Supportive housing

Supportive living promotes independent living for residents within a residential housing setting while offering access to care and additional services to meet their evolving needs. Supportive living accommodations serve the needs of many individuals, ranging from younger people to seniors who require support services for mental health diagnoses or physical disabilities. These accommodations vary in size, physical design, and service offerings and are critical to creating inclusive and thriving communities.

2025 Bylaw updates: to better accommodate the range of housing needs to support all of Airdrie’s residents while balancing concerns, the City has revisited it's supportive housing rules. Learn more about these BYLAW CHANGES AND THE UPDATED REQUIREMENTS.

The City of Airdrie's Land Use Bylaw classifies supportive living accommodations into two categories: Supportive housing, limited and supportive housing, general.

• Supportive housing, limited: long-term accommodation integrated with other residential land uses in a neighbourhood context:
• Provides on-site professional care and supervision, where services might include regular housekeeping, nursing care, personal care, health, wellness, and recreational support for three to five residents (clients).
• Does not include use for an institution such as extended medical treatment centres, detention and correction facilities, or temporary care housing.

• Supportive housing, general: long-term institutional care facility:

• Provides residential accommodation in addition to services for professional care, supervision and health treatment for six or more residents (clients).
• Includes large-scale centres and facilities where the scale and type of services require special siting considerations or may impact adjacent lands.
• Does not include use for an institution such as extended medical treatment centres, detention and correction facilities, or temporary care housing.

Application and permit process

If you are applying to operate a supportive living accommodation, you will need to obtain permits and licences and applicants are strongly encouraged to conduct public engagement in the neighbourhood.

For discretionary use supportive housing developments, adjacent landowners whose property lines are within a minimum of 60m radius to the subject parcel are notified. The conditional approval will be advertised in the City newspaper and posted online.

Application and permit process

When supportive housing operations are proposed, neighbours often have questions about the impact on property values and safety as well as the role of the city and province in establishing these developments.

Learn more about supportive housing impact and responsibilities