In conjunction with the elections for Calgary City Council, residents cast ballots for trustees of the Calgary Board of Education and the Calgary Catholic School District, a municipal vote on the question of returning to fluoridation of the city's water supply, and three provincially mandated votes: a Senate nominee election, as well as referendums on provincial equalization and on the adoption of permanent daylight saving time.

[7] Long-time councillor Ray Jones (Ward 10), resigned effective October 19, 2020, due to heath issues, no by-election was required to fill the councillor position due to the proximity of Jones' resignation to the 2021 municipal election.

[8][9] A union-backed Third Party Advertiser “Calgary’s Future” endorsed Jyoti Gondek and a list of 13 candidates for the 14 council positions, and 8 of the 13 were elected.

[18] Calgary's 2021 municipal election included one plebiscite question regarding whether to reintroduce fluoridation to the water supply.

[20] Calgary City Council previously voted to remove fluoride from the water supply in February 2011, the program at the time cost $750,000 annually, and faced upcoming $6-million upgrade to water treatment plants to continue the program.

[21] The Alberta Dental Association and College estimates that there is somewhere between 0.1 and 0.4 parts per million of fluoride naturally occurring in drinking water.

[22] Following the release of the Fair Deal Panel's recommendations in June 2020, Premier Jason Kenney announced a provincial referendum on a measure to remove equalization payments from the Constitution of Canada would be held in conjunction with the 2021 Alberta municipal elections.

The announcement was criticized by Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi arguing it was a distraction for voters who should be focused on local issues.

[27] On July 15, Premier Jason Kenney announced that in addition to the referendum on equalization, Albertans would also vote on whether to end the practice of observing daylight saving time.

Calgary mayor candidate Kevin J. Johnston posted a video on social media criticizing public health measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta.

[40] Johnston had previously ran as a mayoral candidate in the 2018 Mississauga municipal election, coming in second with 13.5 per cent of the popular vote.