Live in Sundance
A 33-acre private lake, Fish Creek Provincial Park on two sides, and a community that was fully built out by the end of the 1990s.
Sundance was established in 1982 around a 33-acre man-made lake, with Fish Creek Provincial Park, established in 1975, wrapping its north and east edges. At the 2021 census: 9,590 residents in 3,325 private households on 4.0 km², 89 per cent of them owner households and 90 per cent of the occupied stock single-detached. Ninety per cent of that stock went up between 1981 and 2000 and nothing at all has been built since 2010. The 33-acre lake is the reason the encumbrance sits on every certificate of title here, so the $333.24 a regular lot pays for 2026 to 2027 is not optional.
A lake suburb planned from day one
Bounded north and east by Fish Creek Provincial Park, west by Macleod Trail (with Midnapore directly across it) and south by Marquis of Lorne Trail (Stoney Trail). All of it inside the City of Calgary, Alberta.
Where Midnapore across Macleod Trail grew out of a hamlet the city annexed in 1961, Sundance was master-planned. It was established in 1982 around a 33-acre man-made lake at the centre of the plan, and every street curves back toward it. No publisher names the developer, so this guide no longer does either.
That origin shows in the fabric, and the census confirms it: 62% of the occupied dwellings standing in 2021 were built between 1981 and 1990, another 28% between 1991 and 2000, and nothing at all after 2010. This is a community that finished, not one that is still filling in.
Housing mix. At the 2021 census, 9,590 residents in 3,325 private households on 4.0 km², 89% of them owner households against 69% city-wide, and 90% of the occupied stock single-detached against 55%. Median household income was $129,000 in 2020, against $98,000 across Calgary. Buyers here are buying a thirty-to-forty-year-old detached house, almost always freehold.
Transit. The Fish Creek–Lacombe CTrain station, open since 9 October 2001 at 14300 Shawnee Gate SW with park and ride for 1,130, sits across Macleod Trail; Shawnessy followed on 28 June 2004. Neither changes the pattern much: 83% of employed residents drive to work and 6% take transit, against 77% and 9% across Calgary.
- 62% of the occupied stock dates from 1981 to 1990. Original roofs, windows and mechanical systems from those phases are at or past design life
- Nothing in the occupied stock was built after 2010, so a renovated house is the only new interior on offer
- The lake encumbrance is registered against the certificate of title. Every home pays: $333.24 a regular lot for 2026 to 2027, $451.65 for lake access and lakefront
- Poly-B plumbing was widely used in Alberta in this era and is an insurance flag. No publisher tracks it by community, so inspect
- Fish Creek flooded in 2005 and again in June 2013, both times damaging park trails and bridges. Ask any insurer about overland water coverage
How Sundance got here
- 1961Midnapore, the hamlet across Macleod Trail, is annexed by the City of Calgary. The future Sundance is still open prairie.
- 1975Fish Creek Provincial Park is established on 10 June along the community's future northern and eastern edges, 13.48 km² and seven years ahead of the first house here.
- 1977The Mid-Sun Community Association is registered as a provincial society on 9 May, five years before Sundance exists, at what is now 50 Midpark Rise SE.
- 1982Sundance is established, around a 33-acre man-made lake at the centre of the plan.
- 1980s and 1990sBuild-out proceeds in phases: 62 per cent of the occupied dwellings standing in 2021 were built between 1981 and 1990 and another 28 per cent between 1991 and 2000.
- 2001Fish Creek–Lacombe station opens on 9 October at 14300 Shawnee Gate SW, 14.2 km south of the City Hall interlocking, with park and ride for 1,130 vehicles.
- 2004Centennial High School opens at 55 Sun Valley Boulevard SE for grades 10 to 12, and Shawnessy station opens on 28 June at 17 Shawville Blvd. SW.
- 2021The federal census counts 9,590 residents in 3,325 private households, 89 per cent owner households, with a median household income of $129,000 in 2020 against $98,000 across Calgary. Nothing in the occupied stock was built after 2010.
The thing you cannot get anywhere else at this price
Lake Sundance, private and resident-only, run by the Lake Sundance Residents Association. It is the lake a Sundance address buys a share of; Midnapore Lake, across Macleod Trail, is Midnapore's and opens on a Midnapore card. An encumbrance is registered against the certificate of title of every home in the community, and with it comes access to the park on a membership card that has to be shown at the gate.
- Due 1 July each year, payable to the Sundance Lake Residents Association
- An encumbrance is registered against the certificate of title of the homeowner, so every home in the community pays
- Lake access and lakefront lots pay the higher tier: $451.65 including GST
- Additional membership cards cost $105.00 including GST
- An adult member may bring up to 12 guests per house per day, infants and children counted as guests; a junior member under 18 may bring 3
- A membership card must be shown to get into the park
| The lake at a glance | Figure |
|---|---|
| Lake surface | 13 ha / 33 acres |
| Regular-lot fee, 2026 to 2027 | $333.24 including GST |
| Lake access and lakefront fee | $451.65 including GST |
| Additional membership card | $105.00 including GST |
| Fees due | 1 July each year |
The second-largest urban park in Canada, at the end of the street
13.48 km², more than 100 km of trails with over 60 km of it paved, wrapping Sundance's north and east edges. The park was here first, established on 10 June 1975, seven years before the community, and it is the second-largest urban park in Canada after Rouge National Urban Park in the Toronto area.
What the map does not show: parkland on two boundaries is the most durable amenity in the community. Shops close, gyms relocate and fees rise, but a provincial park cannot be rezoned into townhouses. Flood note: the 2005 flood washed away half the park's trails, damaged the rest and destroyed seven pedestrian bridges; the park did not fully reopen until September 2007, and June 2013 damaged it again. Ask any insurer about overland water coverage and check where a specific address sits relative to the flood fringe.
Elsewhere in Calgary, not Sundance
56 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 56 places, nearest first.
Method: straight-line distance between geocoded coordinates multiplied by 1.32 to approximate Calgary's road grid, then divided by a speed model that accounts for short trips being slower and highway runs faster. Times are measured from the Midnapore–Sundance area centre: Sundance sits directly east across Macleod Trail, so allow a minute or two either way. Macleod Trail and Deerfoot Trail at 7–9am and 3:30–6pm will push the longer trips 5–15 minutes higher.
Every gym within reach
Eight trading facilities and two reported closed. None of the commercial ones is on a public register, so every hour and facility below comes from the operator. Phone before you count on any of it.
- Hours and membership tiers come from the operator, not from any public register. Confirm them before you sign
- Shares the 240 Midpark Way plaza with the former GYMVMT Midnapore, reported closed
- For 24-hour access the nearest option is Anytime Fitness Sunpark, minutes up Sun Valley Boulevard
- The City's own facility in reach is Southland Leisure Centre at 2000 Southland Dr. S.W.: wave pool, slides, climbing wall, gymnasium, courts and arenas
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Planet Fitness, Midnapore open | 240 Midpark Way SE, Unit 1, across Macleod Trail. The hours and membership tiers here come from the operator, not from a public register. | 5–8 min |
| Mid-Sun Community Centre gym open | A gym in the Mid-Sun Community Association hall at 50 Midpark Rise SE, licensed for 150, with meeting rooms and a kitchen. | 1–2 min |
| Anytime Fitness Sunpark open | Open 24 hours with fob access, on the operator's own account. | 4–6 min |
| YMCA Shawnessy open | 400-333 Shawville Blvd SE, weekdays 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and weekends 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Shares a building with the Shawnessy library. | 5–7 min |
| Cardel Rec South open | Four ice rinks, a fitness floor, indoor track and pub, on the operator's own account. No public register carries the facility list. | 5–7 min |
| F45 Training Shawnessy open | Group HIIT studio on a class-pack or membership model, on the operator's own account. | 4–7 min |
| Southland Leisure Centre open | City-run at 2000 Southland Dr. S.W.: wave pool, dive tank, water slides, hot tub, steam room, climbing wall, weights and cardio, gymnasium, squash and racquetball courts and arenas. | 12–18 min |
| Trico Centre for Family Wellness open | 11150 Bonaventure Dr SE. A non-profit community centre with an indoor track, pool and arena, on the operator's own account. | 9–14 min |
| GYMVMT Midnapore closed | Was at 21-240 Midpark Way SE, the same plaza as Planet Fitness. Reported closed; no publisher confirms it. | : |
| Orangetheory Fitness Shawnessy closed | Was at 70 Shawville Blvd SE. Reported closed; no publisher confirms it. | 5–7 min |
The free option is the best one. More than 100 km of trails on two sides of the community, over 60 km of it paved. For running and cycling that beats any membership within 20 km, and the lake fee already covers swimming, boating and docking, fishing, tennis and pickleball, disc golf and the winter programme.
Kindergarten to Grade 12 without leaving the community
Wikipedia names five schools for this community: Fish Creek and Sundance public elementaries, MidSun junior high, Centennial High School and the Catholic Father James Whelihan, K to 9. Centennial opened in 2004 at 55 Sun Valley Boulevard SE, teaches grades 10 to 12, had 1,595 students in 2023, and lists Sundance among the ten communities it serves: one of the few Calgary suburbs with its own senior high.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Sundance School | Calgary Board of Education | A Calgary Board of Education school inside the community. Its page publishes no grade range and no attendance area. |
| Fish Creek School | Calgary Board of Education | A Calgary Board of Education school Wikipedia lists as one of Sundance's two public elementaries. |
| MidSun School | Calgary Board of Education | The board calls it MidSun School, and its own site runs sections for grades 7, 8 and 9. |
| Centennial High School | Calgary Board of Education | Grades 10 to 12 at 55 Sun Valley Boulevard SE, opened 2004, enrolment 1,595 in 2023. Sundance is one of the ten communities it serves. |
| Father James Whelihan | Calgary Catholic School District | Named by Wikipedia as the community's Catholic K to 9 school. The district's site refuses automated clients. |
Alberta funds Catholic education the same way it funds public education, so there is no tuition for a resident student at either board. No Calgary Board of Education school page here publishes a grade range or an attendance area, and the board gives a designated school only through the address search on its own site, so confirm for a specific address. 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.
- Lake frozen: the association's winter activities run on your resident card
- Chinook arches over the Rockies can swing temperatures 20°C in a day
- Cardel Rec South (4 indoor rinks) 4–6 min away for organised hockey
- Fish Creek's wooded trails at their quietest: coyote and deer tracks everywhere
- Skating season continues on the lake
- Family Day long weekend: lake house events and rink time
- Watch for poplar-shadowed ice near shore as sun strength returns
- Centennial and MidSun winter sports seasons in full swing
- Ice off the lake late in the month in a warm year
- First bare pavement: road cyclists reappear on the Fish Creek paths
- Spring break: Sikome and the park trails fill with kids
- Meltwater makes the creek loud for the first time since November
- Lake thaws fully; docks and boats go back in as weather allows
- Aspens leaf out along the park edge paths
- Goslings and ducklings appear on the creek and stormponds
- Street sweeping: winter gravel finally disappears
- Beach area readied for the season; tennis courts busy
- May long weekend: first firepit and picnic evenings at the lake
- Fish Creek in full leaf; 100+ km of trails dry out
- Watch for deer with fawns along the wooded edges
- Swimming season opens as the lake warms
- Sikome Lake, the public swimming beach inside Fish Creek Park, is six to nine minutes away
- Longest evenings of the year: light past 10pm
- June rains: the creek's high-water month: flood awareness season
- Lake fees due 1 July: the annual encumbrance invoice lands
- Calgary Stampede: ten days, 20–25 min up Macleod Trail
- Beach, boating and fishing at full tilt
- Evening thunderstorms roll off the foothills
- Warmest water of the year in the lake
- Fish Creek's trails at their driest and least crowded before the school return
- Saskatoon and chokecherry picking along Fish Creek
- Back-to-school supply runs: Shawnessy 5 min away
- Aspens turn: the park's best colour weeks
- School year starts at all five community schools
- Boats out of the water by month end
- Elk bugling season in Kananaskis, 45–60 min west
- Last reliable dry-trail weeks in Fish Creek
- First hard frosts; furnace season begins
- Halloween: one of the biggest family nights of the year here
- Watch for the season's first snowfall: often before month end
- Lake begins to freeze; ice is not yet safe: stay off until flagged
- Winter tires on: Macleod and Deerfoot both ice up in cold snaps
- Christmas lights go up early: dark by 5pm
- Indoor season: Cardel Rec South and the library pick up
- Lake typically freezes mid-to-late December: skating season opens
- Shortest days: sunrise 8:38am, sunset 4:30pm at solstice
- Chinooks can strip the snow overnight, and bring it right back
- New Year's Day skate on the lake to close the year
75 more photographs of the community and its surroundings
All freely licensed, via Wikimedia Commons. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 75 photographs.
Honesty note. The photo library is shared across this site's south-Calgary communities: Sundance and Midnapore face each other across Macleod Trail and share Fish Creek Park, Sikome Lake and the same skyline. Midnapore-specific shots are labelled as such, species shots taken elsewhere in Alberta are labelled too, and the mountain and Okotoks images are regional context, not local amenities.