Every spring and fall the City of Calgary runs a free compost giveaway. It's made from the Green Cart food and yard waste that the whole city contributes, processed at Calgary's composting facility, and given back to residents as soil-grade compost, no charge, no limit of household per visit beyond a practical trunk-load.

For Signal Hill gardeners, this is genuinely good compost: tested, clean, and absolutely free. It saves the $40–$80 a bag of garden-centre compost would cost for the same volume.

When it runs

  • Spring giveaway, May, typically 2–3 weekends once soil has thawed
  • Fall giveaway, September, typically 2–3 weekends before the first freeze
The City publishes exact dates 3–4 weeks before each giveaway. Appointments fill quickly, the spring ones often book out the same day they open.

> 👉 Check current dates + book your slot on calgary.ca

Where to go

The City runs two giveaway sites:

North location (closest to Signal Hill / the west side) 11808 – 69 Street NW · near the Shaganappi industrial area

South location 12111 – 68 Street SE · at the Shepard facility

If you live on the hill, the north location is 15–20 minutes up Crowchild. Worth the drive.

What to bring

  • Your own containers, 5-gallon buckets, bins, tarps, or a clean trunk liner
  • Shovels or scoops, self-serve loading, the City provides the pile, not the labour
  • Gloves, keeps fingernails happy
  • A booking confirmation, most giveaway days are appointment-only; walk-ups get turned away
Bring clean vehicles, plastic bags work but bursts get messy. Pickup trucks or SUVs with folded rear seats are the local standard.

Pickup limits

Most giveaway days allow up to a full SUV / pickup truckload per household, roughly 1–2 cubic metres. That's enough to top-dress a 30 m² vegetable bed or fill 3–4 large planters.

If you want more, you can sometimes book a second slot, the City's site will say.

What you can do with it

  • Top-dress lawns in late April / May, 1 cm layer over grass, rake in
  • Amend garden beds before planting tomatoes, peas, lettuce
  • Mulch around shrubs and trees to hold moisture through a dry summer
  • Start a new bed, 6–8 cm of compost + a bit of existing soil
  • Backfill around perennials after dividing them

A note on quality

City compost is regulated: heavy-metal testing, pathogen kill, and aged long enough to be stable. It's rich, dark, and slightly more alkaline than peat-based mixes, so it's great for Calgary's usually-acidic-enough-anyway soil.

One caveat: occasionally you'll see the odd bioplastic fragment that didn't break down all the way. The City is upfront about this, certified "compostable" cutlery and produce stickers don't fully process in their industrial system. Shake them out as you load, or just accept a few will end up in your beds. They break down eventually in yard conditions.

Before you go

1. Book your slot on the City's giveaway page 2. Check the road forecast, spring giveaway weekends sometimes coincide with late snow 3. Pack water + snacks; lines have been known to stretch in high demand

Got a tip or a photo from your compost run? Email [email protected], we'll add it to the Signal Hill View newsletter.

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Source: City of Calgary Green Cart compost giveaway.