Overview
Bowness sits on the south bank of the Bow River, inside a long bend that wraps around its north and east sides. On the other side of the water are Scenic Acres, Silver Springs, Varsity and Montgomery. The Trans-Canada Highway (16 Avenue NW) runs along the south, with Medicine Hill beyond it, and then Sarcee Trail W takes over, with Patterson and Wildwood on its far side. A wedge of Bowness carries on south of 16 Avenue, east of Sarcee Trail.
To the west, Greenwood/Greenbriar shares a long edge that for much of its length follows no road, and Valley Ridge is across Stoney Trail NW at the north-west corner. Every Bowness address ends in NW, and all of it is in Ward 1.
Bowness was a town before it was part of Calgary, and most of it joined the city in 1964. Bowness Park, at the west end, is a designated Municipal Historic Resource. Bowness Road NW is the main street.
Sales in the twelve months to August 2026 came to 188, at a typical $578,500, and 93 of them, or 49.5%, were detached houses at a typical $625,000. The 51 semi-detached homes that sold went for more, at a typical $734,000, and they were much newer: the typical one was built in 2016, against a 1959 build for the typical detached house.
Inside the community are a library, an indoor arena, a Real Canadian Superstore and the shops along Bowness Road, plus a public school for every grade. There is no CTrain station, no off-leash area and no indoor pool, and there is no residents association or homeowners association fee.
David’s take
The vibe
A town before it joined Calgary
The 1956 building at 6328 35 Av NW is, in the City’s words, “Bowness’ first town hall.” A fire hall was added to it in 1964, and today it is Fire Station 15. The City’s page for Bowness Park says the park “was built in the town of Bowness as a weekend retreat for nearby Calgarians.”
The developer was John Hextall. The City’s heritage inventory describes his 1911 Bowness Estates subdivision as “an ambitious plan to create an upscale community set in great natural beauty.” Most of the land that is Bowness today, 81.8% of it, came into Calgary under a 1964 Board Order.
The City’s population count peaked at 13,134 in 1982, and the 2021 census counted 10,770 people. Council approved the Bowness Area Redevelopment Plan in 2019. In the City’s summary, its vision is for new development to add to Bowness “as a unique community with its own small-town history and spirit.”
Bowness Park
The City puts Bowness Park at 30 hectares, “located along the Bow River between Stoney Tr. and 85 St. N.W.”, and calls it “one of Calgary’s most popular parks.” It is a designated Municipal Historic Resource, the one place in Bowness with that designation.
The lagoon is for paddle boating in summer and skating in winter. The park also has a wading pool, boat rentals and a children’s train ride, all of them seasonal. The City notes that parking at the park is limited.
Bowness Road and the shops
Bowness Road NW is the main street, and the businesses along it form the Mainstreet Bowness Business Improvement Area. The main run of shops is in the 6100 to 6500 blocks, where as of October 2026 you’ll find a pharmacy, a brewery, a bike shop, a tavern and a coffee shop among others. The Bowness Library is on the same stretch, at 6532 Bowness Rd NW. Further west, a strip at 7930 Bowness Rd NW has a pub, a bakery, a butcher, a pharmacy and an animal hospital.
Groceries are at the Real Canadian Superstore, 3400 69 St NW, in a shopping centre built in 2021. There is a RONA at 6912 29 Av NW.
The community association and its arena
The Bowness Community Association’s building is at 7904 43 Av NW. The association runs its indoor arena, with what it calls an “NHL Size Ice Surface”, along with a main hall that holds four pickleball courts and a licensed lounge called The Landing. Its green space has held a community garden since 2023 and a Tiny Miyawaki Forest since 2024.
Membership is optional. The association prices it at $10 for an individual, $20 for a family (up to six people in one household, two adults at most), $5 for a senior (55+) and $30 for an associate, which covers businesses, organizations and non-residents. A membership is valid for one year from the date you buy it.
Parks and paths
The City’s regional pathway runs through Bowness. The skatepark is at 4324 77 St NW, and the City has playground equipment on 17 park sites here. There are no tennis courts.
There is no City off-leash area inside Bowness. The City has off-leash areas in Bowmont Park, across the river in Silver Springs and Varsity, and in Edworthy Park in Wildwood, across Sarcee Trail W. The only pool is the wading pool in Bowness Park, and the Shouldice Aquatic Centre, at 5303 Bowness Rd NW, is in Montgomery.
Who lives here
In the 2021 census, Bowness had 10,770 people in 5,060 households. The average household was 2.1 people, where Calgary’s was 2.6, and 36% of households were one person (Calgary: 26%).
Renters were 48% of households, against 31% across Calgary. The median household income for 2020 was $72,000, with Calgary at $98,000. Of the owners, 63% carried a mortgage (Calgary: 65%), and 48% of residents had moved in the previous five years, where Calgary’s figure was 42%.
Housing stock
The City’s 2026 assessments list 2,193 detached houses in Bowness, on a typical lot of 6,046 square feet. The typical one dates from 1959, and 1,096 of them were built between 1946 and 1959. In the 2021 census, single-detached houses were 42% of occupied homes here and 55% across Calgary, and 26% were apartments in buildings of fewer than five storeys (Calgary: 16%).
There are 766 half-duplex homes, each on its own title, and 284 of them were built in 2000 or later. The pairs built since 2010 are spread over the numbered streets, with the most on 47 Avenue, 72 Street, 36 Avenue, 84 Street, 46 Avenue and 34 Avenue NW. Another 141 duplexes are whole buildings on one title.
Condominiums account for 781 units in 69 condominium plans, a mix of townhouses and apartments. Much of the attached housing is in the grid of 73 Street, 75 Street and 41 Avenue NW and along both sides of Bowness Road, and the biggest condominium townhouse complex, 99 units built in 1974, is on 31 Avenue NW at the east end. The City also lists 19 rental apartment buildings and 58 rental townhouse complexes.
From January 2024 to early October 2026, the City received 139 development permit applications in Bowness for rowhouses and other multi-family buildings, most often a rowhouse building or a pair of semi-detached homes with secondary suites.
Before an offer: the lot’s flood designation
The City’s regulatory flood map is the one it uses for land planning, and the City describes it as the 1-in-100 flood extent calculated in 1983. On that map, 7.1% of Bowness addresses are in the flood fringe and a very small number are in the floodway. Most of the flood fringe addresses are on Bow Crescent NW and Bowwater Crescent NW, with a few on 33 Avenue NW, Bowbank Crescent NW, 69 Street NW and a handful of other streets. The rest of the community is outside both.
The Province released updated flood hazard maps in May 2025, and the City has not adopted them. Council referred the report back to City staff on April 28, 2026, for more engagement with affected communities, and the City says it will return to committee in late 2026. Until Calgary’s maps and bylaws are updated, the City assesses development applications under its current Land Use Bylaw.
The other thing to settle before an offer is the monthly cost. Bowness has no residents association or homeowners association fee. A condominium unit carries a condo fee, paid to the corporation, and a detached house carries none. Anything registered against a lot is on its title, which your lawyer pulls before closing, and the Calgary HOA fee post sets out what to look for there.
| Type | Median sale price | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | $640,000 | 76 |
| Semi-detached | $745,000 | 42 |
| Row / townhouse | $378,500 | 22 |
| Apartment | $236,500 | 5 |
| All home types | $625,000 | 145 |
Recent sales
Across 188 residential sales in the twelve months to August 2026, the typical price in Bowness was $578,500. The middle half sold for between $490,000 and $766,000, and the full range ran from $117,000 to $3,400,000. Half of the 188 sold within 26 days, and the typical sale closed at 97.40% of its asking price.
The 93 detached houses sold for a typical $625,000, from $490,000 to $3,400,000, and half of them went within 20 days. A typical detached sale was a 1959 house.
The 51 semi-detached homes sold for a typical $734,000, from $370,000 to $940,000, with half sold within 30 days. The typical one was built in 2016.
The 26 row and townhouse homes sold for a typical $378,500, from $200,000 to $860,000, and half sold within 37 days. Their typical condo fee was $347 a month, and the typical one was built in 1974. The 15 apartments sold for a typical $225,000, from $117,000 to $351,000, with half sold within 34 days and a typical condo fee of $482 a month. Three full duplexes also sold.
The average of all 188 sale prices was $652,908, $74,408 above the typical sale. On average a sale took 39 days, and half sold within 26.
Across the river to the east, Varsity’s typical detached house sold for $918,500 in the twelve months to August 2026, against $625,000 in Bowness. In Silver Springs, on the north bank, half the detached houses sold within 14 days, against 20 in Bowness. Scenic Acres’ detached houses that sold were typically built in 1992, and Bowness’s in 1959.
A home valuation gives a Bowness owner a price for the house itself, not the community. Anyone buying can read about offers and conditions in Calgary in the buyer’s guide.
Getting around
Bowness Road NW is the long road through the middle of the community. 77 Street, 83 Street and 85 Street NW and Bowfort Road NW are the other main roads inside. Stoney Trail NW is at the north-west corner, and the Trans-Canada Highway and Sarcee Trail run along the south. A rail line, the CPKC line, crosses the community.
Transit is by bus: Bowness has no stop on any CTrain or MAX line. Bowness Terminal is inside the community, and four regular routes stop here every day of the week. Route 1 Bowness/Forest Lawn and Route 53 Brentwood Station/Greenwood run mostly along Bowness Road. Route 40 Crowfoot Station/North Hill and Route 26 Sarcee Trail Crosstown stop on 77 Street, 34 Avenue and 46 Avenue NW. Several school routes make a single trip in each direction on school days and are not a way to get around.
Anyone who works at Foothills Medical Centre can drive there from the middle of Bowness in 13 minutes on clear roads, as of October 2026. From the same starting point, it takes 15 minutes to reach the University of Calgary, 22 minutes to the Municipal Building downtown and 28 minutes to Calgary International Airport.
| Downtown | 22 min |
|---|---|
| University of Calgary | 15 min |
| Foothills Hospital | 13 min |
| Airport (YYC) | 28 min |
Schools
On the public side, a Bowness child can go from kindergarten to grade 12 without leaving the community. As CBE publishes it in October 2026, Bowness is divided between two elementary schools, both kindergarten to grade 6 and both inside. Belvedere Parkway School, at 4631 85 St NW, takes the west end: 79 Street NW and everything west of it. North of about 46 Avenue its area reaches further east, taking 46, 47 and 48 Avenue NW, Bow Green Crescent NW and the north ends of 69 and 70 Street NW. Bowcroft School, at 3940 73 St NW, takes the rest of Bowness, 77 Street and the streets east of it included.
After grade 6, every Bowness address goes to Thomas B. Riley School, 3915 69 St NW, for grades 7 to 9 and to Bowness High School, 4627 77 St NW, for grades 10 to 12.
Some streets sit right on the line between the two elementary schools. If you’re looking on Bowcliffe Crescent NW or 78 Street NW, or near 79 Street NW on 33, 34 or 36 Avenue NW or Bowness Road NW, confirm the address with CBE. Check with CBE, too, at the 77 Street NW end of 46 or 48 Avenue NW and at the north end of 69 or 70 Street NW.
As CSSD publishes it in October 2026, Catholic students start at Our Lady of the Assumption School, 7311 34 Avenue NW in Bowness, and stay there to grade 9. The senior high is St. Francis High School, 877 Northmount Drive NW in Collingwood, and CSSD offers St. Mary’s High School, 111 18 Avenue SW in Mission, as an option. Under CSSD’s 2027-2028 high school boundaries, Bowness moves to the new St. Pier Giorgio Frassati High School in Aspen Woods, which CSSD expects to open in fall 2027. CSSD plans to open its new high schools with grades 10 and 11 in their first year, so a family whose child will be in grade 12 in 2027-2028 should ask CSSD where that student goes.
Designations can change from year to year. CBE’s Find a School and CSSD’s school finder each answer for a single address, and the schools resource goes through how Calgary’s attendance areas and programmes of choice operate.
Belvedere Parkway School
Public, K-6
The public elementary school for the west end of Bowness, as CBE publishes it in October 2026: 79 Street NW and everything west of it, plus 46, 47 and 48 Avenue NW, Bow Green Crescent NW and the north ends of 69 and 70 Street NW. It is at 4631 85 St NW. Near the line, put the full address into CBE's Find a School before you rely on it.
Bowcroft School
Public, K-6
Kindergarten to grade 6 for the rest of Bowness, 77 Street NW and everything east of it included, as CBE publishes it in October 2026. The school is at 3940 73 St NW. Bowcroft's German Bilingual programme is a programme of choice. CBE's Find a School gives the answer for a single address.
Thomas B. Riley School
Public, 7-9
Grades 7 to 9 for every Bowness address, as CBE publishes it in October 2026, at 3915 69 St NW. Its Traditional Learning Centre is a separate programme of choice. CBE's Find a School will confirm the designation for the house you're looking at.
Bowness High School
Public, 10-12
Every Bowness address is designated here for grades 10 to 12, as CBE publishes it in October 2026. The school is inside the community, at 4627 77 St NW. Before you count on it, enter the address in CBE's Find a School.
Our Lady of the Assumption School
Catholic, K-9
The Catholic school for all of Bowness from kindergarten to grade 9, as CSSD publishes it in October 2026. Its building is at 7311 34 Avenue NW, in Bowness. CSSD's school finder answers for one street address at a time.
St. Francis High School
Catholic, 10-12
The Catholic senior high for Bowness as CSSD publishes it in October 2026, at 877 Northmount Drive NW in Collingwood, with St. Mary's High School in Mission offered as an option. CSSD's 2027-2028 high school boundaries move Bowness to the new St. Pier Giorgio Frassati High School in Aspen Woods, which CSSD expects to open in fall 2027. Ask CSSD, through its school finder or by phone, which school applies to the year your child starts grade 10.
Frequently asked questions
What do homes sell for in Bowness?
Type matters a lot here. In the twelve months to August 2026, 93 detached houses sold at a typical $625,000, from $490,000 to $3,400,000, and 51 semi-detached homes at a typical $734,000, from $370,000 to $940,000. The 26 row and townhouse homes sold at a typical $378,500 and the 15 apartments at a typical $225,000. Three full duplexes sold as well. The typical price for all 188 was $578,500, and the middle half of them sold for between $490,000 and $766,000. If you own in Bowness, a home valuation prices your own house rather than the community.
Do semi-detached homes in Bowness sell for more than detached houses?
In the twelve months to August 2026 they did. The typical semi-detached home sold for $734,000 and the typical detached house for $625,000. The two groups were built in different eras: the typical semi-detached home that sold was a 2016 build, and the typical detached house dated from 1959. Compare any home with others of the same type and age before you settle on a price.
Is Bowness in a flood zone?
Part of it is. On the City’s regulatory flood map, 7.1% of Bowness addresses are in the flood fringe, most of them on Bow Crescent NW and Bowwater Crescent NW, and a very small number are in the floodway. The rest of the community is outside both. The Province released updated flood hazard maps in May 2025, but the City has not adopted them: Council referred the report back on April 28, 2026, and the City says it returns to committee in late 2026. Until then the City assesses development applications under its current Land Use Bylaw. Look up the lot on the City’s flood map before you book a showing, and ask your insurer about the address.
Is there a homeowners association fee in Bowness?
No. Bowness has no residents association or homeowners association fee. On a condominium the monthly cost to plan for is the condo fee: on the townhouses that sold in the twelve months to August 2026 it was typically $347 a month, and on the apartments $482. The Bowness Community Association is a separate, optional membership: $10 for an individual, $20 for a family, $5 for a senior (55+) and $30 for an associate, valid for one year from the date you buy it.
Where do Bowness children go to school?
Inside Bowness for every grade on the public side. As CBE publishes it in October 2026, the west end goes to Belvedere Parkway School and the rest of the community to Bowcroft School, both kindergarten to grade 6. Every address then goes to Thomas B. Riley School for grades 7 to 9 and Bowness High School for grades 10 to 12. As CSSD publishes it in October 2026, Our Lady of the Assumption School in Bowness takes kindergarten to grade 9, and St. Francis High School in Collingwood is the senior high, with St. Mary’s High School in Mission as an option. Under CSSD’s 2027-2028 boundaries, Bowness moves to St. Pier Giorgio Frassati High School in Aspen Woods, which CSSD expects to open in fall 2027.
What is at Bowness Park?
Bowness Park is inside the community, at its west end, and the City lists it as a designated Municipal Historic Resource. The City puts it at 30 hectares along the Bow River between Stoney Trail NW and 85 Street NW. Its lagoon is used for paddle boating in summer and for skating in winter, and the park also has a wading pool, boat rentals and a children’s train ride, all seasonal. The City notes that parking there is limited.
What transit serves Bowness?
By bus. Bowness has no CTrain station and no MAX stop. Bowness Terminal is inside the community. Route 1 Bowness/Forest Lawn and Route 53 Brentwood Station/Greenwood run along Bowness Road NW, Route 40 Crowfoot Station/North Hill and Route 26 Sarcee Trail Crosstown use 77 Street, 34 Avenue and 46 Avenue NW, and all four run every day of the week. Several school routes make a single trip in each direction on school days, so they are not a way to get around.
Is there an off-leash area or a pool in Bowness?
No to both. The City has no off-leash area inside Bowness. It has off-leash areas in Bowmont Park, across the river in Silver Springs and Varsity, and in Edworthy Park in Wildwood, across Sarcee Trail W. The only pool inside is the seasonal wading pool in Bowness Park. The Shouldice Aquatic Centre, at 5303 Bowness Rd NW, is in Montgomery. Bowness has an indoor arena, run by the Bowness Community Association at 7904 43 Av NW.
Sales data current as of 2026-08-31. Includes 188 residential sales in Bowness over the twelve months to August 2026. Source: Pillar 9 MLS® System. Copyright 2026 Pillar 9. All Rights Reserved.
