BANFF – A proposal for free parking for Indigenous peoples in the Town of Banff continues to roll forward, but elected officials first want to get input from Indigenous leaders and surrounding municipalities.
Town of Banff officials say the topic of free parking for Indigenous peoples would be a good option for consideration of a new Bow Valley Indigenous advisory group, for which a terms of reference is currently under development.
“There is a group discussion underway to formalize a terms of reference for that group and bring people together, but it’s still in its relatively early stages,” said Randall McKay, the manager of special projects and strategic initiatives for the Town of Banff.
“It does include the Town of Canmore and some of the outlying areas – Exshaw, ID9 and others who would have an interest in forming a group that would look at valley-wide issues that we could bring matters forward to them. This would be a good option for this group to review, for sure.”
The Town of Banff introduced visitor pay parking in July 2021 to increase availability of short-term downtown parking stalls for residents and visitors by encouraging commuters and those with longer-term parking needs to choose free parking, primarily located at the train station parking lot.
In October 2022, council directed administration to return with a report addressing the feasibility of a free visitor parking pass for all Indigenous peoples in the Banff townsite following strong opposition to any move to expand visitor pay parking to the south side of the Bow River.
Concerns centred on the impact pay parking in areas such as the Banff Trading Post and the Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum would have on people from Indigenous communities, prompting council to quickly shut down further discussions on pay parking on the south side.
Stan Andronyk, manager of municipal enforcement for the Town of Banff, said it is key that an Indigenous consultation process first be conducted with Treaty 7 partners as part of the feasibility analysis and conversation around free Indigenous parking – in keeping with Banff’s new Indigenous framework.
In addition, he said both Canmore and Jasper recently introduced paid parking and noted there is potential for each of those towns to be indirectly impacted by future Town of Banff policy direction related to this initiative.
“They are aware of this discussion and they both expressed interest in being part of this discussion to work towards a solution consistent throughout the area,” said Andronyk.
“Within the context of Banff, administration is of the opinion that a Bow Valley-wide Indigenous engagement process would be beneficial to avoid duplication.”
Parks Canada currently offers two types of access passes to Indigenous peoples visiting Banff National Park.
The first is a short-term, six-month access pass available on request to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples at the park’s east gate and visitor information centres. This pass is free and provides access to Banff National Park, the Banff Park Museum, and the Cave and Basin National Historic Site.
Andronyk said more than 18,000 short-term access passes were issued in or near Banff National Park in 2022, but it’s not known how many of these pass holders entered the Banff townsite.
He said there is also a long-term access pass, which has no expiry date, and is provided to specific Nations in bulk by Parks Canada, making it difficult to know how many are currently in circulation.
“These are offered to First Nations with a connection to the Banff area, so in this case we are speaking mainly about Treaty 7,” said Andronyk
“Stoney Nakoda and Siksika Nation have been issued about 9,000 passes for distribution and this is over the past number of years.”
On top of that, Parks Canada has also printed access passes for all of the national parks in Alberta for the Métis Nation of Alberta, which are good until 2026.
Andronyk said he highlighted the number of passes to demonstrate that thousands of Indigenous peoples have been granted free access to the park.
“When we speak of providing free parking to Indigenous peoples in town, it is important to understand the numbers are fairly high,” he said.
“We can’t say everyone coming to Banff National Park is coming to the town, but it is worth considering what those numbers may be that come to town on a certain day.”
Options administration suggests could be explored include using the Parks Canada placard currently being issued to Indigenous peoples, implementing a system similar to the existing residential parking permit program, creating an exemption list, or creating a Town of Banff placard.
If free parking for Indigenous peoples in the town were to be considered, Andronyk said the practicality of each potential option would need to be carefully reviewed in conjunction with the Town’s existing parking management system.
“This would be done by analyzing technical, economic, operational and time feasibility factors,” he said. “Consultation with local First Nations would be invaluable in order to determine which option would be the most appropriate and effective.”
Mayor Corrie DiManno said she believes the new Bow Valley-wide Indigenous advisory group being formed would be a good place to have the discussion on the potential for free parking in Banff for Indigenous peoples.
“Hopefully at a meeting of this future group they could put this on the agenda to discuss, especially as we’re looking at this with a regional approach, and especially as we would have Indigenous leaders at that table,” she said.
“It’s one thing for me to believe it’s worthwhile, but it’s more important for them to find it worthwhile. and then if there is any type of funding or approval of some type of approach, we would hear back from that group to this council table.”
Much of Banff’s downtown core, including on-street parking and surface parking lots, are now visitor pay parking zones.
A resident-only parking system has been implemented on residential streets around the downtown paid zone to prevent visitors looking to avoid paying for parking.
Resident parking permit holders are allowed three hours of free parking in the pay parking zones and up to 72 hours of continuous parking on resident-only parking streets.
“Pay parking motivates people to park for shorter periods, thereby increasing the number of vehicles that can use each stall in a day,” said Andronyk.
“Other objectives of visitor pay parking are to reduce traffic congestion and to encourage a mode shift in transportation.”
