Live in Palliser
A 1967 community on the Glenmore Reservoir's south shore where 44% of homes are rented, well above the city average.
Palliser was established in 1967 and until 1991 included what is now the separate community of Pump Hill: 1.0 km², 3,285 residents in 1,690 dwellings at the 2021 census, with 44% rental — nearly half, against a city average of 31%. Tom Brook Athletic Park sits inside the community, the Glenmore Reservoir forms almost the entire northern edge, and Southland Drive and Glenmore Landing handle the errands south and west. Median household income was $75,500 in 2020, well under the city's $98,000, and 28% of households spend 30% or more of their income on shelter, also above the city figure. This is what living here is actually like.
A reservoir address with the city's affordability pressure baked in
Bounded by 90 Avenue SW to the north, 19 Street SW to the east, Southland Drive SW to the south, and 24 Street SW to the west. Ward 11.
Palliser was established in 1967 and, until 1991, included what is now the separate community of Pump Hill — 1.0 km², 3,285 residents in 1,690 dwellings at the 2021 census. It sits directly across the water from Heritage Park, with Tom Brook Athletic Park inside the community and the reservoir forming almost the entire northern edge.
The number that matters. 44% of Palliser's homes are rented, against a city average of 31%, and median household income was $75,500 in 2020 — well under the city's $98,000. 28% of households spend 30% or more of their income on shelter, also above the city figure. This is an established southwest reservoir address with real affordability pressure underneath it.
What that means day to day. Lease turnover is a real seasonal event here, not a footnote — July 1 moving trucks are a normal sight on 19 Street, and the community's condo and low-rise stock, much of it from the 1961–1980 build wave, carries the maintenance issues of that era.
What's inside works in its favour: two public schools and a Catholic elementary sit inside the community, Southland Leisure Centre is minutes south, and Glenmore Landing covers the everyday errands without a trip across the reservoir.
- 44% of homes are rented, well above the city's 31% average, with real lease-turnover traffic each July 1
- Median household income sits well below the city figure, and 28% of households spend 30%+ of income on shelter
- Much of the condo and low-rise stock dates to the 1961–1980 build wave — check maintenance and strata reserves specifically
- Pump Hill split off in 1991, so older records and boundaries sometimes conflate the two communities
- Confirm the CBE senior high designation for a specific address before assuming Henry Wise Wood applies
How Palliser got here
- 1933The Glenmore Dam is completed, forming the reservoir along what becomes the community's northern edge.
- 1967Palliser is established, named for explorer and geographer John Palliser.
- 1983Southland Leisure Centre opens immediately south of the community.
- 1991Pump Hill separates from Palliser to become its own community.
- 2021Federal census records 3,285 residents in 1,690 occupied dwellings, 44% of them rented.
Tom Brook Athletic Park and the reservoir's south shore
Tom Brook Athletic Park sits inside the community, and the Glenmore Reservoir forms almost the entire northern edge — with Heritage Park directly visible across the water, closer from here than from almost any other community on this site.
The resident's angle: the reservoir view is real and it is close, but it is a working water reservoir rather than a recreational lake — the ice is never safe to trust, and the shoreline recedes every autumn for the winter drawdown.
15 places, with real drive times
Road-adjusted distance and drive time from the centre of the community to each destination, nearest first. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 15 places, nearest first.
Method: distances and drive times are estimated from the centre of the community to each destination using Calgary's road grid, and are rounded to honest ranges rather than presented as precise figures. Palliser's day trips west run longer than its reservoir-rim neighbours, since Highway 8 starts on the other side of the water.
Every gym within reach
Southland Leisure Centre sits just south of the community and does most of the work. Tom Brook Athletic Park covers the free option, inside the community itself.
- Tom Brook Athletic Park's fields and outdoor rink are the free option, inside the community
- Glenmore Landing's plaza adds a small cluster of commercial gyms
- Mount Royal University Recreation is a short drive northwest, with public memberships
- Confirm hours before counting on any of them
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Southland Leisure Centre open | Wave pool, water slides, two ice rinks, climbing wall and weight room. | 4–6 min |
| Tom Brook Athletic Park & reservoir pathways open | Free option: sports fields, outdoor rink and shoreline pathway inside the community. | 1–2 min |
| Glenmore Landing area clubs open | Commercial gyms in the Glenmore Landing plaza. | 3–5 min |
| Mount Royal University Recreation open | Triple gymnasium, pool and fitness centre, with public memberships available. | 8–11 min |
Southland does most of the daily work here. It is close enough to be a genuine extension of the community rather than a special trip, which is unusual for a facility this size.
Two public schools and a Catholic elementary, all inside the community
Nellie McClung Elementary and John Ware Junior High carry the CBE grades, and St. Benedict Elementary adds the Catholic option — all three inside Palliser itself. John Ware designates to Henry Wise Wood High School for senior grades.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Nellie McClung Elementary School | Calgary Board of Education | Public elementary inside the community. |
| John Ware Junior High School | Calgary Board of Education | Public junior high inside the community, designating to Henry Wise Wood High School. |
| St. Benedict Elementary School | Calgary Catholic | Catholic elementary inside the community. |
| Henry Wise Wood High School | Calgary Board of Education | Designated senior high for John Ware graduates; confirm the designation for a specific address. |
Alberta funds Catholic education the same way it funds public education, so there is no tuition for a resident student at either board. Confirm the designation for a specific address before you buy — Palliser's 1991 split from Pump Hill means some older listings still describe boundaries that no longer apply.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel — the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- Tom Brook's outdoor rink is the free option once the freeze holds, run by the community association
- The reservoir's south shore ice below the community is never trusted, whatever the cold snap suggests
- Heating bills in the 1970s low-rises along 19 Street spike hardest in the deep freeze
- Southland Drive gets priority plowing before the community's own crescents do
- Nellie McClung and John Ware both run indoor phys ed through the coldest week of the year
- A chinook off the reservoir can strip the snow from Tom Brook's outfield in an afternoon
- St. Benedict's students bundle up for the walk in through the coldest mornings
- 19 Street's older low-rise parkades are the first to ice over after a freeze-thaw cycle
- Meltwater off the reservoir dam runs high past the community's northern edge
- St. Benedict's playground turns to standing ice before it firms up
- Cleats are the right footwear on the reservoir-edge pathway below the community
- Condo parkades along 19 Street track in slush through the thaw
- The reservoir pathway along the community's northern edge reopens for the season
- Tom Brook Athletic Park's diamonds get their spring reconditioning
- Lease listings start turning over early, ahead of the July 1 rush
- Garden beds outside the older low-rises go in once the frost risk passes
- Sailboats reappear on the reservoir, visible from the community's own north-facing streets
- John Ware and Nellie McClung both move field sports onto the Tom Brook diamonds
- Heritage Park's season opens directly across the water
- Condo balconies on the reservoir-facing blocks start seeing regular use again
- School lets out and Tom Brook's diamonds fill most weekday evenings
- Paddlers from the reservoir clubs pass close along the community's own shoreline path
- Rental turnover picks up early, ahead of the July 1 peak that shapes this community's summer
- Southland Drive traffic thickens as the leisure centre's outdoor season opens just south
- July 1 is moving day for a large share of the community's rental stock, and it shows on the streets
- The sailing club's Wednesday races are visible from the reservoir-edge pathway
- Heritage Park's steam trains run full schedules across the water
- Moving trucks are a regular sight on 19 Street through the first week
- The reservoir's water level starts its late-summer drop along the south shore
- Condo balconies on the reservoir-facing blocks catch the last of the long evenings
- Tom Brook's diamonds see their last full bookings before the school-return rush
- St. Benedict and the CBE schools both post their fall class lists
- Nellie McClung, John Ware and St. Benedict all restart within the same week
- A second, smaller wave of lease turnover follows the September 1 date
- Aspens along the reservoir's south shore turn first, visible from Tom Brook
- Condo strata annual meetings cluster in the weeks after Labour Day
- The reservoir empties for its annual winter drawdown along the south shore
- Peak colour runs along the reservoir pathway below the community
- Condo strata boards schedule the year's last exterior maintenance before the frost
- Tom Brook's fields get their last cut before the season closes
- Tom Brook Athletic Park's fields go quiet under the season's first cover
- The reservoir pathway below the community gets its first ice on the shaded stretches
- 19 Street's older low-rises show their age in the first hard frost on the windows
- Dark evenings settle over the community's condo blocks by five
- A chinook arch over the reservoir's south shore can turn a −20 morning into a +5 afternoon by Tom Brook
- Heritage Park's Once Upon a Christmas runs directly across the water
- Tom Brook's outdoor rink opens once the freeze holds, kept up by neighbourhood volunteers
- Rental turnover slows to its quietest stretch of the year over the holidays
36 photographs of the community and its surroundings
All freely licensed and served from this app — nothing loads from a third party. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 36 photographs.
Honesty note. This page uses only the general Calgary, seasonal, Alberta-wildlife and day-trip photography from the site's shared library. Nothing here is presented as a photograph of Palliser itself.