2022 Projects

New Fire Hall
Council has approved a new 8-bay fire hall to replace the old fire hall built in the late 1970’s. It will be located along Palliser Trail, at the site just below the cemetery. Design work for the fire hall is nearing completion, with a goal of the building being as close to net zero carbon as possible. Construction of the fire hall is scheduled to take place in 2022-23. 

Cougar Creek
A 34m high embankment dam on Cougar Creek, upstream from the community in under construction. In a flood event, the structure will reduce the flow of water and removes the larger debris from reaching the downstream area of the creek.

Palliser Area Structure Plan
With the continued growth pressure and the limited land supply within the Town of Canmore, large scale development plans need to be strategic and deliberate. Land within the Palliser area provides opportunities for future development that could contribute to alleviating the need for affordable housing as well as commercial and light industrial lands. An Area Structure Plan for the Palliser area will provide the direction needed to inform potential land use changes and the overall approach towards managing these environmentally important lands. This project would establish a revised vision for the lands within the Palliser Area that would replace the one that was developed in 2000 and reflects currents needs. 

Downtown Area Redevelopment Plan
Growth of the overall community and increases in visitation have reinforced Canmore’s Town Centre as a vibrant destination and the heart of the community.  A Downtown Area Redevelopment Plan will establish a revised vision and provide the direction necessary to inform land use changes, municipal investments, and upgrades to the area and opportunities for further enhancements by the local business community. This would include an investigation of seasonal or permanent pedestrianization of a portion of Main Street; identifying the impacts, as well as opportunities this would have on operations, the local business community, and the surrounding residential neighbourhoods. 

Strategic Plan for 2023-2026
The newly elected Council will start working on their new strategic plan for 2023-2026. A multi-year strategic plan enables longer term planning, higher level thinking, and prioritization of issues and projects. The strategic plan will encompass the three remaining years of this Council’s term, plus one year after the 2025 municipal election.  It will be a collaborative process and will incorporate what we heard from the public during the recent election, this year’s citizen perspectives survey, as well as input from administration, and informed by our many master plans. Strategic planning is part of our integrated planning cycle to provide a link to the annual business plan and budget.

Main Street Pedestrian Zone 
Council has approved another temporary implementation of a pedestrian-only Main Street in the summer will see enhancements to the space until the Downtown Area Redevelopment Plan is completed. After implementing this initiative for the past two summers, the focus of the Main Street in the summer of 2022 will shift from providing more space to safely distance to adding more vibrancy elements such as lighting, flowers, artwork, and pageantry. 

West Bow River Pathway Improvements
The first phase of the Bow River West Pathway project will upgrade the current gravel pathway to match the hard surface between the Bow River Bridge and the existing asphalt pathway in Three Sisters. The upgrades will improve slopes and add separate walk and cycle areas - depending on the area – and allow for winter maintenance. Some areas of the pathway will be realigned and will include the replacement of two existing wood pedestrian bridges at Prospect Heights with steel structures. While starting in 2022, it won’t be ready for winter maintenance along the new section until 2023. We are creating a year-round pathway connection for walking and cycling to established communities in Canmore west of the Bow River that will make it easier for a greater proportion of residents and visitors to take a proportion of travel trips by foot and bicycle in support of our Municipal Development Plan, Integrated Transportation Plan, and Integrated Parking Management Plan goals.

Lions Park Playground and Tennis Court Expansion
Grant funding for the tennis court expansion at Lions Park was recently confirmed, and the playground, which was built in 1998 and needs replacing, will be relocated to the north side of Lions Park as part of a coordinated project. The new playground will be enhanced, including a rubberized surface, making the site more accessible for users. The tennis courts will be rebuilt to include four tournament regulation sized tennis courts. The project includes grant funding of $125,000 and it is anticipated that the revenue from the Canmore Tennis Association reservation and membership fee system will offset the full Town contribution within 25-30 years.

Commercial Food Waste Collection

On the heels of a successful residential program, another priority is to reduce our community impact on climate change by implementing a commercial organics diversion program. The commercial organics program launched in December 2020, and there are currently 20 business participating. Recruiting new businesses to the program has been a challenge due to the pandemic and staffing shortages that many businesses faced this summer.  

Residential Food Waste Collection
We are installing more residential food waste containers in neighborhoods to make it even more convenient. There are nine new locations proposed including Rundle Crescent, Fairholme Drive, south Canmore, Kananaskis Way, Canyon Close, Silvertip Road, Palliser Lane, and Stewart Creek. 

Paid Parking & Fare Free Transit
It is clear that we need to better manage our existing parking resources and address traffic congestion. Parking is not free. Residents, businesses, and visitors pay indirectly through higher taxes, higher rents, and increased costs of goods and services.

Strategies focus less on increasing the supply of parking space and in favour of using existing facilities and infrastructure more efficiently.

Rail Service Impact Study
A potential passenger rail service between Banff and Calgary is stated to be potentially up and running as early as 2025. As Canmore has no say as to whether or not this passenger rail initiative proceeds through the Town, our decision is about if and where it would stop in Canmore.  An impact study will be completed to look at tthe impact on our transportation systems by additional trains and passengers arriving by rail - whether that be congestion, public transit, or connectivity.  

Regenerative Tourism Framework
Administration is working with Tourism Canmore Kananaskis to create a Tourism Roundtable to initiate and monitor progress on the Regenerative Tourism Framework and facilitate broad-based community dialogue in 2022. 

Management of wildlife attractants has been operationalized within Town of Canmore service delivery.

The   pdf Wildlife Attractant Management Plan (574 KB) guides the tactics aimed to reduce negative human-wildlife interactions in the community. As well, we are implementing actions from the pdf Human-Wildlife Coexistence Technical Report (1.72 MB) , including removing fruit trees and reducing rabbit breeding areas at Elevation Place.

External Projects

If you’re looking for information on other development projects happening around Canmore, visit our webpage Current Planning Applications.  

Summary of 2022 Capital Projects

The full budget and complete list of projects can be viewed in the  pdf 2022 2026 Budget and Business Plan (10.23 MB) .

Visit RFP and Tender Opportunities to bid on current projects.