Firehouse Subs Opens First Canmore Location

When Parv Shah was working in Jasper in the summer of 2022, wildfire reached the edge of the community, two years before the devastating 2024 wildfire that destroyed roughly a third of the townsite. 

Over the summer, he watched firefighters work long shifts in difficult conditions, including crews who had travelled from outside Canada to help.

It's an experience that has stayed with him.

"Most of us work hard, but first responders put themselves in harm's way for people they may never even know," Shah said.

Four years later, that respect for first responders is part of what drew Shah to Firehouse Subs, the firefighter-founded restaurant chain whose newest Alberta location opened Tuesday at 320 Cascade Drive in Canmore's Three Sisters area.

A Return to the Bow Valley

For Shah, the opening also marks a return to a community he has been connected to for more than a decade.

He first arrived in Banff 14 years ago for what was supposed to be a four-month internship at the Fairmont Banff Springs. He ended up staying in the region and building a career in hospitality.

Since then, Shah has worked at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge and managed hotel operations with Pursuit in Jasper. He also spent time working in Bermuda, but continued returning to the Bow Valley.

In total, he has spent about 15 years working in hotels, restaurants and food-and-beverage operations.

"The Bow Valley has always felt like home to me, and it holds a very special place in my heart," Shah said.

More recently, Shah was living in the Crowsnest Pass. Opening the Canmore restaurant gives him the opportunity to move back to the Bow Valley with his family.

The First Responder Connection

Firehouse Subs was founded in Florida in 1994 by brothers and former firefighters Chris and Robin Sorensen.

The company's connection to first responders extends beyond its branding. Through the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation of Canada, more than $6.3 million has been awarded through 438 grants since 2015.

Those grants have helped public safety organizations purchase equipment including automated external defibrillators, thermal imaging cameras, protective gear and rescue tools.

For Shah, the connection between the restaurant and first responders resonated with what he witnessed while working in Jasper.

It also offered a way to combine that cause with the hospitality career he had already spent years building.

Bringing Hospitality to Quick Service

Shah said his years in hospitality taught him that customers often remember how they were treated as much as what they ate.

That's an approach he wants to bring to the Canmore restaurant, even within a quick-service setting.

His goal is to build a team that gets to know regular customers and provides a level of service that doesn't feel rushed simply because the food is served quickly.

For people trying Firehouse Subs for the first time, Shah recommends the Hook & Ladder, made with smoked turkey breast and Virginia honey ham; the New York Steamer; or the Brisket Hattrick for those looking for something heavier.

Back Home in the Mountains

Outside of work, Shah is a hiker, mountain biker and, more recently, a road cyclist. After 14 years connected to the region, he said the mountain landscape hasn't lost its appeal.

That connection also played a role in choosing Canmore for the restaurant.

"Canmore is a smaller community where people really care about each other," Shah said. "There's a sense of respect, hard work and connection."

Shah said he also thinks about the business through the eyes of his four-year-old daughter, Eva, and hopes that as she gets older, she understands why the family's choice of business mattered.

For him, opening Firehouse Subs isn't simply about selling sandwiches. It's an opportunity to return to the Bow Valley, draw on 15 years of hospitality experience and operate a business connected to a cause that has mattered to him since those days watching firefighters work in Jasper.