Fitz the grizzly let himself out
Fitz took a short walk, Lake Sundance has an algae advisory, and basement suites just got easier.
A young grizzly made his own plans on Sunday morning. The rules on basement suites shifted too. And a lake in the deep south got flagged.
A one-year-old male grizzly named Fitz got out of his enclosure on Sunday morning at the Wilder Institute's Calgary Zoo. He escaped around 7:30 a.m., roughly 90 minutes before the zoo opened to the public. He scaled a three-metre wire-and-mesh fence to do it. Emergency procedures started immediately. Fitz was successfully immobilized and moved to a back-of-house space. Nobody was injured, among guests, staff, volunteers, or animals. The zoo opened shortly after 9 a.m., but Wild Canada stayed closed for assessment and reopened early Sunday afternoon. The barrier has since been modified.
Renting with a dog is its own housing market
About 53 per cent of Calgary households have a pet. Only about 10 per cent of rental listings work for them. That gap is the whole story. Renters with a dog or a cat compete for a thin slice of supply. That supply was already limited and already expensive. Landlords are weighing damage costs and risk. On the other side sits a tenant who might otherwise be perfect. Nobody in this is being unreasonable. That is exactly why it is hard to fix. If you are hunting for a place with a pet, budget more time than you think you need.
Stay out of Lake Sundance for now
Alberta Health Services issued an advisory for Lake Sundance on Friday. Crews found evidence of blue-green algal blooms in the water. The advisory says the blooms can cause a range of symptoms. Children are especially at risk. This is peak lake season in the deep south, so the timing stings. If your weekend plan involved a dock and a floatie, make another plan. Blooms move around with wind and heat. The water you can see is not always the whole picture. Watch for updates before you let the kids back in.
Basement suites just got a lot less complicated
Adding a basement suite used to mean a discretionary approval. That came with real uncertainty. Council recently voted to make secondary suites a permitted use instead. That change followed the citywide rezoning repeal. For a homeowner, it means fewer hurdles between an idea and a legal suite. For renters, more suites eventually means more supply. It also means more competition in the rental market. This is one of those council decisions that sounds procedural. Then it shows up as a new door on the side of a bungalow down the block.
Riverbend is still fighting the Riverstone Road plan
The city wants to widen and extend Riverstone Road S.E. Riverbend residents are still pushing back. They have not softened. "It's going to create so much havoc in Riverbend if everyone is allowed to come through this road," one resident said. That is the heart of it. A wider road is a faster road. A faster road pulls in drivers who were never headed to your street. If you live nearby, this is the file to watch. Road decisions stay quiet until the day they are permanent.
Eight non-profits get Home Program money
The City of Calgary named eight non-profits as 2026 recipients of Home Program funding. The program has been running since 2017. It pays for projects that increase housing stability. It also helps tenancies actually succeed. That is a different job than building units. Keeping someone housed often comes down to a damage deposit. Sometimes it is a dispute with a landlord, or a month of bad luck. That is the gap this money is aimed at. Between this and the suite changes, housing is doing most of the talking in Calgary right now.
Ukrainian Day in the Park came back to the Confluence
Ukrainian Day in the Park returned to the Confluence this weekend. It doubled as a call for continued support while the war grinds on. Spokeswoman Mariana Sirko said the day showed the Ukrainian community's impact in Calgary. It also contributed to the local economy. And it shared their traditions with the rest of the city. That is a lot to carry for one afternoon in a park. Calgary has a deep Ukrainian community. Events like this are where that shows up in public, not in a statistic.