Monthly Bulletin
October 2023
NEWS, INITIATIVES, AND EVENTS
Open Houses at our Seniors Lodges!
Join us for exclusive tours of Cascade House in
Banff and Bow River Lodge in Canmore!
You or someone you care about can age in comfort and
dignity in the community at our affordable, and caring
seniors’ lodges. Our lodges serve independent seniors.
We do the cooking and cleaning, allowing our residents to
focus on living well. Residents can arrange to receive
Home Care services in the lodges, but otherwise we do
not offer healthcare programming except in our
Designated Supportive Living wing in Canmore.
When and where?
Cascade House in Banff
Saturday, November 4, 2023, between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Bow River Lodge in Canmore
Saturday, November 25, 2023, between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Designated Supportive Living (DSL) Operations
The new program delivers public DSL care to the region and helps keep seniors close to their loved ones
and supports in the community longer. The first floor, which will be operated as a secure dementia wing,
has yet to open pending hiring. We are working with SE Health on recruitment strategies, including a
collaboration on employee housing.
PROGRAM OCCUPANCY RATES
Bow River Lodge – NSL 95%
Bow River Lodge – DSL 50%
Cascade House 78%
Bow River Homes 100%
Mount Edith House 100%
Community Housing 100%
Rent Supplement 100%
15
SPECIAL PROJECTS
This is Home (Phase 3+)
Considering stubborn uncertainty in the interest rate markets, rising construction costs and challenges
aligning GOA and CMHC funding, we will submit our project proposal to Alberta Seniors, Community,
and Social Supports in 2024. This will allow us to develop greater certainty toward future capital and
operational sustainability.
These projects, if approved, will refresh much of our Community and Seniors’ Independent Housing stock
while adding different types and affordability levels of housing to the region in Canmore and perhaps
elsewhere. We hope that the GOA will appreciate and be able to approve the opportunity here and that we
will be able to collaborate with them, the Town of Canmore, and ideally other Housing Agencies to address
some of the housing crisis in the Bow Valley.
16
BOW VALLEY
REGIONAL HOUSING
Alberta’s HMBs were created by the Government of Alberta (GOA) to operate and administer
provincially-owned social housing facilities and programming. The Province holds an extensive
portfolio of these facilities through the Alberta Social Housing Corporation (ASHC), serving many
needy and vulnerable Albertans. Each HMB is a not-for-profit self-governing corporation under the
Alberta Housing Act that manages ASHC assets in their respective region. HMBs may operate various
housing programs and own facilities. HMBs function as property managers for the Province, often
working to address relevant housing needs in their region.
Every municipality in Alberta is a contributing member of their regional HMB and, as such, must have
at least one appointee serving on the governing board. HMB board members are responsible for acting
in the best interests of the body and the entire region.
HMB operational funding sources can vary. Tenants pay accommodation fees, which are usually
subject to affordability limits. These limits typically lead to operating deficits by constraining the ability
to collect fees sufficient to cover operations costs fully. Provincial grants and municipal requisitions
subsidize seniors’ lodge deficits, whereas the Province alone funds deficits in independent seniors and
community housing programs.
As the HMB for the Bow Valley region, BVRH is responsible for social housing and affordable
supportive living accommodation for seniors throughout Kananaskis Country, the Bow Corridor, the MD
of Bighorn, and all of Banff National Park. The region covers an area of 13,500 square kilometers that
has two towns and seven hamlets that contain approximately 28,000 people. Our five contributing
municipalities are Kananaskis ID, MD of Bighorn, Banff, Canmore, and Improvement District No9.
Residents of the region can access our programs, subject to eligibility requirements.
We are an independent body that collaborates with two provincial ministries, five municipal
governments, numerous agencies in our region, and provincial organizations to provide and promote
safe and appropriate housing. Please see www.bvrh.ca for contact information.
OUR MISSION STATEMENT
Bow Valley Regional Housing provides accommodation services, including seniors’
supportive living for Bow Valley region residents who struggle to secure and
maintain income-appropriate housing.
We provide housing-related programs to approximately 400 residents in the Bow Valley region,
delivered through our four programs. These programs are housed across seven properties in Banff
and Canmore that contain thirty-four separate buildings, twenty of which are stand-alone houses.
Our projects include the following:
• Seniors’ lodges in Canmore and Banff provide room and board to the 150 residents.
o The DSL wing at Bow River Lodge in Canmore delivers designated supportive living to
the region through sixty 24-hour care suites that provide appropriate care and
accommodation to our vulnerable seniors.
• Seniors’ self-contained independent housing buildings in Canmore and Banff that include
a total of 62 one-bedroom apartments.
• Family housing residences in Canmore include 38 townhouses and 20 houses.
17
• Rent Supplement Programs currently provide financial assistance to approximately 60
households in the Bow Valley.
• Planning is underway to convert a 15-suite lodge wing into housing.
• Planning is underway for re-profiling a part of the Bow River Lodge site to increase the
number of seniors’ self-contained suites while adding other affordable housing options.
OUR VISION STATEMENT
Bow Valley Regional Housing collaborates with relevant agencies, ensuring that
suitable programming mitigates the housing needs of our client base.
• We make decisions and recommendations using relevant and valid
community trends and housing needs data.
• We obtain funding to develop infrastructure that meets identified needs in
social and supportive income-appropriate housing programs.
• We embrace principles that incorporate innovation, service excellence, best
practices, and energy efficiency.
• We attract, retain, and support highly qualified and caring staff.
The BVRH team includes approximately fifty employees based at Bow River Seniors Lodge in Canmore
and Cascade House in Banff. Our Central Administration and Maintenance Teams are based in
Canmore and serve all our projects. We have dedicated Housekeeping and Food Services Teams at
both lodges.
