We are making our community safer for people and wildlife by increasing fines for wildlife-related offences
Our Big Stories
We are making Canmore a better place to call home.
Our mountain town moves fast. We are keeping you in the loop with the Big Stories unfolding in our community with a new storytelling approach to help you connect the dots.
Every year, we will feature six major themes that reflect our key projects, so you can understand the ‘why’ behind the work you see around town. Each theme has a unique icon that you can watch for as we roll-out initiatives that relate to each one.
Explore our 2024/5 stories below and follow our Big Stories blog at the bottom of this page to stay informed about the major work to increase the quality of life in Canmore in alignment with your Council's priorities.
We are making our community safer for people and wildlife.
Living and playing in the Bow Valley means we need to take extra care to live alongside wildlife. We are doing our part as a municipality by taking leadership to help people and wildlife thrive.
We are developing an Area Redevelopment Plan (ARP) for the Town Centre through a planning process called Connect Downtown. Connect Downtown will provide a long-term plan for downtown, guiding the continued evolution and change of the area to the year 2050.
Some of our major work in 2024 and 2025 includes:
Conductingpublic engagement on our proposed strategies to shape the future of downtown in summer 2024.
Developing a draft plan for your input in early 2025.
Presenting the final plan for Council approval in spring 2025.
Filter our blog at the bottom of this page using the "Connect Downtown" category for updates about this story.
We are making it easier to get around Canmore over the long-term.
We are focused on moving people safely and efficiently in our community by taking action to apply the bold vision of our Integrated Transportation Plan. We are also making the shift to more sustainable transportation options more accessible.
We want everyone to feel seen and reflected in the programs and services that we offer. By adapting to community needs and trends, we are working hard to make sure that everyone feels like they are at home in Canmore.
Some of our major work in 2024 and 2025 includes:
Moving all of our registered programming to liveandplay.canmore.ca so that you can find all of our programs, no matter the focus and content, in one place
Providing our community with sensory-friendly drop-in opportunities through recreation and community programming
We are making our community safer for people and wildlife by increasing fines for wildlife-related offences
Date posted:
Always keep your dog on leash for your safety and theirs.
Next time you are banking on avoiding getting caught with your pup on the loose, ask yourself if you are you willing to pay up to $1,000 to walk your dog off-leash.
In Canmore, we have increased the fines associated with off-leash dogs, dogs harassing wildlife, and wildlife attractants. Each of these elements are outlined in our Animal Control and Community Standards Bylaws which are designed to increase public safety and reduce negative human-wildlife interactions.
The new fine amounts:
Leaving wildlife attractants (including fruit)in an outdoor location where it mayattract bears or other wildlife, can result in steep fines of $1,000 for the first offence, $5,000 for the second, and $10,000 for the third.
In Canmore the fines for off-leash dogs are $250 for the first offence, $500 for the second, and $1,000 for third and subsequent offences.
The fines are even stiffer for dogs harassing wildlife: $750 for the first offence, $1,500 for the second offence, and $2,500 for third and subsequent offences.
