Parks Canada Infrastructure Investment Projects 2023 -  Banff, Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay National Parks -  Grand total new funding investment*: $70.9 M

Banff, Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay National Parks

Banff, Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay National Parks are renowned for their dramatic mountain landscapes on both sides of the Continental Divide in Alberta and British Columbia. These national parks are part of the Canadian Rocky Mountains UNESCO World Heritage Site and administer seven national historic sites (NHS) including: Twin Falls Tea House NHS; Kicking Horse Pass NHS; Howse Pass NHS; Skoki Ski Lodge NHS; Sulphur Mountain Cosmic Ray Station NHS; Banff Park Museum NHS; and, Cave and Basin NHS. Parks Canada also administers three communities in this region including: Lake Louise (Banff National Park), Jasper (Jasper National Park) and Field (Yoho National Park).

Kootenay National Park was established with the signing of an agreement to build the Banff-Windermere Highway (Highway 93 South) connecting British Columbia and Alberta on April 21, 1920. When the road opened in 1923, more than 4500 vehicles travelled the highway that year. Today, more than 500,000 people visit Kootenay National Park every year. The Trans-Canada Highway that runs through the mountain national parks is the longest stretch of mitigated roadway in the world.

Yoho National Park offers towering rockwalls, waterfalls and soaring peaks that attract more than 500,000 annual sightseers and visitors from across Canada and the world.

Banff National Park is an internationally recognized symbol of Canada, an integral part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks UNESCO World Heritage Site and a focal point for western Canada’s tourism industry, receiving over 4 million visitors annually.

Jasper National Park extends over 11,000 square kilometres and is the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies and the world’s largest dark sky preserve. Welcoming approximately 2.5 million visitors each year it is one of the premier destinations in the Parks Canada network and boasts a strong reputation for iconic camping and hiking experience on the international stage.

Federal Infrastructure Projects

The infrastructure projects listed below are primarily beginning in 2023, with some having initial preparation or design work conducted in 2022. The exception to these project start up timeframes is the Lake Louise water and sewer infrastructure project, which has been ongoing for several years. The funding announced today is being allocated to Parks Canada over three years, so the projects are all aiming to be completed by 2025 or sooner.

Project name: Lake Louise sewer and water rehabilitation
Location: Banff National Park
Previous funding announced (2015): $11.6M
Total new funding: $12.1M
Estimated total: $23.75 M
Project description: Parks Canada will complete ongoing repairs to water and sewer infrastructure in the community of Lake Louise to improve services for residents, stakeholders and visitors. This phase of the project will build new and upgrade existing lift stations and add safety redundancies (overlapping systems and operations designed to maintain services if primary systems were to experience a failure) to the community’s critical infrastructure..

Project name: Lake Louise Drive rehabilitation and modernization
Location: Banff National Park
Estimated total: $9.8M
Project description: Lake Louise Drive will be redesigned to accommodate transit infrastructure, private vehicles and cyclists to safely move visitors to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. This roadway hosts over one million vehicles each year, and new traffic control measures and road design for a variety of transportation options will provide safer access and improved visitor experience. Lake Louise Drive also intersects an important wildlife corridor so the designs will include methods of improving habitat connectivity to allow for the safe movement of wildlife. Repairs and redesign of the road, along with new signage, will welcome visitors and improve travelers’ experience between the Trans-Canada Highway and the lakes.

Project name: Parks Canada’s Dispatch Console System replacement
Location: Banff National Park (service provided to multiple Parks Canada administered sites)
Estimated total: $1.0M
Project description: Parks Canada is a first responder government Agency. Mission-critical radio communications are paramount for visitor and staff safety and Parks Canada employs its Dispatch Console on a daily basis across the country. The radio dispatch centres and dispatchers are the key to coordinating a quick and effective response in emergency situations related to fires, rescues, safe helicopter operations and tracking, winter road maintenance, law enforcement, wildlife management, avalanche control mitigation, natural disasters, marine emergencies and lone worker situations.

This project will upgrade the aging dispatch equipment at both the Banff and Jasper Dispatch Centres. The Parks Canada Radio Dispatch for Mountain Parks provides bilingual service (French and English), 365 days/year, 24-hour Radio Dispatch and VOIP Radio and Phone Dispatch, supporting the following locations: Lake Louise; Banff, Yoho, Kootenay, Jasper, Waterton, La Mauricie, and Forillon National Parks; Mingan National Park Reserve; and, Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park.

Project name: Trans-Canada Highway roadway rehabilitation
Location: Banff National Park
Estimated total: $11.3 M
Project description: Two sections of the Trans-Canada Highway in Banff National Park between Castle Junction and Lake Louise will undergo necessary roadway paving and associated improvements, which could include fencing, retaining walls, culverts and shoulder widening, as required. To support sustainability, asphalt materials will be recycled where possible. The project is expected to start in 2023. Traffic will be affected in these two sections during construction.

Project name: Highway 11 roadway rehabilitation
Location: Banff National Park
Estimated total: $4.3 M
Project description: A 6.3km section of Highway 11 in Banff National Park will undergo extensive renovations to stabilize the adjacent slopes, re-pave the surface and possibly replace guardrails and culverts, and remove an old kiosk island to improve road safety. The project is expected to start in 2023 and traffic will be affected during construction.

Project name: Highway 93 South roadway renovation
Location: Kootenay and Banff National Parks
Estimated total: $10.4 M
Project description: Parks Canada will renovate various aspects of Highway 93 South from Banff National Park through Kootenay National Park to improve visitor and wildlife safety on this critical roadway. The project will include avalanche mitigation measures, culvert and bridge replacement and rehabilitation, and slope and retaining wall stabilization. It will also improve highway safety by widening shoulders, adding passing lanes, enhancing wildlife fencing, improving intersections, and repairing the road surface. These projects will begin in spring 2023 and traffic will be impacted for the duration of construction in various locations.

Project name: Icefields Parkway / 93 North roadway rehabilitation
Location: Banff and Jasper National Parks
Estimated total: $11.3M
Project description: A section of the Icefields Parkway near Poboktan Creek in Jasper National Park requires reconstruction to address a freeze-thaw resiliency deficit and improve geohazard mitigations. This project will address the ongoing disruption to the roadway and improve roadway safety. The Nigel Creek Bridge in Banff National Park will undergo repairs and reconstruction to its south western abutment and the supporting slope will be further netted to provide erosion protection and sustain the life of the bridge while improving roadway travel. To support sustainability, asphalt materials will be recycled where possible.

Project name: Snaring and Moberly Bridges design work
Location: Jasper National Park
Estimated total: $1.7M
Project description: This funding provides for design work to be completed in the winter of 2023 for the Snaring and Moberly bridges to inform future work requirements. Snaring Bridge is found on Snaring Road between Snaring Campground (bookable sites) and Snaring Overflow (first come, first serve sites). Moberly Bridge is located along Maligne Lake Road where it crosses over the Athabasca River. 

Project name: Trans-Canada Highway roadway rehabilitation
Location: Yoho National Park
Estimated total: $9.0M
Project description: The Trans-Canada Highway in Yoho National Park between the communities of Lake Louise and Field will be re-paved to improve roadway conditions and visitor safety. The project may also include adding fencing, retaining walls, and culverts, where needed. To support sustainability, asphalt materials will be recycled where possible. The project is expected to start in 2023. Traffic will be affected in this area for the duration of construction.

* Please note that the sum of individual project values may not equal the grand total indicated at the top of this document due to standard rounding errors.  

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