Staff accommodation Needs Assessment
Background and Rationale
The Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Red Cross and the Municipality of Jasper are collaborating with other partners to address a key barrier to community recovery following the summer 2024 wildfires: the lack of interim accommodation for staff, particularly as the summer tourist season approaches.
These are accommodations for primarily front-line, seasonal and year-round employees in the tourism and hospitality sector with consideration also to construction workers and tradespeople engaged in the rebuild.
The Tourism and Hospitality sector represents Jasper’s economic foundation and Jasper’s business recovery will be integral to our economic and social recovery. Investing in community-based solutions, including in the small business sector and economic recovery, is critical for supporting a resilient recovery.
Addressing the critical shortage of staff accommodation will actuate and drive Jasper’s recovery. The objective of this initiative is to increase the speed and efficacy of recovery in Jasper.
More details relating to this initiative are available here:
The Approach
A coalition has come together to tackle this barrier to Jasper’s recovery with the intention of securing interim staff accommodation to support the 2025 summer and following seasons. Initial steps include framing out a shared issues statement and developing a needs and value proposition with a costed business case to raise funding and other contributions to the project.
The likely interim housing model will be a dormitory-style solution allowing for single or double accommodations in facilities with shared elements and common spaces. These are often described as skidded, dormitory style, modular or camp-style accommodations as are commonly used in the resource industry to house workers. The housing would be primarily intended for seasonal and year-round workers for the Jasper hospitality industry, with some units available for rebuild workforce and trades. This initiative is also a first step and will not solve the whole of the interim housing crisis. However we hope that success will enable businesses to start to plan for their 2025 summer operations and contribute to long-term housing solutions.
The Timeline
The timeline for this initiative is necessarily short. A solution needs to be identified and implemented before the start of the summer season. Work on the business case and scoping of the initiative has commenced with completion scheduled for mid-January, with conversations with potential funders beginning immediately.
Moving forward: the Interim Staff Accommodation Survey
A key initial step is validating needs, impact and the value proposition of this work. The Interim Staff Accommodation Survey will help the partners understand the scope of need for staff accommodation in Jasper. We’re asking all employers within our business community to complete the survey. We need your input regardless of your current situation with respect to operations, staffing and staff accommodation. Whether you’re open or closed, whether you have one or a hundred employees, we need your help. A robust response is essential to building the business case. The information collected will be used to understand the anticipated need for interim or staff accommodation and to seek funding from government or other outside agencies.
We are asking businesses to complete the survey by January 10, 2025
For more information please email either the JPCC or the Red Cross:
