The Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce (JPCC) is proposing businesses join together to form a co-operative that would build and manage a not-for-profit staff housing facility.

Many local businesses offer ad hoc staff accommodations, often owning their own apartments or houses, due to Jasper’s chronic housing shortage.

“That shortage is a systemic barrier for businesses,” said Paul Butler, JPCC executive director. “This is an effort to address that gap by providing an opportunity for businesses to own staff accommodation.”

Butler said the Jasper wildfire has heightened concerns around the availability of staff housing, but it also provided an opportunity to develop a better solution.

The chamber has hired a consultant, Catalyst Strategies, to interview businesses to learn about their staff housing needs, such as how many units will be required, whether accommodations should be apartments dormitory style or if there should be shared facilities. 

The primary investment would come from businesses that would own units or shares, but Butler said they would seek government support to help smaller businesses get involved. The facility would be professionally managed, allowing businesses not to have to act as landlords and providing more security to tenants.

Consultations will wrap up by the end of May. The consultant will also develop a business case, a governance model and specific financials.

“What is clear is that would be built on an affordability model, with restricted equity, so along the lines of co-ops that have been built in Jasper previously,” Butler said.

The co-operative would theoretically build the facility an existing interim housing site and begin construction as soon as interim housing is removed. The goal is to be shovel-ready by fall 2027.

Butler said building a larger-scale, apartment-style project could be more cost effective for businesses than buying individual houses. As well, because this would be a not-for-profit, Parks Canada may sell the land at below-market value.

“I do think that we can show a more cost-effective investment opportunity for businesses than what is currently available to them,” Butler said.

So far, 20 businesses have expressed interest. Butler said the greatest interest had come from the service and hospitality sector, but the chamber was open to other businesses joining in.

Justin Melnyk, general manager of the Jasper Brewing Company, said they had a variety of staff accommodations and could meet their needs if they had 20 bedrooms, but their inventory was down since the fire and hasn’t been replaced fully by interim housing.

“It’s always been a crunch for businesses on being able to house everyone,” Melnyk said. “You hire people and they can’t find places to live, so they end up choosing to go work in a different community.”

When it came to the chamber’s proposal, Melnyk said they wanted to see a cost breakdown and what the ownership model would look like but were ultimately interested, particularly since housing remained the biggest hurdle for businesses.

“It’s really hard to hire people from outside of Jasper if you don’t have anywhere to put them,” he said.

Peter Shokeir, Local Journalism Initiative // info@thejasperlocal.com