The Town of Canmore acknowledges the importance of establishing proper, precise, and consistent procedures when flying flags in accordance with Canadian Heritage's Guidelines on Flag Etiquette in Canada and Rules for Flying the Flag. The act of half-masting (lowering the flag) is a strong visible statement that speaks to the sense of loss shared by all citizens, expressing a collective sign of mourning.
The Town of Canmore shall lower flags to half-mast at facilities from sunrise to sunset on the following special days established by the Governments of Canada and Alberta:
When facing a building the order in which flags are to be positioned is as follows (left to right):
- Town of Canmore Flag
- Canadian Flag
- Provincial Flag
- Treaty 7 Flag
When the Town of Canmore receives a request to raise a flag to commemorate a special event or occasion the following shall apply:
- The request must be a provincial, federal, or UN (international) recognized event or occasion.
- Requests are considered on a first come, first serve basis and are subject to available resources (i.e., staff to change out flags and the availability of a flagpole).
- Requesters must provide the flag to be flown.
- The Town of Canmore flag shall be removed to accommodate a special event/occasion flag. All other flags shall remain in place (Canada, AB, Treaty 7).
- Flag raising for special events/occasions shall occur at the Civic Centre only.
For the two federally recognized statutory holidays listed in the table above, half-masting will occur at all Town of Canmore sites with flagpoles. Discretion is to be used at other Town of Canmore sites (dependent on resource availability). For all other notifications for half-masting from the federal or provincial governments, or unique requests approved by the CAO, flags are to be lowered at the Civic Centre only.
The Town of Canmore will lower flags to half-mast on all Town of Canmore property and facilities from sunrise to sunset on special days prescribed by the Governments of Alberta and Canada and the Mayor may direct for flags to be half-masted at any or all Town of Canmore properties and facilities, for such time and under such circumstances as the Mayor directs. No other flags can be flown higher than the Canadian or Provincial flags, so if the Canadian flag is lowered to half-mast, all others must be at half-mast as well. The Canadian flag must always be flown at full-mast on Victoria Day in May and Canada Day on July 1, unless the flag is at half-mast for the death of a British monarch, the Canadian Prime Minister, or the Governor General.
As per the Government of Alberta Flag Etiquette, flags shall be flown at half-mast at all Town of Canmore sites from the notice of death to sunset on the day of the funeral on the death of
- the Sovereign,
- immediate members of the Royal Family,
- current and former Governors General,
- current and former Prime Ministers,
- current and former Lieutenant Governors of Alberta, and
- current and former Premiers of Alberta.
The Town of Canmore flag at the Civic Centre may be flown at half-mast from the notice of death to sunset on the day of the funeral on the death of
- current and former mayor for the Town of Canmore,
- current and former member of council for the Town of Canmore,
- an employee at the Town of Canmore, who died in the line of duty or while employed with the organization,
- a local serving RCMP office or ambulance service personnel, who died in the line of duty, and
- a member of the Canadian Armed Forces, born in or current resident of the Town of Canmore, who died in the line of duty.