Unlocking Homeownership Potential with Secondary Suites

Are you looking to buy a new home in Calgary but find the mortgage approval process overwhelming? With rising housing costs, many buyers struggle to qualify for a mortgage that fits their goals. Fortunately, there’s a smart solution that can ease the path to homeownership while boosting your investment—secondary suites.

What is a Secondary Suite?

According to the City of Calgary, a secondary suite is a “self-contained residence with two or more rooms and includes a kitchen, living, sleeping and sanitary facilities.” In Calgary, these are most commonly basement suites, where the homeowner lives upstairs and rents out the lower level.

Benefits of a Secondary Suite

• Increased Mortgage Qualification & Supplemental Income
  • One of the key benefits of owning a home with a secondary suite is the increased income potential. By renting out the suite, homeowners can generate additional income to supplement mortgage payments or cover other homeownership expenses. This extra income can significantly improve your ability to qualify for a higher mortgage, as lenders often factor rental income into your borrowing capacity. Take a look at the below numbers as an example.
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  • Example: Using the RBC Mortgage Calculator Tool, you can see how rental income from a secondary suite may increase your approved mortgage amount.
• Boosted Property Value
  • Homes with legal secondary suites often have higher resale value and appeal to a broader range of buyers. These suites add usable space and income potential, making them appealing to investors, families, and first-time buyers. Legal compliance also gives future buyers peace of mind and can justify a higher price in Calgary’s competitive housing market.
• Support for Multigenerational Living
  • Secondary suites are ideal for families who want to live together while maintaining privacy. With separate amenities like a kitchen, bathroom, and entrance, they support aging parents, adult children, or extended family members—making caregiving easier and reducing shared household costs.
• Contribution to Affordable Housing
  • Secondary suites help ease Calgary’s housing supply challenges by adding rental options within existing neighborhoods. They make efficient use of land and infrastructure, and offer affordable housing for groups like students, seniors, and young professionals who aren’t ready to buy.

Why Add a Secondary Suite During Construction?

Adding a secondary suite at the time of building your home is far easier—and more cost-effective—than trying to add one later. When you build with a homebuilder like Cedarglen Homes, the suite can be seamlessly integrated into the design, ensuring it meets all legal and safety standards from the start. This also means the suite is covered under your new home warranty, giving you peace of mind and long-term protection.

Adding a secondary suite post-possession often involves costly renovations, permit applications, and potential disruptions to your living space. Building it upfront avoids these challenges and allows you to start benefiting from rental income immediately.

What Makes a Secondary Suite “Legal”?

To be legally recognized, a secondary suite must meet specific requirements set by the City of Calgary:

• A bedroom with a proper egress window
• A separate bathroom
• Independent cooking facilities
• A private entrance accessible from outside (a shared stairwell is acceptable)

In addition to these basics, the suite must comply with detailed safety and building code standards, including smoke and fire protection, ceiling and door heights, separation of suites, entry and exit points, exterior stairways, plumbing, electrical and more.

For full details, visit the City of Calgary website page on secondary suites.

Lender Requirements & Contacts

Each lender has their own criteria when considering rental income from a secondary suite, such as minimum down payment, confirmation of owner occupancy, and more. Be sure to consult your mortgage broker or lender for specific qualifying details.

Building a Legal Secondary Suite with Cedarglen Homes

Whether you’re investing in a new property or looking to increase its long-term value, secondary suites offer excellent potential. At Cedarglen Homes, many of our models can be personalized to include a legal one- or two-bedroom secondary suite—complete with separate living spaces and private entrances.

To see one of our existing secondary suites at our showhomes, visit one of the following showhomes today or click below to view the virtual tours.

• Front-Drive Garage Homes with Secondary Suites
  • Glenbow 26 – 125 Lucas Common NW (Livingston)
  • Macleod SSY 24 – 173 Mitchell Road NW (Glacier Ridge)
  • Glenbow 26 – 118 Rowley Way NW (Rockland Park)
  • Lacombe 3ST SSY 24 – 27 Belmont Place SW (Belmont)
  • Nanton 24 – 345 West Grove Lane SW (Encore II – West Grove Estates)
  • Glenbow 26 – 79 Ricardo Ranch Avenue SE (Logan Landing)
  • Longview SSY 24 – 83 Ricardo Ranch Avenue SE (Logan Landing)
  • Nanton 26 – 158 Setonstone Green SE (Seton)
• Laned Homes with Secondary Suites
  • Glenmore SSY 20 – 40 Lucas Common NW (Livingston)
• Paired Homes with Secondary Suites
  • Columbia 17 – 520 Tekarra Drive NW (Glacier Ridge)
  • Columbia 18 – 8 CreekView Common SW (CreekView)