Canmore Seeks to Double MD Bighorn’s Recreation Fees, but Council Calls the Costs “Too High”

MD Bighorn council has signaled it will not accept a proposal from the Town of Canmore that would have nearly doubled the municipality’s annual contribution for access to Elevation Place and the Canmore Recreation Centre in 2026. Instead, council discussed and voted on a one year extension of the current Recreation Services Agreement while longer term negotiations continue.

According to the report before the council, Canmore’s draft 2026 to 2030 agreement proposed recreation fees starting at $219,338 in 2026, an increase of $109,067 over what MD Bighorn contributed in 2025.

Administration advised that the MD was “not supportive” of the proposed fee schedule and that there was not enough time to negotiate a new long term agreement before the current deal expires on December 31, 2025.

Under the one year extension, the MD’s 2026 contribution would rise to $117,990, which administration described as “approximately 7%” above the 2025 servicing fees and consistent with increases built into the current agreement.

What MD Bighorn has been paying so far

The agenda report outlined the MD’s annual contributions since 2020.

By comparison, Canmore’s five-year proposal would have more than doubled the MD’s payment in the first year of the new term.

How the 4 percent formula and 7 percent increases work

Town of Canmore’s Chief Administrative Officer Sally Caudill reviewed how the current cost sharing model was created. She said the agreement is rooted in usage data collected after Elevation Place opened, which showed that MD Bighorn residents made up roughly 4% of users. That figure later became the basis for the MD’s share of operating costs.

The 2025 budget shows that Elevation Place and the Canmore Recreation Centre together have a combined operating deficit of about $ 2.98 million. Caudill explained that under the current agreement, MD Bighorn is responsible for roughly 4% of those costs, since that is the proportion of MD residents who use the facilities.

Councillors asked why the MD’s payments increase by 7% each year, given that the usage share remains at 4%. Caudill said the two numbers serve different purposes. The 4% reflects the MD’s actual proportion of facility users, while the 7% is the built-in yearly escalation used to gradually raise the MD’s payment over the five-year term of the current agreement.

Caudill added that the 7% increase was intentionally designed to move the MD’s annual contribution from the $80,000 range to the $200,000 range over several years, aligning with what Canmore had sought based on its 2020 operating costs.

Concerns about rising costs and complexity

One councillor, Rick Tuza, said during the meeting that “our contributions are too high” and warned that a 7% annual increase “doubles every seven years,” which he described as a “perpetual increase” even if MD Bighorn’s population stops growing. He added that population growth will eventually “cap out” unless new areas are opened for development and said that “some sections in this agreement… need to be reviewed.”

Tuza told council that extending the agreement for one year made sense because “both parties agreed to that,” but he added that the deal “needs to be fully renegotiated through the committee, the amount, and some of the sections need to be adjusted.”

Caudill acknowledged the complexity of the current structure, telling council, “It is complicated which is where we are trying to negotiate something that is more simplified and transparent.” She said she was confident a new agreement could be reached within the year and noted that six intermunicipal meetings with Canmore were scheduled over the next six months to work through outstanding issues.

Extension intended as a bridge to a new deal

Administration framed the extension as a bridge that preserves MD residents’ access to Canmore facilities while both municipalities try to agree on a simpler, more transparent contribution model.

By entering into the one-year extension, the MD would lock in the $117,990 fee for the 2026 operating budget, with discussions on a new multi-year agreement expected to continue through the coming year.