Bylaws Pending Approval

Bylaws Pending Approval

What is happening?

Council gave first reading to Town Centre Area Redevelopment Plan (ARP) Bylaw 2025-05 and Revised Land Use Bylaw Amendment 2025-13 - Changes to Variance Powers.

The ARP is a visionary 25-year plan that charts a pathway to a vibrant downtown. While it guides growth and change, it does so in a way that ensures we continue to recognize the heart of our downtown by aligning with our community values, reflecting and respecting our culture and environment, and honouring our storied past.

Highlights of the ARP

Big Idea

Highlights of the Plan

Embrace Nature and Mountain Views
  • Limits building heights to three storeys along key corridors and public spaces
  • Introduces design guidelines to further preserve and frame mountain views
  • Incorporates functional natural elements and materials into public spaces

Make Main Street a Great Street
  • Proposes a year-round, fully pedestrianized Main Street
  • Identifies land uses and provides design guidelines to support a vibrant commercial area

From the Creek to the Bow
  • Connects the core of downtown to the Bow River with a new multi-use pathway and by permitting commercial uses on west of 8 Avenue on 8 Street
  • Proposes updates to wayfinding and signage to improve connectivity to these areas

Make Downtown Year-Round
  • Prioritizes new housing for permanent residents through controls on visitor accommodation and use of Town land for affordable housing
  • Provides design guidelines and proposes improvements that will support winter use and year-round vibrancy
  • Proposes new plazas and open spaces capable of supporting year-round events
  • Directs the use of Town land in the Civic Corridor for community-oriented uses that can provide a year-round destination and benefit residents

Repurpose Underused Spaces
  • Proposes an intercept parking facility
  • Enables residential uses on the unused public utility lot next to Veterans’ Park
  • Identifies an expansion to Riverside Park to address growing community needs

More Accessible and Adaptable Spaces
  • Provides guidance on the design of public spaces and trail network with a focus on accessibility and four-season use
  • Encourages accessible, ground floor units with direct access to the street
  • Supports more accessible units by incentivizing apartment buildings

Housing for a More Diverse Population
  • Allows new housing opportunities in residential areas
  • Supports the creation of affordable housing on Town land and through density bonusing
  • Proposes additional controls to ensure more appropriate or attainable housing (e.g., increased minimum unit densities)
  • Proposes changes to parking regulations to support redevelopment (e.g., changes to cash-in-lieu of parking)

Create a Neighbourhood Heart
  • Proposes a new central plaza in the heart of downtown
  • Creates a more integrated commercial area through consistent, high-quality streetscape improvements
  • Supports redevelopment of Town land in the Civic Corridor for community-oriented uses

A Distinct Character
  • Encourages contemporary alpine architecture and provides a material palette unique to downtown
  • Identifies strategic opportunities for public art and provides guidance on intent
  • Creates focal points at key entrances downtown to create a sense of welcome
  • Retains key historical assets and supports their enhancement or integration
  • Supports an expanded presence of Indigenous culture through placenaming

A Low-impact Community
  • Commits Town and Canmore Community Housing developments to strive for near net zero emissions
  • Proposes incentivizing private development to achieve higher levels of energy efficiency
  • Prioritizes the use of Low Impact Development (i.e., green infrastructure)
  • Directs development to implement FireSmart best practices

Read the Bylaws

Public Hearing

A public hearing was held on May 6, 2025. Council scheduled Second and Third readings at a special meeting of council on May 27, 2025.

What is happening?

Council gave first reading to three bylaw amendments:

  1. Municipal Development Plan Bylaw Amendment 2024-39
  2. Silvertip Area Structure Plan Bylaw Amendment 2024-40
  3. Revised Land Use Bylaw Amendment 2024-20

The proposed amendment is intended to change the land use district of a parcel at 300 Mountain Tranquility Gate (the southeast corner of Silvertip Road and Mountain Tranquility Gate) to accommodate a property boundary adjustment and amend provisions within the STR-2 Silvertip Comprehensive Residential District.

The proposed amendment will also consolidate the land use designation on the parcel from Silvertip Golf Course DC District [20(Z)93DC & 14(Z)95DC] to STR-2 Silvertip Comprehensive Residential District.

It also amends section 3.17.3.5 of the STR-2 land use district to increase the building height for Apartment Buildings, Townhouses, and Stacked Townhouses from 12.0 m (39.3 ft.) with an eaveline height maximum of 9.5 m  (31.2 ft.) to 22.32 m (73.2 ft.) with a minimum 5:12 roof slope replacing the eaveline height regulation.

The proposed development includes map amendments to the Municipal Development Plan and Silvertip Area Structure Plan to align with the change in land use.

Read the Bylaws

Public Hearing

A public hearing was held on May 6, 2025. Council scheduled Second and Third readings at a special meeting of council on May 27, 2025.

What is Happening

The proposed amendment to the Revised Land Use Bylaw supports the Town's strategic objectives around housing affordability and economic vitality by creating a new Direct Control District for Site 7 (commonly known as the Moustache Lands) within the Palliser Trail Area Structure Plan. The proposed amendment will enable a mixed-use development that includes between 250 and 350 residential units, commercial opportunities, and public spaces.

Groundcubed, on behalf of the Town of Canmore, has applied to redesignate 1651 Palliser Trail to accommodate a mixed-use non-market housing and locally serving commercial development. The resulting Bylaw 2025-06 proposes an amendment to the Land Use Bylaw to redesignate 1651 Palliser Trail from Future Development (FD) to a Direct Control (DC) land use district. 

The proposed DC District includes provisions to support the development of: 

  • Up to six buildings up to six storeys in height
  • 100% non-market, affordable residential units
  • Bike parking infrastructure with linkages to adjacent cycling trail infrastructure
  • Removal of minimum automobile parking requirements for the development
  • Landscaped buffer to the highway
  • Social gathering and open space
  • Playground
  • Creation of a public plaza with a mix of commercial amenities 


Public Hearing

A public hearing hearing has been scheduled for June 3, 2025 at 9:00 a.m.

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