Banff Keeps New Workforce Reporting Requirement Despite Industry Pushback

Banff businesses will be required to report workforce numbers as part of their annual business licence applications after council rejected a bid to delay the new requirement despite opposition from the Banff & Lake Louise Hospitality Association.

Council defeated a proposed amendment to the Business Licence Bylaw that would have removed the new reporting requirement. As a result, businesses will now report the size of their workforce, measured as full-time equivalents (FTEs), when applying for or renewing their licences. The decision follows months of debate over whether business licence renewals should be used to collect workforce data to help inform future housing policy.

Following a delegation from Banff & Lake Louise Hospitality Association executive director Mike Kelly, Coun. Kaylee Ram introduced an amendment that would have removed the new reporting requirement. Kelly urged council to wait until the association completed what he described as the region's first destination-wide labour and workforce housing study.

"We are asking you to pause the FTE count until the new destination labor and workforce housing study that we are undertaking…this year is complete," said Kelly.

He said the study is intended to provide a broader picture of workforce needs across the destination, including labour supply, employee housing demand, commuting patterns, recruitment and retention challenges, turnover and future workforce needs. A draft report is expected by the end of the third quarter of 2026.

The request sparked the meeting's only split vote. The amendment failed 4-3, with Mayor Corrie DiManno, Coun. Kaylee Ram and Coun. Barb Pelham voting in favour of removing the reporting requirement. Couns. David Fullerton, Marc Ledwidge, Brian Standish and Michelle Backhouse voted to keep it.

DiManno said she supports collecting workforce information but questioned whether the town should proceed before reviewing the forthcoming industry study.

"I certainly don't want to be duplicating efforts in the destination," she said. "I think it would be beneficial to see what this labor study looks like from Banff and Lake Louise Hospitality Association."

Coun. David Fullerton said the town was simply seeking another source of information.

"All we're asking for is a data set," he said.

Coun. Michelle Backhouse said the information would help the town better understand local housing needs.

"I think the ultimate goal is to find out who's here, who's living here and who needs a bed, a roof. I want traction on getting to that goal, so I'm keen to find out this information sooner rather than later," she said.

The debate stems from the town's broader effort to rethink how it measures workforce-driven housing demand. 

During an April governance and finance committee meeting, planning director Darren Enns said Banff's housing-demand management tools were largely developed in the early 1990s, when workforce growth was closely tied to new commercial development.

Today, he said, Banff is effectively built out commercially, with workforce growth increasingly driven by longer operating hours, higher visitor demand and business expansion within existing buildings rather than new floor space.

Kelly has said the hospitality association is not opposed to collecting workforce information, but believes it should be gathered through a broader workforce strategy rather than the business licensing process.

"The labour market in Banff is super dynamic and highly fluid," Kelly told councillors during the April committee meeting. "It responds to visitor demand, seasonality, immigration pathways, technology and productivity. It's constantly adjusting."

Town administration has argued more precise workforce data will help the town evaluate housing-demand management policies and update employee housing ratios that may no longer reflect current workforce realities.