Banff faces staffing shortages as workers struggle to find a place to live
CBC
As a local who lived in Banff on-and-off for two decades, Nikole Poirier didn't think twice when she left the mountain town to help family members retire. But when she was ready to return, she faced a major issue: there was nowhere to live.
She started searching for a place to rent two months before she was set to return to Banff for work — but she had no luck.
Eventually, her employer provided her with a hotel to live in so she could start working and continue her search from there.
She lived in that hotel room for a month.
"That was pretty shocking to me, that [with] the army of people helping me look for a place and myself, it took three months to find," said Poirier.
Cindy Heisler has been helping people find places to live in the Bow Valley for nine years through her prominent Facebook group Bow Valley Home Finder, which has more than 25,000 members.
She said the housing situation in Banff this year has been horrific.
"It's the worst I've ever seen it. It's twice as bad as I've ever seen it. There's just no place to rent," said Heisler.
Many long-time locals and new Banffites are struggling to find housing this year. Like Poirier, some are living in hotels and hostels, while others have crammed into a bedroom with bunk beds and multiple roommates.
It's resulting in a summer staffing shortage that's plaguing businesses across town. Unless employers can provide new hires with staff accommodations, they can't guarantee that they'll be able to move to Banff and find housing.
"It is just shattering human resources departments, fracturing them rather, all across town," said Poirier.
Michel Dufresne, director of the Job Resource Centre in Banff and Canmore, said Banff is facing the worst staffing shortage in years.
"I have never seen this," said Dufresne.
In talking to employers over the last three months, Dufresne said companies are about 20 to 25 per cent short on staff this summer. That's compared with the usual 10 per cent in past years.