Protecting our Futures

05/12/2026

From our friends at Bow Valley Engage. Thursday May 14th is the last day to complete the provincial survey about changing park boundaries to accommodate a gondola starting from the Silvertip development and going much of the way up Mount Lady McDonald.

05/01/2026

A reminder about the Bow Valley Engage event being held on May 5th. Details below!

04/27/2026

Mark your calendars for May 5th - invitation from our friends at Bow Valley Engage.

04/22/2026

Friday April 24th is the last day to add comments to the Open Spaces and Trails Interactive Map. Great to see how many comments there are about the importance of preserving the Rundleview greenspace. If you haven't done so already, you have a couple more days to go onto the map and add your feedback about your favourite trails and open spaces, as well as trails that need improvement.

04/15/2026

Hi everyone - as posted earlier this week, the Town of Canmore is updating the Open Space and Trails Plan. One of the ways you can provide input (in addition to completing the survey) is to go onto the interactive map and comment on different trails and open spaces. If you look at the map, you'll see there are already a number of comments about preserving the Rundleview Greenspace. If you have time, please either add a comment yourself, or "like" the comments that are already there. The Town is looking for input, and this is a great opportunity to let them know that the community values this open space.

We want to know what you value most about Canmore’s parks, open space and trails, as well as any challenges, barriers, or gaps in our parks, open spaces, and trail network.Your responses will be used to shape changes in the updated Open Spaces and Trails Plan to ensure these spaces continue to...

04/13/2026

An unspoken axiom in open space, recreation, and trail planning or management is that “nobody cares or talks about them until they are threatened or closed, then everyone has something to say, often too late.” As a community and as individuals, we can avoid that problem.

The Town of Canmore is updating the Open Spaces and Trail Plan. There are several opportunities for feedback during the process, but we strongly encourage everyone to participate in both the survey and to use the mapping tool. These are foundational for gathering general opinions and site-specific comments on the value of and problems with specific sites and trails. If we don’t provide the plan with good, accurate, and comprehensive data at the outset, it will be reflected in the later parts of the plan. It is really as simple as that, and we’ll have to live with the consequences for up to 10-20 years.

Some tips and coaching. Say what you want, no coaching about that. For both the survey and, especially the mapping tool, use a desktop, and not your phone. The survey is straightforward. Be as comprehensive as you can with the mapping tool. It’s easier if you register and sign in to an account, but anonymous posting is OK. Identify both local places and places outside your neighbourhood. You can also go over it in several sessions. Consider open spaces in general, including dog parks, places like Quarry Lake, neighbourhood parks, but also the informal open spaces along the municipal boundary. Similarly, think of all trails, be it informal trails in your neighbourhood or by your residence, multi-use trails, walking/hiking trails or a developed trail network downtown. Finally, keep in mind that it is a planning document, and it is useful to consider and frame your comments in a 10-20-year context.

The main site for the Open Space and Trail planning process has background documents and information that are helpful but not required reading. The YouTube information session is particularly good. Lets all help ourselves, each other, and the Town of Canmore as whole; the survey and mapping tool can be found at:

Overview We are integrating and updating the Open Spaces Design Guidelines (OSDG) and Open Spaces and Trails Plan (OSTP) into a single, comprehensive planning document that will provide clear, consistent direction for the future of our parks, open spaces, and trails.

04/12/2026

Retired geophysicist Kevin Williams and long time Rundleview resident Greg Manktelow discuss the risks of building on undermined land and the sinkhole that occurred at the Evergreen Condominiums: “Risks of Undermining here are, to be frank, quite unavoidable. No amount of money or technical expertise will give you a hundred percent solution. No matter how much effort you put into it there will always be some residual risk that can’t be resolved.”

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

03/28/2026

Watch to the end! We love this video of guidebook co-author Bart Robinson describing what it was like to move to Canmore when you had to leave town to meet a friend for a cup of coffee. Reflecting on how Canmore has changed since then, Bart asks us to pause and embrace deeper values:‍ ‍ “After decades of watching development gobble up one parcel of the valley after the other, I think we can all understand that every hectare that remains undeveloped is both precious and priceless … one development at a time, large or small, we're losing what's special about this place. To stop the loss, I say we need to pause long enough to reacquaint ourselves with our better angels, the non-greedy ones, and then begin to incorporate the deeper values of respect, restraint, responsibility, and reciprocity in the decisions we make regarding the land and all of its inhabitants.”

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

03/19/2026

Long-time Rundleview resident and Voice of Canmore Len Gottselig discusses the impact of the development on a quiet residential neighbourhood: “The virtue of Rundleview has always been the fact that it is a little bit separated from some of the tourist madness that we run into downtown. And here …they're proposing to put in a hundred room hotel plus a spa. Well, that's going to dump several hundred people here on an overnight. I mean, probably as many or more people than live in the whole neighbourhood full-time.” Len's comments reflect what planning and tourism experts tell us about where tourist developments should be placed - in areas designated for tourist facilities, not in residential areas.

Len Gottselig - Voice of Canmore