Jasper’s seasonal nature is straining support services
“Where I work is very seasonal. We get hours in the summer season, but in the winter it becomes unbearable when it comes to costs.”
Jasperite Gurbinder Singh moved to town from Ontario and works in the local hospitality industry. Singh was working a lot during the summer, but the winter period has flipped his income situation completely. Which is why, this past Thursday evening, Singh was at Jasper Food Bank, picking up a bag of groceries to help him make ends meet.
“We aren’t getting sufficient hours right now because of the lower [tourist] season so i needed something to help me with the groceries,” Singh said.
Singh’s story is common—particularly in towns dependent almost exclusively on the ebb and flow of tourism dollars, such as Jasper. In summer, two million tourists rev the engine of our local industry; during the winter, weekend warriors swarm in sync with the snow. In between these waves—and particularly when the snow doesn’t fly—Jasper’s hospitality industry languishes. According to Tourism Jasper’s 2022 numbers, hotel occupancy rates averaged 55 percent between November and April (compared to 80 percent from May to October). Parks Canada reports national park gate numbers vary from approximately 45,000 entries in November to 490,000 in August.
“This variation results in profound fluctuations in demand within the community, requiring business to adjust their operations through the year,” according to the Jasper Employment and Education Centre’s Labour Market Study, released earlier this winter.
For many year-round employees, those adjustments means shifts are cut back, paycheques are smaller and the issues of maintaining basic human needs such as a place to stay and food to eat become accentuated.
And that’s why, every Thursday evening, a single-file of Jasperites such as Gurbinder walk through the Anglican Church Hall on Geikie Street to collect a bag containing food which has been donated or fundraised for.
The Jasper Food Bank Society is a volunteer-run, non-profit association which provides food and basic personal care items to locals in need. Volunteers collect and coordinate donations from individuals, businesses and other non-profit organizations in Jasper. Often those donations are in the form of non-perishable food items, sometimes it’s a monetary contribution, and always it involves volunteer time and energy—the Food Bank also delivers to those with transportation or mobility challenges.
Cristin Murphy manages the Jasper Food Bank. Murphy spoke to the Jasper Local ahead of one of the group’s major fundraising events, the Coldest Night of the Year (due to take place on Saturday, February 24), and noted that in the wake of the pandemic, demand for the Food Bank’s services continues to rise dramatically.
“Through the years leading up to this our community has had so many years of interruptions and challenges—COVID, the [2022 Chetamon Mountain] wildfire, and now a year of no snow. We can’t seem to catch a break,” she said.
Murphy said that while these and other factors contribute to greater food insecurity in Jasper, the Food Bank is meant to be for those who don’t have any money or food at all.
“There can be a misunderstanding that it’s a way to get free food, but it’s specifically for those who desperately need it,” Murphy said, adding that there are other options available around Jasper for free or by-donation meals.
The Jasper Food Recovery program is hosted at the Anglican Church Hall on Geikie street, for example. At the Activity Centre, the Jasper Food Alliance’s Soup For You and Community Fridge programs help meet residents’ basic needs.
“Those services are open to everyone,” Murphy said.
Food for thought
The latest data from the Jasper Food Bank shows that food bank use doubled from 2022 to 2023 (July 1 to December 31 numbers). More than 350 individuals accessed the service, representing nearly 10 per cent of Jasper’s population. Most people (40 percent) who visited the Jasper Food Bank were between 25 and 35 years of age.
Furthermore, nearly half of Food Bank visitors (47 percent) live in staff housing and 50 per cent of those who accessed the service have full-time jobs. What’s not captured, however, is whether those employees are actually getting adequate hours.
According to JEEC’s labour study, 60 percent of Jasper businesses experience moderate to strong seasonality.
Many employers have decreased wages and hours, and increased daily rents,” said JEEC’s Heidi Veluw. Additionally, many workers are in Jasper on limited foreign worker permits, so they can’t get a second job, even if one was available in the winter, she said.
“There is very little work in Jasper because of lack of snow,” Veluw said.
All of those factors put stress on working families and individuals—such as Mario, who moved to Jasper from Manilla, Philippines, in the middle of 2023.
FOOD BANK FACTS:
-Jasper Food Bank society
Nearly 1-in-10 people in Jasper have used the Jasper Food Bank.
Most are aged between 25 and 35.
Only half have full-time work.
“In these winter days we have less time on the job so, instead of using our cash on groceries, we can save a lot of money [by using the food bank],” Mario said.
On the Thursday he spoke to The Jasper Local, Mario picked-up some yogurt, a few canned goods, and some fresh vegetables. It will help, a lot, he said. But it’s only a temporary reprieve.
“If I could go here Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, I would,” he told the Jasper Local. “As of now I only have a few hours of work so I come here to save.”
Mario also utilizes the Jasper Food Recovery program, which started three years ago and is now being patronized by between 50 and 80 people, two times per week (Mondays and Fridays, 5:30- 6:30 p.m.). Unlike the Food Bank, which is designed for those facing critical food shortages, the Food Recovery Program is for everyone, according to founder Melody Gaboury.
“We want to reduce food waste, and reduce the stigma of using the program,” Gaboury said at the recent Annual General Meeting for the Jasper Local Food Society, of which the Food Recovery Program is now part of.
Mario said many of his co-workers use both services.
“Most of the people here that I know will come to the Food Recovery also,” he said.
Both Mario and Gurbinder had absolute praise and gratitude for the work of the Jasper Food Bank Society and its volunteers.
“Even though Jasper is a small community, this things it does for its people is commendable,” Singh said.
Part of the Jasper Labour Market Study’s recommendations include promoting Jasper as a year-round destination, something Tourism Jasper is vying to do.
TJ’s outgoing CAO and President, James Jackson, told The Jasper Local in November that inconsistent visitation equates to inconsistent earnings, which contributes to a hire-In-the-spring, lay-off-In-the-fall cycle—a boom/bust pattern which Jackson says isn’t healthy.
“We want stability, we want people to be employed, we want monthly earnings to be consistent,” Jackson said.
Until that time comes, Murphy and her team—all of whom have heard anecdotes of employees losing hours while having their rents raised—will continue to provide important food security services for Jasperites in need.
“Some of the stories you hear are heartbreaking,” Murphy said.
IF YOU NEED FOOD:
Groceries and personal items are available from the Jasper Food Bank every week on Thursday evenings from 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
A free and by-donation Community Dinner is hosted by the Municipality of Jasper every Sunday night throughout the winter. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. at the Jasper Activity Centre (303 Bonhomme St.). Seniors and people with diverse abilities can come at 4:30 p.m. Families with young children can come at 5 p.m.
Soup For You is available everyday, for free, at the Jasper Activity Centre courtesy of the Jasper Food Alliance, in cooperation with Glenda the Great Catering and the MOJ.
The Community Fridge at the Jasper Activity Centre is also an option for everyone to supplement their groceries.
TO SUPPORT THE JASPER FOOD BANK SOCIETY, YOU CAN:
CJ Jackson // info@thejasperlocal.com
