Two local organizations aimed at helping Calgarians find housing are asking City Hall to further streamline its approvals process to help ease demand.

Fresh off the announcement that Attainable Homes Calgary Corporation (AHCC) had acquired 42 units in north Calgary, company CEO David Watson said the city needs to make things easier for those tasked with creating housing stock.

Calgary is in a "rental crisis," Mayor Naheed Nenshi confirms, as he called on the provincial and federal governments "to use the levers they have available to them to encourage more construction of rental projects."

With a vacancy rate that Nenshi said is "likely close to zero," securing a place to live is proving to be a difficult task for many renters in the city.

Speaking at CREB®'s recent Broker Forum Lunch, Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi stressed the need for change to the way the city handles secondary suites and suburban subsidies.

With the upcoming election set to take place Oct. 21., Mayor Nenshi renewed his call for citywide acceptance of secondary suites.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi may have his work cut out for him in his bid to end Calgary's "sprawl subsidy" by increasing suburban developer levies.

Calling for an end to what he calls a developer "subsidy" that amounts to $4,800 for every new suburban home built in the city, Nenshi has laid out his arguments against the current agreement between the city and suburban developers.

Finding housing in Calgary's postflood rental market is proving a difficult task for an organization that helps locate housing for those involved in the criminal justice system.

Bryan Sali, housing locator for the Calgary John Howard Society, is one of those who sifts through the city's dwindling numbers of vacancies in an attempt to find suitable housing for his clients.

Brookfield Office Properties Inc. has announced Cenovus Energy Inc. will be the anchor tenant for their new 56-storey, 247-metro tower in downtown Calgary.

Expected to create 1,300 construction jobs and 7.5 million construction man-hours in Calgary, the entire project calls for an additional office tower totaling approximately one million square feet, a 60-foot-high transparent glass pavilion, restaurants, retail shops and amenities at street level, and underground parking accommodating 1,100 parking stalls.

Calgary's housing vacancy rate is a priority Mayor Naheed Nenshi told reporters at the July 25 release of the Civic Census.

"We really need to prioritize (the vacancy rate)," Nenshi said. "We have needed for some time to prioritize housing that matches the needs of the market and we need to continue to do that."

Two Calgary initiatives were recognized at the July 29 council meeting after earning recognition both nationally and internationally.

Firstly Mayor Naheed Nenshi recognized the Bow to Bluff Initiative, which earned a reward for New and Emerging Planning from the Canadian Institute of Planners. Bow to Bluff is a citizen-led initiative to create great public places in the city starting with the public corridor along the Sunnyside LRT line between the Bow River and McHugh Bluff.