Banff Municipal Workers Can No Longer Buy Homes In Canmore Through Town Incentive Program

Banff municipal employees will no longer be able to use a Town-funded housing incentive program to purchase homes in Canmore after Canmore withdrew support for the arrangement, citing its own workers' inability to access housing in Banff due to federal residency restrictions within the national park.

The decision highlights growing housing pressure across the Bow Valley, where both communities continue facing tight housing supply, soaring home prices, and increasing difficulty keeping workers in the region.

“Times have changed since the approval by a previous Town of Canmore Council almost a decade ago,” said Canmore Mayor Sean Krausert. “The housing crisis in Canmore has worsened due to prices escalating and homes being increasingly out of reach of workers in the community.”

Krausert said it had become increasingly difficult for Canmore to support another municipality helping employees purchase homes in Canmore while Canmore workers generally cannot access housing in Banff because of Parks Canada residency restrictions inside the national park.

Those federal ‘need to reside’ rules limit residency inside Banff National Park to people who work in the park or otherwise meet Parks Canada eligibility rules.

Banff councillors unanimously approved the changes May 12 after Canmore informed the Town in April that future home purchases in Canmore would no longer qualify under the program.

Under Banff’s Housing Incentive Purchase Program (HIPP), the Town matches the down payment of a permanent full-time employee with an interest-free loan of up to $53,000 to help municipal workers buy their first home.

The loan is registered against the property as a second mortgage and does not need to be repaid for 10 years as long as the employee continues working for the Town and lives in the home as their primary residence. The changes now limit the program to homes within Banff town boundaries.

Canmore originally approved the arrangement in 2017. The program allowed employees to buy homes in either Banff or Canmore because many workers unable to secure housing inside the national park looked to Canmore instead.

At the time of the policy review, seven Town of Banff employees owned homes in Canmore through HIPP. Existing loans will remain in place and gradually phase out over time, with the final Canmore-based loans potentially remaining active until 2036.

Administration suggested the issue may have drawn greater attention after several additional home purchases in Canmore were made under the program.

“We did receive, I think, since that time, maybe four more in Canmore,” said Lauren Aebig, Banff’s director of corporate services. “That may have brought this higher to their attention because we notify them every time one of these transactions occurs.”

Mayor Corrie DiManno said she understood Canmore’s decision.

“We’ve been able to keep seven people and their families here in the Bow Valley since 2017, and that’s really substantial,” DiManno said. “I feel obliged to revert back to having it only include Banff and that’s in the spirit of being good neighbours with Canmore.”

The decision comes as both Banff and Canmore continue facing tight housing supply and rapidly rising home prices.

Provincial data shows residential vacancy rates in both communities have remained near or below one percent since 2022. Meanwhile, a March 2026 Sotheby’s real estate market update said detached homes in Canmore are selling for median prices of roughly $1.84 million.

Those rising costs are making it harder for the municipalities across the Bow Valley to keep workers in the region.

Banff’s HIPP policy says the program was created because of “the challenges of purchasing a home in which to reside and the need to encourage its employees to own a home in the region.” Despite the changes, Banff officials said the Town still hopes more employees will eventually be able to live inside Banff as more housing becomes available.

“Obviously, those families that ended up moving to Canmore, we would always love to have here,” Aebig said. “It would be fantastic if this went on for another year till we could have a little more stock in our portfolio.”