JANUARY
Parks Canada announces private vehicles will be banned from the Moraine Lake Road. The only vehicles on the 12.8-km scenic road are Parks Canada-run shuttles from the park-and-ride lot at Lake Louise, Roam public transit and commercial buses from June to mid-October.
A rogue rabbit was captured in by a municipal enforcement officer Jan. 7 following a report from a Parks Canada employee who saw posts on social media about rabbit sightings around town. The rabbit was thought to be an escaped pet.
The community mourns the loss of 19-year-old Raven Sillito on the train tracks when struck by a west-bound Canadian Pacific container train as she walked westbound on CP’s main line through Banff. She was believed to have been wearing earbuds. The accident happened Dec. 29.
Thousands of dead and dying fish were found in Vermilion Lakes Jan. 8. Upon investigation and testing, it was found that dissolved oxygen levels were very low and the mass die-off was likely a result of a naturally occurring phenomenon referred to as winter-kill.
FEBRUARY
Banff council passed a municipal tax increase of 11.6 per cent, with investments in police, fire, expanded transit, increased snow removal.
The fungus that causes the deadly white nose syndrome in bats – which has decimated populations throughout North America – has been detected for the first time in Alberta. Two detections were found along the Red Deer River near the northwest boundary of Dinosaur Provincial Park.
Banff council passed a watered down version of a bylaw regulating single-use items following pressure from businesses concerned about timing and need for some voluntary actions. Enforcement of the new municipal legislation banning shopping bags and a requirement for reusable items at on-site dining places like coffee shops and fast-food restaurants was pushed back until January 2024.
A fatality on Highway 93 South on Feb. 2 shut down the highway near Hector Gorge in Kootenay National Park for several hours. It was a two-vehicle collision involving a semi and a car.
Police launch an investigation into the cause of a fire that destroyed several vehicles at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise parkade Feb. 8.
A 42-year-old accomplished climber died in a climbing accident on Polar Circus in Banff National Park – one of the most famous climbing routes in the world. Killed was Zach Milligan, known for his daring ski down the 2,694-metre Half Dome to the valley below in Yosemite National Park, California, in 2021.
MARCH
Parks Canada lays down the law over a draft area redevelopment plan for the train station lands in a Feb. 10 letter from superintendent Sal Rasheed, saying including a gondola terminus from the townsite to Mount Norquay would challenge the agency’s ability to recommend final approval to the minister.
Canadian Pacific Railway rules there will be a no formal at-grade crossing in the location where residents illegally cross the train tracks between the Banff townsite and industrial compound.
APRIL
An elk calf that crashed through the ice of the Bow River near the Muskrat Street pedestrian bridge was saved by Parks Canada’s wildlife team. The following week, an adult female elk crashed though the ice three times before she was dragged safely to shore. Several other elk were also found drowned in the river near town.
Several wolves that spent much of their lives in Banff National Park were trapped and killed on provincial lands just outside the park boundary, including a female wolf from the Bow Valley fitted with a GPS tracking collar.
Six tourists crash through the ice into Kicking Horse River at Natural Bridge near Field, proving a stark reminder of the dangers of fast-flowing rivers in the mountains.
The courts handed down a precedent-setting $21,600 fine against a Canadian Pacific Railway worker who illegally built a massive bike jump in Yoho National Park, destroying historic artefacts at Kicking Horse Pass National Historic Site near the Spiral Tunnels.
A 21-year-old Red Deer man was killed in avalanche on April 22 in Lake Louise, in an out-of-bounds area at the ski resort.
Banff council endorsed its Indigenous framework following a period of public feedback on the new guiding policy document.
MAY
Russ Geyer, who joined the Banff Fire Department in 1991 and was the deputy fire chief for 16 years, is named Banff’s new fire chief following the retirement of Silvio Adamo after 35 years of service.
Parks Canada launches an investigation after a prescribed fire got away about three kms north of the Banff townsite May 3, forcing evacuation of Banff Rocky Mountain Resort and several horses from corrals. The fire, which burned about three hectares outside the burn perimetre and jumped from the west side of Banff Avenue to the east side, also burned three tack sheds at the horse corrals as well as the Bill Peyto welcoming sign.
Calgary police confirmed human remains found near the Valleyview rest stop of the Trans-Canada Highway in Banff National Park in May were that of Chestermere woman, Vida Smith, 69, who was reported missing by her family three years earlier.
Banff council eyes municipally owned lands, including existing green spaces, for affordable housing developments after scrapping plans for a below-market rental project on Cave Avenue.
NDP’s Sarah Elmeligi takes the Banff-Kananaskis riding in the May 29 provincial election by fewer than 200 votes. Both UCP incumbent MLA Miranda Rosin and Elmeligi claimed victory shortly before midnight, but a new day showed the nail-biter election race had Elmeligi at 11,487 votes to Rosin’s 11,288.
The Parole Board of Canada denies parole and day parole to dangerous offender Albert Muckle, who was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault and attempted murder of a young woman, Julianne Courneya, on July 11, 2005, in Banff.
Banff experiences the warmest May ever and June was shaping up to be just as hot, with the Athabasca Glacier melting over winter.
JUNE
The off-leash dog park in Banff's industrial compound was closed June 13 because glass, nails and other hazardous materials continue to surface at the site, part of which was a former dumping ground of Canadian Pacific Railway in the 20th Century.
On June 19, Parks Canada released its final report on the pilot bison reintroduction program, announcing the herd has grown to more than 100 bison and the project will continue based on its success over the previous five years.
A 54-year-old tourist from the United States was found dead after slipping and falling at the base of Takakkaw Falls near Field. After a search well into the evening, the man’s body was found in the pool at the bottom of the 373-metre waterfall.
Councillor Kaylee Ram, who had her first child in July, was the Town of Banff’s first elected official to take advantage of the new parental leave policy, aimed at breaking down barriers and making municipal politics more family-friendly.
Two people die in a head-on collision on the two-lane stretch of Highway 93 South in Kootenay National Park June 29. The highway was closed for several hours.
JULY
The Charleston Residence, used for some of the Lake Louise ski hill’s staff accommodation, burns to the ground. Following an investigation by the Southern Alberta District General Investigation Section into the July 3 fire. Lake Louise resident Timothy Alexander Paterson, 40, is charged with arson and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
A new action plan approved by council to get more housing built in the community calls for a full-scale review of the land use bylaw, incentives to encourage development of more secondary suites and elimination of required parking for residential developments.
A temporary moratorium on business licences for bed and breakfast homes is in place while the Town of Banff develops an updated policy for tourist accommodations.
A preliminary hearing was held July 17 for a 23-year-old man, John-Christopher Arrizza who is charged with second-degree murder of born and raised Banff resident, Ethan Enns-Goneau, 26.
The Transportation Safety Board releases a report into the Canadian Pacific Railway freight train derailment in January 2019, where 15 railway cars came off the tracks near Field. The investigation found the accident was a result of an “undesired” release of the air brakes.
One person died after a single-vehicle rollover involving a fuel truck that went up in flames on Highway 93 South in Kootenay National Park July 19.
STARS air ambulance flew an injured paraglider from Banff National Park to Calgary’s Foothills Medical Centre July 31. It was not known at the time from which mountain the paraglider took off.
AUGUST
Hundreds of people were forced to spend the night in the upper terminal visitor centre of the Banff Gondola on Sulphur Mountain when a power outage shut down the gondola Aug. 8. A lightning storm caused both a Banff and Canmore-wide power outage at roughly 7 p.m., with people still stuck inside the gondola cars going back to the parking area until about 10 p.m.
Fourteen people are facing a combined 28 charges for camping illegally, drinking alcohol in public and starting an illegal fire at Banff National Park’s Johnson Lake over the August long weekend.
A 32-year-old woman was transported to hospital in life-threatening condition after nearly drowning in the Bow River near Bow Falls Aug. 13. After the canoe capsized, the woman couldn’t make it to shore and she was later found unconscious.
Banff council tightens rules on wildlife attractants, passing a bylaw that authorized bylaw enforcement officers to issue an order to remove fruit, and failing that, a court order to remove the tree could follow.
The village of Lake Louise was temporarily shut down for about two hours on the Saturday afternoon of the Labour Day August long weekend as hordes of tourists flocked to the mountains. Parks Canada allowed residents and guests with hotel reservations to enter Lake Louise.
A sinkhole forced the closure of the Trans-Canada Highway between the Mount Norquay entrance to the Banff townsite and Compound Road Aug. 31. All eastbound traffic was diverted through town.
The landmark Hudson’s Bay on Banff Avenue closes, marking the end of an era.
SEPTEMBER
Parks Canada plans to heavily log forest to create a massive 49-hectare fire guard, about 400 to 500 metres wide and one kilometre long, to protect Bow Valley communities and Field from a future wildfire.
Whirling disease, a deadly disease known to kill off fish in large numbers, is detected in Emerald Lake – the first case in Yoho National Park but also in all of the province of British Columbia.
In a major move, the Town of Banff is going full throttle with a proposal to eliminate outdated parking requirements that add hefty costs to housing construction and often see developers walking away or building fewer units..
An under-nourished, 25-year-old female grizzly bear attacked and killed two people and their dog in the remote backcountry of Banff National Park. Killed were Doug Inglis, 62, and Jenny Gusse, 62, from Lethbridge.
Grizzly bear 122, also known as The Boss, got into a crabapple tree in a yard on Marmot Crescent and was bluff-charging people in the area. The bear was hazed away from the area, but returned a few times; however, the tree had been chopped down.
OCTOBER
Banff’s elected officials ease the hammer on commercial construction hours, changing the ours on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m..
The owners of a home on Squirrel Street that was shut down in 2022 after Alberta Health Services found people living in overcrowded and unhealthy conditions were fined $1,750 in provincial court.
NOVEMBER
The province dissolved the board of governors of the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity following a lack of unity between provincially and non-provincially appointed members. Division began during the search for a new CEO in late 2022, when former CEO Janice Price filed a workplace harassment complaint against the board chair Adam Waterous.
In an unprecedented move, Parks Canada on Oct. 26 shuts down all lakes, rivers and shorelines in Yoho and Kootenay national park to human access after whirling disease was more widespread than the initial detection in Emerald Lake on Sept. 20. The deadly fish disease has now been detected in the Kicking Horse River, Wapta Lake, Finn Creek, Monarch Creek and the confluence of Emerald and Kicking Horse rivers.
The update and review of Banff’s Community Plan is behind schedule and has been pushed back to allow more time for community consultation.
Shell Canada wants to redevelop its aging gas station to include a much larger space for convenience retail and eating and drinking options by getting rid of the auto repair garage – one of four in town.
DECEMBER
Banff’s draft budget proposes a 10.4 per cent municipal tax increase 2024.
Banff’s elected officials passed first reading of a redevelopment plan for the dilapidated railway lands that calls for a multi-modal transportation hub and visitor arrival centre. Part of the overarching vision is the return of passenger rail from Calgary and an aerial gondola to Mount Norquay.
A third-party review of a prescribed fire that got out of control near the Banff townsite in May, putting residents and visitors on high alert, found the response was initially chaotic, there were mechanical failures with some equipment, confusion over chain of command and rules, and lack of information from Parks Canada to the public.
