diff --git a/homeassistant/components/google/calendar.py b/homeassistant/components/google/calendar.py
index 4eb57cff49c114..eff26c2fbc4dc7 100644
--- a/homeassistant/components/google/calendar.py
+++ b/homeassistant/components/google/calendar.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 from gcal_sync.api import GoogleCalendarService, ListEventsRequest, SyncEventsRequest
 from gcal_sync.exceptions import ApiException
-from gcal_sync.model import DateOrDatetime, Event
+from gcal_sync.model import AccessRole, DateOrDatetime, Event
 from gcal_sync.store import ScopedCalendarStore
 from gcal_sync.sync import CalendarEventSyncManager
 from gcal_sync.timeline import Timeline
@@ -198,7 +198,13 @@ async def async_setup_entry(
                         entity_entry.entity_id,
                     )
             coordinator: CalendarSyncUpdateCoordinator | CalendarQueryUpdateCoordinator
-            if search := data.get(CONF_SEARCH):
+            # Prefer calendar sync down of resources when possible. However, sync does not work
+            # for search. Also free-busy calendars denormalize recurring events as individual
+            # events which is not efficient for sync
+            if (
+                search := data.get(CONF_SEARCH)
+                or calendar_item.access_role == AccessRole.FREE_BUSY_READER
+            ):
                 coordinator = CalendarQueryUpdateCoordinator(
                     hass,
                     calendar_service,
diff --git a/tests/components/google/conftest.py b/tests/components/google/conftest.py
index 2f5efd829bf983..ad27e971eceb01 100644
--- a/tests/components/google/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/components/google/conftest.py
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@
     "id": CALENDAR_ID,
     "etag": '"3584134138943410"',
     "timeZone": "UTC",
-    "accessRole": "reader",
     "foregroundColor": "#000000",
     "selected": True,
     "kind": "calendar#calendarListEntry",
@@ -62,10 +61,19 @@
 CLIENT_SECRET = "client-secret"
 
 
+@pytest.fixture(name="calendar_access_role")
+def test_calendar_access_role() -> str:
+    """Default access role to use for test_api_calendar in tests."""
+    return "reader"
+
+
 @pytest.fixture
-def test_api_calendar():
+def test_api_calendar(calendar_access_role: str):
     """Return a test calendar object used in API responses."""
-    return TEST_API_CALENDAR
+    return {
+        **TEST_API_CALENDAR,
+        "accessRole": calendar_access_role,
+    }
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
diff --git a/tests/components/google/test_calendar.py b/tests/components/google/test_calendar.py
index 90ec8f44850ac6..cba93d9a6a66f3 100644
--- a/tests/components/google/test_calendar.py
+++ b/tests/components/google/test_calendar.py
@@ -60,6 +60,14 @@
 }
 
 
+@pytest.fixture(
+    autouse=True, scope="module", params=["reader", "owner", "freeBusyReader"]
+)
+def calendar_access_role(request) -> str:
+    """Fixture to exercise access roles in tests."""
+    return request.param
+
+
 @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
 def mock_test_setup(
     test_api_calendar,
@@ -720,12 +728,15 @@ async def test_invalid_unique_id_cleanup(
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
-    "time_zone,event_order",
+    "time_zone,event_order,calendar_access_role",
+    # This only tests the reader role to force testing against the local
+    # database filtering based on start/end time. (free busy reader would
+    # just use the API response which this test is not exercising)
     [
-        ("America/Los_Angeles", ["One", "Two", "All Day Event"]),
-        ("America/Regina", ["One", "Two", "All Day Event"]),
-        ("UTC", ["One", "All Day Event", "Two"]),
-        ("Asia/Tokyo", ["All Day Event", "One", "Two"]),
+        ("America/Los_Angeles", ["One", "Two", "All Day Event"], "reader"),
+        ("America/Regina", ["One", "Two", "All Day Event"], "reader"),
+        ("UTC", ["One", "All Day Event", "Two"], "reader"),
+        ("Asia/Tokyo", ["All Day Event", "One", "Two"], "reader"),
     ],
 )
 async def test_all_day_iter_order(