The Real Property Report: what the City's stamp does, and doesn't, tell you.

A Real Property Report is a legal document prepared by an Alberta Land Surveyor. It is a drawing of the lot showing the property boundaries, the location and dimensions of every permanent structure on it (house, garage, deck, shed, fence, retaining wall, air-conditioning unit) and how far each sits from the property lines, along with registered easements, rights-of-way and any visible encroachments onto or from neighbouring land. The surveyor certifies what is physically there on the date of the survey. It is not an appraisal, not a title search and not an inspection of the building's condition.

The seller (or their lawyer or surveyor) submits the RPR to the City of Calgary's Planning & Development department with a fee. A City reviewer compares the structures on the drawing against the Land Use Bylaw: required setbacks from property lines, maximum site coverage, height and placement rules for accessory buildings, and so on. If everything is where the bylaw allows, the City stamps the report. The City describes the certificate as "a confirmation from The City of Calgary that the locations of structures on a property comply with the Land Use Bylaw." That sentence is the whole scope. Note that the City is confirming location, not quality, and that it is confirming what the surveyor drew, not inspecting the site itself.

This is the part most buyers miss, and the City spells it out. The Certificate of Compliance "does not regulate or enforce any building code requirements or serve as a confirmation of permit history on a property," and it "does not check that permits for new structures or improvements to the property were properly obtained and inspected." So a garage can sit perfectly inside its setbacks and be stamped compliant while having been built without a permit, without inspections, and to no code at all. A basement suite is invisible to an RPR entirely. Permit history is a separate search through the City, and a home inspection is a separate, private service; the City notes that a third-party inspection "is not affiliated with the City of Calgary." Three documents, three different questions. The stamp answers only one.

The City is clear that "a Certificate of Compliance is not a legislative requirement, but rather a service provided by The City of Calgary," and that it "does not require you to get a compliance certificate and will not intervene in private transactions." In practice it is required by almost everyone else. The standard Alberta Residential Purchase Contract has the seller deliver a current Real Property Report with evidence of municipal compliance before closing; lenders and lawyers usually insist on it before funds are released. The City itself recommends that buyers ask for a current RPR with compliance so that they are "not taking responsibility for previous structures that do not adhere to the land use bylaw." The cost and the task therefore sit with the seller, and the protection sits with the buyer.

Two separate bills. The survey is quoted by the surveyor and depends on lot size, shape, number of structures and whether a previous RPR exists to update; an update of an existing RPR generally costs less than a new survey. Get a quote from the surveyor; there is no set price. The City's compliance review carries its own fee and its own processing time; both are set by the City and published on calgary.ca, and both change, so check the current figures there rather than relying on a number quoted elsewhere. Add the surveyor's own scheduling, which stretches in spring and summer when the most homes list. Ordering the RPR when you decide to sell, rather than when an offer arrives, is the single easiest way to avoid a closing delay.

An RPR has no fixed expiry, but it is only accurate as of its survey date. If nothing on the lot has changed since (no new fence, deck, shed, garage, hot tub pad, air-conditioning unit, addition, and nothing removed), the previous compliant report is often accepted, sometimes with a fresh compliance review, sometimes with a seller's statutory declaration that nothing has changed. Bylaw amendments can also affect whether an older stamp still stands. Whether an existing report is acceptable is ultimately a call for the two lawyers. If you have added anything, assume an update is needed and order it early.

Non-compliance is common in older neighbourhoods and rarely fatal. A shed too close to the line, a deck over the setback, eaves or a fence that cross onto City land: each has a standard route. The City can grant a relaxation (a written exception) for minor variances, sometimes as part of the compliance review itself. Where a structure encroaches on City property, the City may offer an encroachment agreement registered on title, for a fee and with a longer timeline, or may require removal. Encroachments onto a neighbour's land are resolved by agreement with the neighbour or by removal. Where the fix falls on the seller, the parties negotiate: seller cures before closing, a price adjustment or holdback, or in rare cases the buyer walks. Title insurance can protect a buyer against some of these risks after the fact, but in Alberta practice it is generally not accepted as a substitute for the RPR and compliance the contract calls for; some lenders want both.

A conventional (building) condominium, the apartment or many townhouse types, sells with the registered condominium plan and the condominium documents instead of an RPR; there is no individual lot to survey. A bareland condominium, where the unit is a parcel of land you own, generally needs an RPR and compliance like a detached home. Outside Calgary, the same two-step process applies but each municipality runs its own compliance review with its own fee and timeline: Airdrie, Cochrane, Okotoks, Chestermere, Rocky View County and Foothills County each publish theirs. The surveyor you hire will know which office to submit to.