INTRODUCTION

Châ Ûpchîchîyen – Canmore – is located within Treaty 7 territory, the traditional home of the Stoney Nakoda, Blackfoot, and Tsuut’ina Nations, as well as Métis Region 3. Over the years, Canmore has experienced community transformation – from a depot of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the late 1880s, to a coal-mining town of 2,000 people in the 1960s, to an international destination that hosted the 1988 Olympics. Each community has its own culture, partly reflecting its past heritage, and partly the way it projects itself to residents and visitors and, more broadly, to the outside world. We noted that residents showed particular enthusiasm and support for their town, its assets, and its story; people have found ways to create community through culture. This unique “community vibe” is one of Canmore’s greatest assets and makes Canmore distinct from other mountainous and recreational regions. This is an indicator of Canmore’s cultural vitality.

Cultural vitality and community wellbeing are inextricably linked. Creation, dissemination, validation, and support for culture are crucial to building a healthy and sustainable community. They are as essential as social equity, environmental responsibility, and economic viability. They place value on community cultural expression, contributing to creating a sense of place, affirming values, embracing and asserting differences, and communicating aspirations.

Today, Canmore has an established arts scene, an emerging creative community, and a growing cultural economy. But no community can assume that its present will be its future. Therefore, it is critical that the various communities and individuals in Canmore are free to celebrate their own cultural practices while appreciating and taking part in the practices of others. This requires respect for cultural diversity, preserving cultural heritage, fostering cultural leadership, strengthening cultural and creative organizations and industries, and supporting and promoting all forms of cultural expression.

The Canmore Cultural Master Plan 2020–2030 builds on the success of the 2003 Cultural Master Plan that laid the foundation for cultural development in Canmore. This Cultural Master Plan is a plan not just for the present, but for the future, and as such, calls for a transformative change as well as a shift in the town’s social, economic, and environmental policies, practices, and allocation of resources. We have ensured that local, national, and international trends helped to inform the goals, recommendations, and action steps of the plan.

This plan is dedicated to supporting all forms of cultural expression that will enrich Canmore’s cultural vitality and vibrancy and provides a framework to guide the town’s future investment in culture for the benefit of the community as a whole.