Rent is rising in Jasper, and with it, tenants’ anxiety about being able to afford to live here. Last week, residents in the 36 units of the “Walk Ups” (1004 Patricia Street apartments) were sent notice that starting May 1, 2025, their rents were going up—from $1,500 to $2,000, in the case of one co...

Jasperites marched in solidarity against the lack of progress on interim housing January 24. Six months to the day after the homes of approximately 2,000 people living in Jasper burned in the largest wildfire ever recorded in Jasper National Park, hundreds of demonstrators showed their unity with di...

It’s been six months since Jasper was evacuated due to the threat of a massive wildfire roaring down the Athabasca Valley. On Friday, January 24, it will be exactly six months since thousands of Jasperites learned that their homes, businesses and everything in them burnt to the ground . And on Satur...

As Jasper National Park staff work to open the caribou conservation centre , another Parks Canada facility has been declared closed. The Palisades Stewardship and Education Centre (or Palisades Centre) in Jasper National Park was one of the first areas to be impacted by the Jasper Wildfire. This wil...

Staff at Jasper’s caribou breeding facility are gearing up to officially welcome its first animals. The 2024 Jasper Wildfire burned some of the $38 million facility’s perimeter fencing, as well as much of the surrounding forest. Otherwise, however, the centre remained largely undamaged by the fires....

January 6 meeting will test province and feds' willingness to put Jasper first Christmas was hard this year for Jasperites. Besides losing the homes that they built their lives in, the loss of personal belongings—from irreplaceable Christmas decorations to seasonal sports equipment—has come sharply ...

Developers of a large scale apartment complex on Connaught Drive have been given a third six-month extension of their permit from Parks Canada. In December of 2022, MDMC Development received development permits for their proposed 144 unit apartment building at Parcel GB . Development permits are iss...

Parks Canada is stepping in to provide interim housing for Jasperites who lost their homes to wildfire. The federal agency will install two camp-style facilities with capacity for more than 200 people, according to Jasper National Park associate superintendent Ifan Thomas. “We’ve secured a camp that...

Municipal affairs critic says province is bullying Jasper into accepting their rebuild parameters  The Government of Alberta is ratcheting up the pressure on local planners in Jasper to sign off on leases where interim housing is slated to be built. But local authorities want clarity on what those b...

Jasper’s mayor is number one. Richard Ireland has been voted Best Municipal Elected Official in political watcher Dave Cournoyer’s Best of Alberta Politics 2024 Survey . Cournoyer publishes the DaveBerta substack , where he writes and podcasts about Alberta politics and elections. “The annual survey...

4.38 per cent increase proposed in the base budget proposal Amid uncertainty around its strained finances, the Municipality of Jasper is relying on recovery funding and land rent forgiveness for its 2025 budget . Budget presentations, which occurred Tuesday (Nov. 26) , came during Jasper's ongoing r...

Arena is expected to be ready for use the week of December 16; dressing rooms to follow The Municipality of Jasper is responding to a letter writing campaign from frustrated hockey parents. On Tuesday, councillor Wendy Hall noted that 16 letters from hockey families, including the president of Jaspe...

Beneath surface-level discussions and debates around the Jasper wildfire lies a more complex reality. This fire is not just an isolated event, but part of a broader pattern linked to climate change—a result of a century of colonial land use practices and an economic system focused on extraction and ...

The federal government is funding a $3.9 million program to help Jasper’s small businesses rebound from last summer’s wildfire. This includes $3.45 million toward the Jasper Business Recovery Program, which will provide non-repayable funding for Jasper businesses. “This is going to offset lost reven...

More Jasperites are signing on to the Bulk Debris Removal (BDR) program in an effort to reduce costs and improve efficiencies for the clean-up of residential properties destroyed in the Jasper Wildfire Complex. However representatives from the Jasper Recovery Coordination Centre are encouraging stil...

Parks Canada and the Municipality of Jasper are making Jasper’s rebuilding process simpler. Yesterday the joint agencies released new, streamlined policy to guide the community’s recovery. “This is an important step forward in recovering from … the hardest challenge we have faced together,” said Jas...

“Hope is not just the future, but also the present.” Canada’s Governor General was in Jasper this week, bringing a message of hope, admiration and empathy to the community after it was devastated by fire in July. Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon said the people she met during her Octob...

The production of 250 modular homes is being fast-tracked by the Alberta government to support Jasper residents who lost their homes in the July 24 wildfire. Yesterday (October 21), alongside Mayor Richard Ireland, West Yellowhead MLA Martin Long and Evergreens Foundation CAO Kristin Chambers, Minis...

The Jasper wildfire incident temporarily halted work and necessitated additional cleaning, particularly in the Aquatic Centre. Wildfire-caused delays are pushing the completion of renovations to Jasper’s recreation facilities into December. The municipality had previously projected thatthe $20-milli...

This week, contractors have started site-servicing at the parcels which will host interim housing units. Interim housing for Jasper residents who lost their homes in the Jasper Wildfire Complex is one step closer to realization. The Municipality of Jasper’s Director of Recovery, Michael Fark, provid...