In 2025, Vibrant Communities Calgary (VCC) strengthened its role as a trusted policy and community partner, helping decision-makers, community organizations, and Calgarians better understand poverty and well-being. Through community-based research, city-wide engagement, and cross-sector partnerships, VCC translated lived experience and data into practical insights, adding measurable value to Calgary’s policy landscape, ensuring local decisions are informed by evidence, community priorities, and a clear focus on reducing poverty. 

With several major reports published, over 15,000 Calgarians engaged, a municipal and federal election year, and our 20th anniversary, we’ve been busy working to change systems and reduce poverty in Calgary. Here’s a look back at some of our milestones. 

The Enough for All Well-Being Dashboard was published in January 2025, building on VCC’s 2023 report, Beneath the Surface: The Layers of Poverty in Calgary. Developed in collaboration with 12 subject-matter experts across nine domains of well-being, the dashboard highlights the complex and interconnected factors that influence poverty in the city. 

The dashboard will be updated regularly as new data becomes available. In 2025, updates were made to Calgary’s living wage, the working-poor population, high school completion rates, the consumer debt index, transit ridership, and mental health. 

VCC, in collaboration with the Alberta Living Wage Network, published the 2025 living wage for Calgary: $26.50 per hour. 

A living wage reflects what people need to earn to cover basic living costs in their community. It is calculated annually using a consistent, transparent methodology applied across Alberta and Canada to provide a reliable picture of local affordability. 

The living wage was covered by media outlets, helping lead the conversation on affordability, the importance of good public policy, and the real cost of living in Calgary.  

The Calgary Social Policy Collaborative (SPC), co-chaired by VCC and The Alex, released a new research report examining the realities of Alberta’s gig economy. The State of Gig Work in Alberta, produced in partnership with Dr. Andrew McGee of the University of Alberta, found that gig work offers flexibility in scheduling and few barriers to entry, but often comes with low pay and limited access to benefits. 

The report offers actionable recommendations for building a more resilient gig economy, including minimum wage protections, portable benefits, and increased education and advocacy for gig workers. 

The SPC is a non-partisan group of social service organizations who bring a clear, collective and data-informed voice to government to advance policy opportunities to improve the lives of vulnerable Calgarians.  

 

The Calgary Social Policy Collaborative (SPC), co-chaired by VCC and The Alex, released a new report entitled The State of Gig Work in Alberta. The SPC is a non-partisan group of social service organizations who bring a clear, collective and data-informed voice to government to advance policy opportunities. The report, produced in partnership with Dr. Andrew McGee of the University of Alberta, found that gig work offers flexibility in scheduling and few barriers to entry, but often comes with low pay and limited access to benefits. 

The report offers actionable recommendations for building a more resilient gig economy, including minimum wage protections, portable benefits, and increased education and advocacy for gig workers. 

Managing homelessness is far more costly than preventing it.  In May 2025, VCC released a Policy Brief on the Homelessness Income Cut Off (HICO), which explores how closing the social assistance gap may help prevent homelessness.   

To avoid homelessness in Calgary, a family of four needs an annual income of $42,582, and a single person needs an annual income of $18,392. The HICO shows how much income individuals and families living on low incomes need to avoid homelessness amidst concerns such as rising shelter costs and food prices. Grounded in data, it is an invitation to policymakers in Alberta to compare social assistance benefits to the HICO and adjust them as a strategy to prevent homelessness. 

VCC continued its systems-change work by participating in community-based research to identify solutions to complex social issues and by leading conversations on how community–academic partnerships can work better together. 

This year, we built on and strengthened research relationships across disciplines and departments, including the Cumming School of Medicine, the Health Equity Hub, the O'Brien Institute for Public Health, the Centre for Health Policy, the W21C Research and Innovation Centre, the Health Policy Trials Unit, the Institutes for Transdisciplinary Scholarship, and the School of Architecture, Planning and Design. 

We also co-hosted Shaping Health Policy: Community-Driven Solutions in Action with the University of Calgary. 

As a long-standing convener and policy leader, VCC doesn’t just advocate—we help bridge the gap between community priorities and civic leadership. Our 2025 election platform outlined actionable policy priorities to guide mayoral and council candidates on the issues that matter most to Calgarians. 

We advocated for affordable housing, the Low Income Transit Pass, addressing social disorder, and the Indigenous Gathering Place, among other policy priorities. 

This year, 14 new organizations committed to becoming Enough for All Champions, joining a growing network of organizations working on the ground to advance the levers of the Enough for All poverty reduction strategy. Champions play a critical role in strengthening community well-being and reducing poverty by turning shared goals into meaningful action. 

VCC continues to support Champions by providing access to timely local data, opportunities for issue-specific advocacy, and practical knowledge to advance poverty reduction. Together, Champions reported driving action across all 10 Levers of Change, with the strongest focus on building strong, inclusive communities; improving income and economic security; and advancing Indigenous inclusion. 

To mark End Poverty Month, VCC took over the Central Library’s Create Space. From October 22, 2025 through January 31, 2026, visitors can explore how collective efforts have helped keep the Low Income Transit Pass accessible, why living wages are essential to a thriving community, and the ongoing need for affordable housing. 

Visitors can also view the new full-length film Making Ends Meet by Sage Cannon. 

In 2025, VCC remained a trusted voice and resource on issues affecting Calgarians’ well-being. VCC’s regular appearances in the media on topics like affordability, food insecurity, and housing, among others, drove awareness and public understanding and reinforced the role of evidence in local policy discussions. 

Through our social media channels, newsletter, and media appearances, VCC shone a spotlight on poverty in Calgary and on solutions to reduce it. In 2025, our social media posts reached an engaged audience of more than 20,000 followers and subscribers. Our newsletter was read by more than 1,000 subscribers each month, and we were featured in over 350 media stories, helping raise awareness and drive action on key poverty reduction initiatives.  

This year, VCC also released 10 new episodes of Let’s Talk Poverty, the podcast that helps listeners understand poverty in Calgary through the lens of Enough for All, tackles stigma, and challenges common biases and assumptions. 

This year, we spoke with a diverse range of subject-matter experts — from university professors and international authors to individuals with lived experience of poverty in Calgary. 

Dani DeBoice joined VCC as the organization’s new Executive Director on September 22, 2025. In only a few short months, Dani has been collaborating with partners and strenghteting relationships to drive Calgry’s Enough for All poverty reduction strtegy and help reduce poverty in Calgary. 

Dani brings over 25 years of experience in corporate, community, and board leadership, with a focus on social impact, strategy, community investment, and philanthropy. Her deep historical knowledge of VCC, and strong track record of building cross-sector partnerships and leading corporate citizenship engagement makes her well-suited for this role.  

VCC will continue to keep poverty at the forefront of public discourse and advocate for policies that improve the well-being of all Calgarians. We will honour Indigenous teachings from Elders and community members, incorporating their wisdom through ceremonies and shared knowledge. We will engage in meaningful election conversations with candidates and councillors, ensuring platforms reflect the voices and needs of our communities. 

In 2026, VCC will focus on refreshing the community-owned Enough for All strategy and on a key research project to continue driving evidence-based policy recommendations that inform decision-makers in our city.  

The spark that began 20 years ago has grown into a strong foundation. Now, we continue to transform and build toward a Calgary where there is enough for all.