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A business-owned housing solution designed to end Jasper's chronic workforce housing shortage.
The Jasper Staff Housing Co-Operative is an active initiative led by the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce to develop purpose-built, collectively owned staff accommodation for Jasper's hospitality and service workforce. It is one of the most significant economic development projects JPCC has advanced in recent years — and one of the most consequential for the long-term sustainability of Jasper's visitor economy.
A feasibility study and Project Charter are currently underway, with a spring 2026 target completion date. The goal is to be shovel-ready by Fall 2027.
Jasper's workforce housing shortage is structural, not cyclical. It predates the 2024 wildfire by decades and has long constrained the ability of hospitality and service businesses to hire and retain staff.
Because Jasper has a near-zero residential vacancy rate, employer-provided accommodation is not optional for most businesses — it is an expected and unavoidable part of operating in the community. The dominant model has been business ownership of single-family homes repurposed as "staff houses." This approach is financially inefficient, operationally unreliable and disruptive to residential neighbourhoods. It also fails workers, who often cite housing insecurity as a primary reason for leaving Jasper.
The 2024 wildfire significantly amplified the urgency of this challenge. With a large portion of Jasper's existing housing stock destroyed or damaged, the shortage has become acute in ways that directly threaten business recovery and the viability of the 2025 and 2026 tourism seasons.
The Jasper Staff Housing Co-Operative would provide a fundamentally different model: a professionally managed, high-density housing facility owned collectively by participating businesses under a co-operative or condominium structure.
Rather than introducing a new cost, the model restructures an existing and unavoidable expense — staff housing — into a more stable, scalable and community-aligned asset. Businesses would own shares or units rather than maintain individual staff houses, relieving them of landlord responsibilities while ensuring their workers have access to secure, appropriate accommodation.
Key design principles include:
The facility would be built on land currently used for interim post-wildfire housing, subject to Parks Canada land release. Construction is targeted to begin once interim housing is removed.
Early-stage development work has established a strong foundation:
The feasibility study will answer the three questions that currently block forward progress: what governance structure works in practice for Jasper's business community, whether the project is financially viable at a level sufficient to attract equity participation and external funding and what the fastest, lowest-risk pathway to implementation looks like.
Upon completion of the Project Charter, JPCC will advance funding applications — including through PrairiesCan and CMHC's National Housing Strategy programs — and move toward firm business commitments and an RFP for project delivery. The target is to be shovel-ready by Fall 2027, with construction timed to follow the removal of interim housing from the identified site.
Project lead: Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce
Feasibility consultant: Catalyst Strategies Consulting
Conceptual support: Parks Canada (including openness to sub-market land release)
Government funding being explored:
Interested in participating as a business partner, or want to learn more? Contact JPCC at [email protected] or call 780-852-4621.