JANUARY
In his annual address to the community, Canmore Mayor John Borrowman indicated 2018 would be a year focused on infrastructure and rebuilding community. Fresh from being re-elected in October, the mayor said the community was fractured over several contentious issues and focus on shared values would be necessary to help repair the rifts. The mayor also noted 2018 would include several big-ticket items for residents to grapple with, including a proposed bid for the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. The debate over the bid would consume the community for the entire year.
The Sacred Heart Catholic Church celebrated its final service in its downtown location in January, before temporarily relocating to Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Academy. The congregation is in limbo while a brand new church is built along Palliser Trail, expected to be complete in 2019.
FEBRUARY
Canmore continued to enforce regulations restricting homeowners from renting residential units out as commercial overnight accommodation for tourists. The efforts saw several homeowners appeal the fines and cease use orders, however none were ultimately successful in their efforts to have their $2,500 fine overturned.
A study on introducing broadband high-speed Internet service to Canmore found it would take a $14.3 million investment to make it happen. Despite the high cost, broadband remained a key economic development strategy for council throughout the year and headed into 2019.
Final figures for 2017 showed significant development in the community with $116 million in building permits issued, the most since 2007. The municipality also had a $2.7 million surplus in its end of year financials.
Headed into the 2018 Winter Olympics, Canmore based athletes represented the largest contingent on a per capita basis from any town, or city in Canada. A statistical analysis by the Outlook showed 20 athletes that live locally headed to South Korea making the valley a key location for winter sport.
Main Street was shut down for several days to host Rogers Hometown Hockey live broadcast from the mountain town. While minor hockey benefited from $15,000 raised, some local business owners objected to street closures on the Main Street for special events.
While Canmore council had been planning on work to deal with mechanical and structural issues at the Rec Centre for five years already, finalizing the design and last minute requests by user groups to be included in the process saw it grind to a halt early in the year. By the end of February council heard the project was already $4 million over the original $9.5 million budget.
As the provincial and federal governments released details around how recreational cannabis legalization will play out across the country, it became clear to Canmore council in February it would have to consider how to regulate the new retail use and consider whether to allow consumption in the community.
MARCH
The Bow River Seniors Lodge celebrated the official opening of 63 new units of housing with the completion of phase one of the This is Home project by Bow Valley Regional Housing.
Debate over the possibility of a 2026 Winter Games heats up in Canmore over the spring, with many wondering how a decision would be made. While Mayor John Borrowman, Chief Administrative Officer Lisa de Soto and several other members of administration travelled to South Korea for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic events, the municipality began public engagement to identify the values and issues council should be focused on as it moves toward a decision.
Canmore adopted new safety standards for Quarry Lake after two people drowned in the popular swimming hole over the prior two years. Work done in conjunction with the Alberta Life Saving Society identified locations for life-saving equipment and new signage.
APRIL
Canmore council voted in favour of joining the Bid Corporation for the 2026 Games along with the City of Calgary, provincial and federal governments. Coun. Joanna McCallum voted against the motion, expressing concerns with how an Olympic Games would affect the community and preference for community engagement to be completed before joining the BidCo.
The Town of Canmore planned a traffic calming pilot project along Benchlands Trail for the summer months, installing aspects of the design in the spring. The results were not favourable and municipal engineers eventually abandoned the methods attempted to manage traffic along the roadway.
Banff’s Caribou Properties announced it had purchased the Rocky Mountain Ski Lodge in Canmore, launching the company officially into the neighbouring community’s hotel market.
The Canmore Hospital Ladies Auxillary celebrated 40 years in the community and donating almost $1 million worth of equipment to the local hospital in that time.
The redevelopment of Seventh Avenue and Seventh Street in Canmore took a step forward with the approval of a development permit for 38-unit property, including four units for Canmore Community Housing Corporation’s perpetually affordable housing program.
The Canmore Community Daycare was announced as part of the province’s $25 a day daycare program at the end of April, a move that officials described as “life-changing” for affordability of families in the community
MAY
Controversy over a pair of signs leading into Spring Creek Mountain Village in downtown Canmore officially kicked off in May. The developer partnered with the municipality over the prior year to reconstruct the roadway leading into the subdivision, including wayfinding signage. However, lack of communication left the planning department wondering why a development permit for the signs was not submitted. The issue ended up in front of the local appeal board and was dismissed after an earlier policy regarding monument signage was found.
Tourism Canmore Kananaskis welcomed a brand new executive director with the announcement that former Calgary MLA and PC cabinet member Dave Rodney would take on the roll. Throughout the year, Rodney moved the organization toward a comprehensive revision of its strategy and engagement with the community on its future direction.
After 10 years of photo radar, Canmore council voted to continue to use it in the community as a means to make the roads safer for all users.
Canmore’s elected officials made it abundantly clear that if there was interest in hosting the 2026 Olympic and Paralympics in the community, it would need to have its attempts to lobby for resort municipality status heard and considered by provincial officials. Modelled after a similar program in B.C., the status would provide resort communities like Canmore and Banff additional revenue tools to address the added infrastructure and services required to host millions of visitors each year and generate billions in spending each year.
The finalized plans for the Rec Centre were approved by council at a budget of $12.9 million, an increase of $2.8 million over the previous budget after tenders came in higher than anticipated. User groups were frustrated with the process and the lack of work included in the project to address their needs in the facility.
A proposal came forward by a downtown property owner offering a piece of land for sale to council along Policeman’s Creek if they turned it into park. Council later voted to pass on the offer, as the $1.2 million pricetag was too high for elected officials.
JUNE
In setting new Land Use Bylaw regulations for cannabis retails stores, council chose to limit operating hours to 10 p.m. as a result of input from a public hearing on the issue. Otherwise, council left the limits in place by the province for setbacks unchanged.
Council voted in favour of making Roam local transit in Canmore fare-free for the summer as part of a strategy to address growing traffic and congestion in the downtown core. The effort was so successful, council later voted to create a permanent fare-free program in 2019 combined with strategically located paid parking.
Canmore’s public art committee announced that local artist Tony Bloom was chosen to deliver the next piece of public art for the community – titled Orogens: The Canmore Formation, the sculpture is set for installation on Fairholme Drive.
An update to Canmore’s integrated transportation plan set out that 30 km/h limits on residential streets would be considered in the future. A new parking strategy identified four hour limits and paid parking as strategies to address congestion in the downtown.
Headed into the Canada Day long weekend, Alberta Environment and Parks announced it had rejected a proposed wildlife corridor alignment by Three Sisters Mountain Village. The decision was welcomed by conservation groups, who argued the corridor was too narrow, and the province agreed. TSMV did not appeal the decision and by the end of the year had not yet submitted a revised application to address the concerns identified.
Five years after the valley saw mountain creeks flood in 2013 and there was still no decision by the province on proposed long-term mitigation for Cougar Creek. The good news, however, was that by the end of November officials with the Natural Resources Conservation Board deemed the $48 million debris retention structure to be in the best interest of public safety.
AUGUST
Minister of Environment and Parks Shannon Phillips announced changes to regulations that would result in the prohibition of bow hunting on Larch Island. The changes came as a result of public concerns over safety with hunting allowed so close to a residential area.
Residents of the Bow Valley struggled again with wildfire smoke affecting air quality, with the nearby Mount Wardle wildfire having been started by lightning on July 31.
The Calgary 2026 BidCo named Mary Moran as CEO of the effort to put together a draft hosting plan for consideration before a plebiscite planned for Nov. 13 by the provincial government. Palliser Trail lands were also identified as the likely location of a potential athletes village.
By the end of 2018, Canmore ended up ranked the most expensive place to live in Alberta, to no surprise for those struggling to make ends meet. The issue became a hot topic of conversation in the community as more people ended up living in vans or campers behind the Save-On Foods. The municipality set out to understand the issue better through the Homelessness to Housing Coalition, a portable toilet was set up in the parking lot and parking restrictions loosened to support those living rough in the summer.
A black bear seeking food and garbage in the Peaks of Grassi neighbourhood was trapped and relocated outside the community. It was yet another reminder the community has issues with wildlife human conflict that need to be comprehensively addressed.
Picklers rejoiced after a truck full of peppers overturned on the Trans-Canada Highway, making the produce unfit for sale. Food rescuers gathered together and redistributed the contents of the truck.
SEPTEMBER
The BidCo released its draft hosting concept plan for the Olympics – setting the estimated budget for the event at $2.4 billion and the public investment required at $3 billion.
Canmore Community Housing Corporation used $4.2 million from the perpetually affordable housing reserve to purchase 17 units from the financially challenged Mountain Haven Cooperative Housing project and set up a reserve fund for it. The entire project was also converted to CCHC’s PAH model as a result of the agreement, in an effort to avoid foreclosure.
OCTOBER
An unusually large snowfall at the beginning of October left hundreds of motorists stuck on the TCH near Canmore. Up to 60 centimetres of snow kept emergency services busy trying to clear traffic that kept getting jammed due to icy conditions. Around 300 people ended up in emergency accommodation overnight.
Canmore residents wishing to have their voices heard on the prospect of an Olympic Games being hosted in the community got the opportunity with a public hearing, but not before the entire process was almost derailed due to failure on the part of the City of Calgary to reach funding agreements with the province and federal governments. Funding agreements reached at the last minute prevented Calgary council from abandoning the plebiscite in November.
Recreational cannabis became legal on Oct. 17, but it took until December for a store to open in the community. On the eve of legalization, Canmore council decided to prohibit public consumption of cannabis.
NOVEMBER
Canmore council voted 6-1 in favour of supporting the Olympic bid, with Coun. Joanna McCallum the sole voice of dissent in the process. The vote, however, did not matter after Calgary residents voted against the bid in a plebiscite, effectively killing it. The defeat also dashed any hopes Canmore had to get the province to consider resort municipality status.
Canmore council heard first reading of a brand new Land Use Bylaw that would legalize suites in all single family and duplex neighbourhoods. A public hearing was set for February.
DECEMBER
Canmore council approved a climate action plan that would by 2050 see the community slash greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent below 2015 levels and included 60 actions the municipality may consider.
