The Town of Canmore is moving forward with its Livability Tax Program this year, a new initiative designed to tackle the community’s severe housing shortage and support local workers. While the program faced legal challenges, it was recently upheld by the Alberta Court of Appeal in March, and the town is now adjusting the initiative to comply with new provincial requirements.
On April 2, 2026, Alberta Minister of Municipal Affairs Dan Williams introduced Bill 28, which mandates that any municipal tax on non-primary residences must exempt property owners who are residents of Alberta. Following this announcement, Mayor Sean Krausert confirmed that Canmore will proceed with its tax, after making the necessary bylaw amendments to follow these provincial rules.
The program applies a higher property tax rate to homes that are not used as a primary residence, with every dollar of the extra revenue dedicated to building new affordable housing. This initiative aims to address a critical local issue where approximately 25 percent of homes in Canmore sit vacant while the rental vacancy rate sits at just 0.9 percent. With median single-family home prices exceeding $1.4 million, finding a place to live has become increasingly difficult for essential workers, creating significant staffing challenges for local businesses.
Brande White of Grizzly Paw Brewing Company noted that the lack of affordable housing makes it difficult to hire staff, even with hundreds of interviews conducted, as potential employees cannot find or afford a place to stay. The Downtown Canmore Business Improvement Area has identified the need for more worker housing as the top priority for local business owners. While the town previously identified a need for thousands of additional homes in the coming decades, the new provincial exemption for Alberta-based owners is expected to cut the program’s revenue projections by at least half.
Mayor Krausert acknowledged that this reduction in funding will impact the timelines for some future affordable housing projects, such as the Moustache Lands development. However, current projects already fully funded, such as the Canmore Community Housing development at 100 Palliser Lane which will add 140 new units, will proceed as planned.
