Real Estate Council of Alberta licence class from residential real estate. Short-term rentals are treated differently and may require a municipal business licence.
How much notice do I give a tenant in Calgary for a rent increase?
Three full tenancy months for a month-to-month tenancy, and at least 365 days must have passed since the last increase or the start of the tenancy. Rent cannot be increased during a fixed term. Alberta places no cap on the amount. The rules are provincial, so they are the same in Calgary as anywhere in Alberta.
What are the operating costs of a rental in Calgary?
Property tax, insurance, any condo fees, maintenance, management, landlord-paid utilities, and the amortised cost of turnover. The calculators on this site treat 35–45% of collected rent as the normal band before a mortgage and flag anything below it as probably incomplete. Property tax in Calgary is estimated at around 0.65% of assessed value as a planning figure, verify against the actual tax notice.
Sources
- City of Calgary: Secondary suites
- City of Calgary: Short-term rental business licence
- City of Calgary: Property tax
- CMHC: Rental Market Survey data tables
- Government of Alberta: Residential Tenancies Act (Alberta), full text
- Government of Alberta: RTA Handbook for Landlords and Tenants
- Government of Alberta: Alberta.ca: Annual security deposit interest rate
Figures cited from CREB® and City of Calgary sources reflect the reporting period stated on each page. Rules, fees and programs change. Confirm current details with the issuing authority before acting.
Last updated 2026-09-28 · Written by Mohammad Emon, REALTOR® (SRES®) & Licensed Property Manager, KO Realty · RECA licence CON-00133897