CANMORE – A significant shake-up of the Canmore Community Housing board of directors will see a larger council presence for the organization.
The nine-member board now includes four councillors holding voting positions instead of two, with the remaining five positions reserved for members of the public. The change was made during council's annual organizational meeting Tuesday (Oct. 25).
Canmore Mayor Sean Krausert said the additional council members means both Town council and CCH’s goals can work together in addressing the affordable housing issue in Canmore.
“The affordable housing is right in the bullseye for council’s priorities, so CCH’s work aligns with the priorities of council and we need CCH to be aligned with that strategy in order for it to be successfully implemented,” he said. “There was a great interest in council members to have a greater representation on the CCH board because it’s so closely aligns with our priorities.”
Town of Canmore staff had originally proposed that council become the dominant voice on the board, recommending with five council members. However, one of the proposed elected member's positions was shifted to a public position.
Most of the annual organizational meeting was held in camera due to privacy issues as council discussed potential candidates for boards and committees. However, Krausert said the abundance of public members wishing to join the board led to the change.
“I can say council recognized in addition to keeping the current public members at CCH and reappointing the one whose term had ended and reapplied that there was another member of the public who brought incredible amount of history, knowledge and experience with respect to housing,” he said. “We ended up appointing two public members and reduced the anticipated five council members down to four.”
The previous setup for the CCH board included two council representatives and between five and seven members from the public. Prior to the changes, the board had six public members after one person stepped down in 2022.
CCH’s articles of association allow for the board to have between three to nine people. The board received 10 applications for the available public member positions.
Todd Kunst was re-appointed to a two-year term, while former Canmore CAO Lisa de Soto received a two-year term. Murray, Jessie Fonseca and Jamie Findlay round out the public side of the board.
Mayor Krausert and Couns. Tanya Foubert, Wade Graham and Jeff Mah will represent council on the board. Council member appointments are reviewed each year at the annual organization meeting.
When council approved its 2023-26 strategic plan, the biggest priority coming out of the guiding document was housing, specifically the catastrophic crisis facing Canmore.
It also called on the provincial and federal governments to help with providing land, making policy changes and giving more funding to expand the affordable housing in Canmore.
Town staff and council also had a workshop in June to examine all potential options to increase affordable housing in Canmore, with Town staff expected to return before the end of the year with potential suggestions.
The move is the latest in a recent change in committees, commissions and boards that are appointed by council. In September, Town council made the rare move to have its general manager of municipal infrastructure chair of the Canmore Planning Commission.
The majority of municipalities have either a member of the public or council representative chair such meetings – with a public member often the chair – prior to Town staff bringing the recommendation to council.
Council also disbanded the long serving Environmental Advisory Review Committee (EARC) in September. EARC had been in existence for roughly 25 years.
However, with the Town having staff positions focusing on climate change and the environment as well as a third-party consultant to review all development applications through an environmental lens, Town staff brought forward the recommendation, saying the committee had served its purpose.
At the time, council members noted the plethora of environmentally-based organizations in the Bow Valley such as the Bow Valley Clean Air Society, Bow Valley Naturalists, Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative and Biosphere Institute as well as council’s strategic plan emphasizing the importance of maintaining the environment.
The three shareholders for CCH – Town of Canmore CAO Sally Caudill, Mayor Sean Krausert and CCH Executive Director Dougal Forteath – went through the audited financial statements, operating budget, 2022-25 strategic plan and 2022-24 board appointments. CCH vice chair Rob Murray also attended the meeting.
Forteath said the strategic plan goal continues to be to increase the supply of affordable housing to help deliver on programming.
The operating budget will continue to see an annual transfer of $450,000 from the Town to CCH between 2022-24. Forteath noted that may increase to $475,000 in 2025 and $500,000 in 2026, however, he emphasized it would depend on what the board chooses it wants to accomplish in the coming years.
The approved operating budget for 2023 includes $527,570 in general revenues and $530,570 in 2024.
The change will see the new board meet in early November, and Krausert said he’s hopeful for the organization to continue to address community needs.
“I believe with the public members working with the council members that this board will be really effective in taking the CCH to the next level,” Krausert said.
