Live in Ogden
A 1912 CPR company town in southeast Calgary, built around the Ogden Shops rail yards on the Bow River, now home to Canadian Pacific Kansas City's global headquarters and two Green Line stations under construction.
Ogden was built in 1912 as a company town for the Canadian Pacific Railway's car shops, named for I.G. Ogden, a CPR vice-president, and later took in Lynnwood, developed through the 1970s on its western half, and Millican, named for a family that homesteaded here in the early 1900s. At the 2021 census it held 8,315 residents in 3,740 private households across 4.1 km² wedged between Glenmore Trail, Deerfoot Trail and the Bow River, with 40 per cent of households renting and a median household income of $75,500 in 2020. The shops that gave the community its name and its jobs are still the defining feature: CP Rail moved its corporate head office back onto the century-old yard site in December 2012, and Ogden and Lynnwood/Millican are two of the ten stations on the Green Line's southeast segment, now under construction.
A 1912 company town, still built around its own rail shops
Bounded by Glenmore Trail to the south, Deerfoot Trail and the Bow River to the west, and CPR rail lines and industrial land to the north and east. Ward 9.
Ogden was built in 1912 as a company town for the Canadian Pacific Railway's car shops, named for I.G. Ogden, a CPR vice-president, at the tail end of a boom that took Calgary's population from 11,967 to 43,704 between 1906 and 1911 on the back of the railway's investment. The shops were built to employ over 5,000 people, and during the Second World War they switched to manufacturing munitions for the Allied war effort alongside CPR's Angus Shops in Montreal.
The two later districts. Lynnwood filled in Ogden's western half through the 1970s, and Millican takes its name from a family that homesteaded here in the early 1900s. Together with the original townsite they make up the community as it stands today: 8,315 residents at the 2021 census, in 3,740 private households, across 4.1 km² wedged between Glenmore Trail, Deerfoot Trail and the Bow River. 40% of households rent, against 31% citywide, and median household income was $75,500 in 2020 against $98,000 across Calgary. Sixty-one per cent of the occupied stock was built between 1961 and 1980, and another 24% in 1960 or before.
The shops never really left. In December 2012, CP Rail moved its corporate head office back onto the century-old yard site, building new offices inside the working rail yard rather than relocating elsewhere. The company became Canadian Pacific Kansas City when the merger with Kansas City Southern completed on 14 April 2023, and its global headquarters is still here, on the yard that gave the community its name.
What is changing now. Ogden and Lynnwood/Millican are two of the ten stations on the Green Line's southeast segment, 16 km of track now under construction and scheduled to open in 2031. The Ogden Block, built in 1913 and a rare example of a Chinese-immigrant-owned business established outside Calgary's historic Chinatown, faces a demolition deadline of November 15, 2026 unless it is relocated. A visible sign of a community still being rebuilt around the infrastructure that built it in the first place.
- CPKC's active Ogden yard runs immediately north and east. Real freight noise on some streets, day and night
- 85% of the occupied stock was built in 1980 or earlier, 24% of it in 1960 or before. Inspect roofs, wiring and plumbing specifically for the block
- Median household income was $75,500 in 2020 against $98,000 across Calgary, and 40% of households rent against 31% citywide
- Green Line construction runs here until the southeast segment opens in 2031. That is years of nearby disruption
- Limited retail inside the boundaries; Quarry Park across the Bow River carries much of the everyday shop
- The Ogden Block's November 15, 2026 demolition deadline is a live example of how much of the original townsite is still unsettled
How Ogden got here
- 1906–1911Calgary's population grows from 11,967 to 43,704, the largest growth period in the city's history, with CPR's decision to build a car shop at Ogden set to employ over 5,000 people among the reasons for the speculation.
- 1912The Ogden Shops open and the company town is established, named for I.G. Ogden, a Canadian Pacific Railway vice-president. The shops are the only CPR repair shop between Winnipeg and Vancouver.
- 1913The Ogden Block is built, a rare example of a Chinese-immigrant-owned business established outside Calgary's historic Chinatown.
- 1939–1945The Ogden Shops are converted into a munitions factory producing heavy naval guns, run alongside CPR's Angus Shops in Montreal under senior vice-president D'Alton Corry Coleman.
- 1956The Millican Ogden Community Association is registered, on 23 April. Its hall at 2110 69 Avenue SE still runs the Jack Setters Arena.
- 1970sLynnwood is developed on Ogden's western half.
- 2012CP Rail relocates its corporate head office onto the century-old Ogden yard site in December, building new offices within the working rail yard.
- 2031The Green Line's southeast segment is scheduled to open: 16 km of track and ten stations, two of them Ogden and Lynnwood/Millican.
George Moss Park and the Bow River pathway through the old shops land
George Moss Park sits inside Ogden's own boundaries along the Bow River, with a riverside pathway that runs through the old CPR shops land toward Quarry Park and downtown. The Ogden Off-Leash Dog Park sits on the community's northern edge, close enough to the working rail yard that it doubles as a reminder of what this land used to be. Indoors, the community association's hall at 2110 69 Avenue SE runs the Jack Setters Arena, with a skating and hockey rink under the same roof as the 240-seat main hall.
What the map does not show: there is no lake or major civic park system here: the genuine open-space advantage is the Bow River pathway itself, and its short connection across the river to Quarry Park's much larger recreation and retail district.
Elsewhere in Calgary, not Ogden
19 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 19 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. Ogden sits close to Quarry Park and South Health Campus, and further than most southeast communities from the airport, since it sits on the south side of the city.
Every gym within reach
The nearest full-service facility is across the Bow River at Quarry Park, with the community's own park and pathway as the free option at hand.
- One of YMCA Calgary's seven branches, and the nearest full facility to Ogden
- Quarry Park's own commercial studios sit a similar drive away, across the river
- MNP Community & Sport Centre at Lindsay Park, Repsol Sport Centre until spring 2022, is the larger inner-city facility further northwest
- George Moss Park and the Bow River pathway are the free option, inside the community itself
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Remington YMCA open | YMCA Calgary's Quarry Park branch at 108 Quarry Park Rd SE, the nearest full facility to Ogden. | 6–10 min |
| George Moss Park & Bow River pathway open | Free option: the community's own park and the riverside pathway along the old shops land. | 1–2 min |
| Quarry Park fitness studios open | A small cluster of commercial studios in the Quarry Park business district, across the Bow River. | 6–9 min |
| MNP Community & Sport Centre open | The city's large aquatic and fitness centre at Lindsay Park, 2225 Macleod Trail South. It was Repsol Sport Centre until spring 2022. | 9–14 min |
| Chinook-area commercial gyms open | Commercial chains clustered around Chinook Centre and Macleod Trail. | 12–16 min |
Check current CPKC campus access. The old shops site is now a working corporate and rail campus: it is not open ground, whatever its history.
Two schools, one of each board
Banting and Best School carries the public side. Its own Calgary Board of Education page lists kindergarten among its classes and Wikipedia names it Banting & Best Elementary, but neither prints a grade range. St. Bernadette Elementary is the Catholic school Wikipedia places here. Neither board publishes an attendance area we could read, so no school here is described as designated.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Banting and Best School | Calgary Board of Education | Calgary Board of Education school inside the community. Its own site lists kindergarten among its classes; Wikipedia names it Banting & Best Elementary. Neither prints a full grade range. |
| St. Bernadette Elementary/Junior High School | Calgary Catholic School District | Catholic school named in Wikipedia's article on the community. The Calgary Catholic School District's site refuses automated clients, so nothing here was read from the district itself. |
| Designated senior high | Both boards | Neither board publishes an attendance area we could read, so no senior high is named here as designated. Confirm the current designation for a specific address with the board before you buy. |
| Calgary Catholic School District | Calgary Catholic | Alberta funds Catholic education the same way it funds public education, so there is no tuition for a resident student at either board. |
| SAIT and Bow Valley College | Post-secondary | Nearest post-secondary options, both reached via Deerfoot Trail toward downtown. |
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 current designation for a specific address with the board before you buy. The Calgary Catholic School District's site refuses automated clients, so nothing on the Catholic side here was read from the district itself.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel: the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- CPKC's Ogden yard runs its full winter switching schedule through the cold
- Chinooks reach the far southeast late, same as elsewhere on this side of the city
- The Bow River pathway below George Moss Park ices over on the shaded stretches first
- Green Line work along the community's edge slows in the deepest cold, with the southeast segment not due to open until 2031
- A chinook can clear Glenmore Trail's snowbanks within an afternoon
- Remington YMCA's pool, six to ten minutes across the river at Quarry Park, is the indoor option
- The Ogden Off-Leash Dog Park stays open through the cold, packed down hard by regular use
- Longer light by month end
- Meltwater off the CPR yard's flat lots runs toward the Bow River faster than the drains can take it
- Snow tires stay on a while longer on the shaded streets under the rail overpasses
- The Bow River pathway reopens along George Moss Park
- Green Line construction resumes along Ogden Road as the ground thaws
- Last hard frosts: planting waits for the long weekend
- The Bow River runs high with early melt below George Moss Park
- Banting and Best and St. Bernadette both restart outdoor recess routines
- Migratory birds return to the river below the old shops site
- Long evenings on the Bow River pathway become a genuine after-work habit
- Community league and field sport seasons start
- CPKC's yard and headquarters campus are at their tidiest of the year
- Hail season begins: the southeast gets more than its share
- Peak daylight at the solstice: over sixteen hours
- School year ends at Banting and Best and St. Bernadette
- Remington YMCA's summer programming ramps up
- Thunderstorm season is fully under way
- Calgary Stampede: ten days, about fifteen minutes northwest
- Hottest month, with little shade over the old rail yard's open ground
- Evening thunderstorms roll in from the west across the river valley
- Deerfoot Trail carries the heaviest Stampede-week traffic of the year
- Quietest weeks before school returns
- The Bow River runs low and clear past George Moss Park
- Harvest and construction traffic both pick up on Glenmore Trail
- Green Line construction runs at its summer pace on the ten-station southeast segment
- School year restarts at Banting and Best and St. Bernadette
- First frost typically arrives late in the month
- Quarry Park's retail gets busier with back-to-school traffic
- CPKC yard lighting comes on earlier as the days shorten
- First snow is normal, and normally melts
- Snow tires go on
- Peak colour along the Bow River pathway below George Moss Park
- Shorter evenings noticeable by mid-month
- Dark by 5pm
- The Ogden Block, built in 1913 and a rare Chinese-immigrant-owned business outside Calgary's historic Chinatown, faces a demolition deadline of November 15 unless it is relocated
- Indoor recreation season restarts at Remington YMCA
- Freeze sets in on the Bow River's calmer stretches first
- Outdoor rinks open once the freeze holds
- Holiday quiet across the community
- CPKC's yard keeps running through the holiday break. Freight slows but does not stop
- Chinooks, when they come, arrive late and weak here, same as the rest of the southeast
3 more photographs of the community and its surroundings
All freely licensed, via Wikimedia Commons. Filter by category.
Showing 1–3 of 3 photographs.
About these photographs. Openly licensed images geotagged in or near Ogden, found on Wikimedia Commons and served from there with full attribution. Inline photos elsewhere on the page may still come from the site's shared Calgary library.