Avenue May/June 2024

16 HOTEL RESTAURANTS YOU NEED TO CHECK OUT

SUMMER IN THE MOUNTAINS

FRESH TAKES ON WHERE TO EAT STAY AND PLAY

THE ISSUE INNOVATION

JAMES LOCHRIE OF THIN AIR LABS TELLS US WHY HE BET ON CALGARY

5 REASONS WHY CARPET COULD BE YOUR BEST CHOICE

A flooring expert shares insight on the plush comforts and cost benefits of including carpet in your home.

Despite hardwood and luxury vinyl sometimes stealing the flooring spotlight, carpeting remains a consistent go-to choice among homeowners. Here, Brody Haugrud, business director of CDL Flooring, shares five reasons to consider carpet for your home.

COST EFFECTIVE

Adding to the cost savings from the energy efficiency of carpet, it’s also an overall budget-friendly flooring. From initial purchase to installation, carpet will run at the lower end of costs, especially as it doesn’t need extra floor prep before installing. When deciding what type of carpet, style or colour to choose, CDL takes the time to discuss homeowners’ needs before chatting about prices or materials. That way, they can recommend the best material at the right cost without compromising quality.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

For homeowners looking to lower their electricity bills and boost overall energy efficiency, carpet flooring can help. The fibres that make up carpet flooring act as a natural trap that holds in heat during the winter and prevents cold air from escaping in the summer, explains Haugrud. In recent years, carpets have also shifted towards being more environmentally sustainable. Many carpets are now made from recycled materials, so choosing carpet makes your home greener, too.

NOISE AND SLIP REDUCTION

Thinking of adding carpet to your home? Visit cdlcarpetflooring.com/carpet-stores-calgary for the right flooring solution.

A major factor in what makes carpet so appealing is the underfoot comfort it adds to a home. Carpeting is a natural shock absorber and provides cushioning, which helps protect your feet and joints from impact when walking. It’s a great floor choice for older homeowners or couples with children. Adding carpets to stairs, says Haugrud, is another a great way to add a nonslip surface and help prevent falls when navigating between different levels. Carpet also doubles as a natural

sound dampener, so voices, music and footsteps aren’t as loud and won’t travel through to other rooms.

PLENTY OF DESIGN VERSATILITY

When it comes to styling carpet, there’s no shortage of colours, looks and designs. To narrow down the choices, Haugrud recommends thinking about your personal needs. “First, consider how you live and what is important to you,” he says, adding that factors like how much foot traffic a room gets, who will be using the room — such as guests or pets — and how that room is used will determine the best look and style. For example, plush carpet is a better choice for a bedroom as it adds a sense of luxury and comfort as well as warmth.

STYLE FOUNDATION

When styling a carpet in your home, Haugrud suggests two approaches. The first is viewing the carpet as a canvas, wherein the floor can reflect a mood or bring a new style to the room without taking attention away from the room overall. The second approach is to use the carpet as a feature design element. In that case, the carpet becomes the room's focal point, either with an eyecatching pattern or a bold colour. The ease of styling options with carpet makes it an appealing option for any room. Basements, bedrooms and living spaces are especially great rooms to include carpet, says Haugrud, as it can add the right touch of colour, style and overall comfort.

Simplifying your journey home.

Pictured: THE HAWTHORNE IN LIVINGSTON

A COMFORTABLE APPROACH TO

DENTAL HYGIENE

A

We all know dental appointments are a vital part of good overall health, but it’s not something we necessarily look forward to. Located on the west end of the city, West 85th Dental works to provide a comfortable patient experience by prioritizing health. From blankets and warm towels post-treatment to personalized music choice and private rooms with air purifiers, the clinic has everything to provide comfortable care for its patients.

DOING HYGIENE DIFFERENTLY

One of the key ways the West 85th Dental hygiene team makes cleaning appointments more comfortable is by using the EMS airflow warm water unit

for Guided Biofilm Therapy (GBT). GBT is a dental hygiene technique that focuses on a gentle yet effective cleaning, using a nonabrasive powder with warm water to remove plaque and tartar comfortably from teeth and dental implants.

Traditional methods that use vibrating cold water units and coarse polishing paste, while still effective when used correctly, can be uncomfortable for some patients because of the increased vibration and cold sensitivity.

“EMS offers a very innovative way to clean teeth that is also gentle,” says Laurie Smith, a dental hygienist at West 85th Dental. “People who have sensitive teeth really appreciate it.”

A COMMITTED DENTAL CARE TEAM

Dr. Reena Kaloti and Dr. Raman Minhas

opened West 85th Dental in 2013 to provide the best dental care possible, while also creating an environment that experienced dental hygienists could thrive in by providing them with more time with their patients and the tools necessary for them to provide the most thorough and comfortable hygiene experience.

“The introduction of GBT to the office was driven by our dental hygiene team,” affirms Minhas. “They took the initiative to get certified with GBT and it was done purely as a way to better the dental hygiene experience for patients. I can say that one of the things I am most proud of is the dental hygiene care that our team provides.”

Using technology such as GBT is part of West 85th Dental’s commitment to providing effective and comfortable dental care, including Invisalign and cosmetic treatments like veneers, and general family dentistry.

To learn more about making West 85th your dental home, visit west85thdental.com.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JARED SYCH

look inside West 85th Dental and its dental hygiene program prioritized for patient comfort.

Dr. Reena Kaloti

The West 85th Dental team of hygienists

DISCOVER SOMETHING New!

Aspen Landing Shopping Centre features top retailers and services in unique, locally-owned storefronts sprawled across a distinctive landscape in southwest Calgary. Whether you need a quick check-up, a mouth-watering lunch, or need to complete an extensive to-do list, you can get it all done at Aspen Landing! FREE INDOOR PARKING.

Homes By Us Crystal Creek Homes

Homes By Us Crystal Creek Homes Homes By Us

Aspen Woods Estates is a development community inspired by Calgary’s architectural heritage. The development features beautiful executive homes, breathtaking views, walking and biking paths, and west Calgary’s premier shopping destination Aspen Landing Shopping Centre.

CANCER, WE’RE COMING FOR YOU.

2X

DONATIONS MATCHED

FOR A LIMITED TIME, ALL DONATIONS MADE TO OWN.CANCER WILL BE MATCHED, UP TO $250,000, BY THE MID SOUTHERN ALBERTA TOYOTA DEALERS.

Together, we can make Calgary a global hub for cutting-edge cancer research and treatment. Support the OWN.CANCER campaign’s goal of raising $250 million for the soon-to-open Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre and help transform cancer care for generations to come.

Donate now at owncancer.ca.

CONGRATULATIONS

Alberta Cancer Foundation CEO

Wendy Beauchesne

This prestigious recognition highlights Wendy's exceptional leadership and significant contributions to Calgary's business community and the advancement of women in the sector. Driven by her passion for making a difference, Wendy is working to transform the Alberta Cancer Foundation into one of the strongest health-care foundations in Canada, leading to real impact on Alberta’s cancer system and more moments for all Albertans touched by cancer.

MAY/JUNE24

16 Editor’s Note

114 You Are Here

72

on the cover

James Lochrie co-founder of venture capital and professional services firm Thin Air Labs.

62

DEPARTMENTS

21 Detours

On your mark ... get set ... go read about Calgary’s marathon, which has been running for six decades now; a deconstruction of Pizzaface’s famous/infamous dill pickle pie; cool places to check out if you’re in Okotoks; and fun things to do around the city during the months of May and June.

62 Dining

88

FEATURES

94 Calgary Style

Engineer Gabriel Risbud-Vincent shows off his office-ready bikecommuting attire.

96 Shop Talk

Bathtub Bikes owner Adam Rhind explains the art of bicycle repair.

98 Decor

Some of our city’s top restaurants can be found within hotels. From downtown destinations like Charcut at Le Germain to Little Chief at Grey Eagle Resort, these spots are well worth checking into.

An inner-city bungalow gets a 21stcentury makeover with thoughtful design and pops of bright colours.

31 Culture of Innovation

A snapshot of some of the individuals and organizations in Calgary that are creating a hub of innovation here, with new ways to play, make art, grow food, stay safe and more. by Tsering Asha, Elizabeth ChorneyBooth, Riley Fonger, Ximena González and Sean P. Young

50 Into Thin Air

One of the most prolific figures in Calgary’s tech and innovation economy, James Lochrie sounds off on the founding and future of his venture capital firm Thin Air Labs. by Cailynn Klingbeil

72 Spring-Summer Fashion

Bright sunshiny looks for bright sunshiny days.

88 Getting Rid of Your S**t

Sustainable options for clearing out everything including the kitchen sink. by Rita Sirignano

101 Guide to Summer in the Mountains

Fresh new experiences to make your mountain trip especially memorable. by Elizabeth Chorney-Booth, Lisa Kadane, Chris Landry, Karin Olafson, Andrew Penner, Olivia Piché, Michaela Ream and Alana Willerton

PHOTOS BY JARED SYCH; ILLUSTRATION BY JARETT SITTER

Photo by Jared Sych

Does Calgary have a culture of innovation? I’d venture to say so. You don’t have to dig too deep to find examples of individuals and organizations in this city progressing their respective fields. There are accelerators for launching startups and an ecosystem of funders to help startups scale to the next level. The innovation sector here is very much alive and growing.

A decade ago? Not so much. While there has always been innovation in Calgary — the role of local engineers in developing GPS technology in the early 1980s is one of the best-known examples of this legacy — it would have been a tough sell to position the city as a hub of innovation in 2015, a time when the economy was reeling from a crash in the price of oil and the general economic outlook was rather bleak.

But true innovators possess an innate ability to see opportunity where others see failure. They’re the ones that take the chances and lay the foundations for future innovators, who then build on that, creating a framework for an innovation sector to thrive.

In this issue, we talk to one of those foundation-layers, James Lochrie, co-founder of the venture capital and professional services firm Thin Air Labs. Fresh off a big buyout for his previous venture, Lochrie went against the grain by planting his flag here in 2015. Since

SHELLEY ARNUSCH EDITOR IN CHIEF sarnusch@redpointmedia.ca

ONWARD AND UPWARD

then, he has helped countless startups scale globally and realize their potential with the wisdom of his experiences — good and bad.

Lochrie’s story anchors our fifth annual Innovation Issue. We launched the first Avenue innovation issue in June 2020, a period of great uncertainty, but also fertile ground for telling stories of local innovators and sharing their unique perspectives.

In 2021, we added an event to engage with the thinkers and entrepreneurs driving this dynamic sector. While originally presented online, the event transitioned to an in-person gathering and continues this year on June 13 in a new venue, the Central Library, itself an example of innovation in architecture and public spaces. We also launched our weekly Innovation digital newsletter earlier this year. (Sign up at avenuecalgary.com/newsletters.)

When you get innovation on the brain, you notice it everywhere, in everything from how we grow our vegetables to how we make art, which we talk about in this issue. We also have a story about the new indoor park at Vivo for Healthier Generations — a progressive-minded collaboration between the host facility and the architectural firm Dialog. We then tapped Vivo as a location for our spring-summer fashion feature, where we dabble with mindbending, AI-generated backgrounds bursting with colour to make our staff photographer’s images really pop.

Here’s to a bright future as Calgary’s innovation sector continues to develop and grow.

“When I see something and don’t see myself in it, I don’t necessarily look for a role model. I become that role model.” of women in Alberta’s accounting profession

Resilience in numbers

PHOTO BY HEATHER SAITZ; CLOTHING STYLING BY GRAVITYPOPE

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We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada and the Government of Alberta.

Avenue is a proud member of the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association, Magazines Canada and the International Regional Magazine Association, and abides by the editorial standards of these organizations.

Avenue has partnered with TreeEra to plant 1,425 trees, replacing all the trees used to print the magazine this year.

THE AVENUE EDITORIAL BOARD

Joy Alford, Mariangela Avila, Rachelle Babcock, Chris Ballem, Erin Best, Shalini Bhatty, Desiree Bombenon, Richard Boyer, Bridget Brown, Doug Bruce, Ellie Bruce, Danielle Caffaro, Elizabeth Carson, Melinda Channon, Carla Chernetz, Alan Chong, Michelle Colley, Tom Cox, Connor Curran, Kristiana, Dayrit, April DeJong, Speranza Dolgetta, Anne Donaldson, Michel Dufresne, Nicole Dyer, Jan Eden, Mohammed Eljabri, Raissa Espiritu, Elizabeth Evans, Anneke Forbes, Janice Lynn Froese, Karen Gallagher-Burt, Lindsey Galloway, Derege Gebretsadik, Sarah Geddes, Jameela Ghann, Briggitte Gingras, Gabriela Gonzalez, Ashley Good, G. Grewal, Ian Gunn, Gaurav Gupta, Amanda Hamilton, Katherine Harmsworth, Rameez Husseini, Alison Jeffrey, Pritha Kalar, JP Kansky, Heather Knowles, January Kohli, Brad Krusky, Wil Lakatos, Shannon Lanigan, Heather Lawton, Andrew Layzell, Anila Lee Yuen, Chris Lemke, Jamie Leong-Huxley, Trina Lo, Sharon Martens, Emma May, Nancy McFadyen, Stacy McFarlane, Diana McIntyre, Robert McIntyre, Karen Metrakos, Joann Meunier, Elizabeth Middleton, Catherine Moar, Cory Moench, Aeji Moon, Judi Parrott, Tiffany Petite, Steven Phillips, Kelly Pitaoulis, Gord Plouffe, Victoria Plouffe, Tara Poudel, Carmyn Prefontaine, Paul Salvatore, Rob Schultz, Patricia Sealy, Montana Shaw-Antonio, Tom Spatola, Kelli Stevens, Janet St. Germain, Angelina Tadros, Theresa Tayler, Jessica Theroux, Ryan Townend, Dianne Upton, Gail Urquhart, Arleigh Vasconcellos, Wendy Winder, Bradley Zumwalt

JULY/ AUG 2024 NEXT ISSUE

Best things to Eat

Our annual roundup of 30 tasty treats curated by our BFFs (best foodie friends) Carmen Cheng and Chanry Thach.

Neighbourhood Numbers

Find out how Calgary’s communities stack up against each other in a variety of different categories.

Summer fun special

Our favourite season is here and we want to help you make the most of it with one fun thing to do every day.

The Avenue editorial board is exclusive to members of the A-List and A-List+ programs, and provides the opportunity to participate in discussions on the direction and content of the magazine. For more information on how you can join the A-List and the board visit AvenueCalgary.com/shop.

SUBSCRIBE

by June 1 to get the July-August 2024 issue to your door. Three-issue subscription $18, one-year $30. AvenueCalgary.com/shop

SHERWOOD PARK | STRATHCONA COUNTY

Home to stunning natural landscapes, recreational facilities, and activities. strathcona.ca/adventure

A cycling adventure on August 11

detours

A LONG TIME RUNNING

SERVUS CALGARY MARATHON IS THE OLDEST RACE OF ITS KIND IN CANADA, DRAWING AROUND 10,000 RUNNERS OVER A RANGE OF DISTANCES AND CREATING ENDLESS TALES OF INSPIRATION, CAMARADERIE AND COMMUNITY SPIRIT.

Co-founded by two-time track Olympian Doug Kyle and runner Bill Wyllie, the inaugural Calgary Marathon took place on Aug. 10, 1963. Kyle, who placed first out of the field of 20 runners with a time of 2:45:54, also led the charge to secure Calgary for the 1964 Canadian Olympic marathon time trials.

Kyle remained a devoted spectator up to the 2023 event — sadly, his last, as he died in a car accident three months later at the age of 91. But, he lived to see his race, now known as the Servus Calgary Marathon, grow into an

event drawing 10,000 runners competing in a range of distances. As the oldest marathon in Canada, it is steeped in six decades’ worth of personal stories, highlights and several Guinness World Records (GWR): Calgarian Justin Kurek setting the GWR in 2017 for the fastest marathon (2:42:14) in a cowboy costume; Okotoks runner Dave Proctor running 150 kilometres overnight for a winning time of 12:18:42 in celebration of Canada’s sesquicentennial; and the 112 Team MitoCanada charity runners racing the fastest marathon by the most runners linked together (6:24:56) for a GWR in 2017.

Calgary’s marathon is also highly prolific in terms of athletics credentials. Coursecertified by Athletics Canada, it’s a qualifier for the world’s most venerated foot race, the Boston Marathon. Calgary also hosted the 50-km national championships from 2014 through 2023, while this year it will offer a 60km “ultra” distance.

Despite the Calgary Marathon’s pedigree and stature, it tends to fly under the radar as far as spectatorship goes — at least compared to the hype surrounding the Vancouver and Toronto marathons. It’s something organizers hope to change. Seeing elite runners, amateur

PHOTO BY ANGELA BURGER

runners in costumes and cheering on friends and acquaintances as they stay the course through the city is its own form of adrenaline rush. “Watching the race is often people’s first exposure to the sport and then a year later you’ll see those same spectators running it,” says Kirsten Fleming, now in her 12th year as executive director of the Servus Calgary Marathon and Run Calgary, a not-for-profit organization governed by the Calgary Marathon Society.

Fleming’s wish is for Calgarians to feel a sense of pride and ownership for their marathon — citing, as an example, the festival spirit of residents in the Kensington area who set up an annual pancake griddle at the Memorial Drive section of the race course (and are rumoured to serve tequila shots). She believes that having the city wholeheartedly embracing the race, would, in turn, attract more participants and more tourism.

But it’s also just a way for the city to come together. “A marathon is a grind,” says Fleming (speaking from experience). “If you have a thousand people cheering your name along those long, difficult sections of the course, you’re going to be thinking, ‘This is so awesome that my city is supporting me!’” —

Danyael Halprin

The 2024 Servus Calgary Marathon runs on Sunday, May 26, calgarymarathon.com

READERS HELPING READERS

FOR 20 YEARS, THE CALGARY READS BIG BOOK SALE HAS RAISED FUNDS FOR CHILDHOOD LITERACY.

Every spring, thousands upon thousands of books are spread across dozens of tables for the Calgary Reads Big Book Sale. The 10-day event, which has been held at the Calgary Curling Club for the past several years, draws in crowds of readers who flock to the sale to browse and buy gently used books.

This year’s sale runs from May 10 to 20 and will mark its 20th anniversary.

Over the years, the sale has raised $3.5 million for childhood literacy, a feat supported by more than 1,000 sale volunteers annually and community members who donated around 200,000 books last year.

The sale was previously run by early literacy organization Calgary Reads. After that organization was dissolved in 2023, its initiatives and resources were spread across seven partner organizations with the goal of achiev-

ing more effective and impactful efforts. The Rotary Club of Calgary began stewarding the sale last year. “The generosity of Calgarians through the books that they donate and the time that they give is absolutely why, 20 years later, we have such a beautiful community event,” says Steacy Pinney, Rotary Club of Calgary’s Early Childhood Literacy Director. Pinney says there’s an urgent need to ensure children have the right reading resources, materials, teachers and skills. It’s a cause Calgarians clearly agree with, as more than 14,000 readers bought books to support last year’s sale. “We have built a family of community members who come back year, after year, after year, and become year-round ambassadors for early childhood literacy,” Pinney says. — Olivia Piché

May 10 to 20 at the Calgary Curling Club, 720 3 St. N.W.; bigbooksale.ca

In November 2020, Jeff Humphreys launched The Calgary Sessions, interviewing acquaintances and friends with interesting stories in a non-scripted, casual setting. Through word-of-mouth, he built up a roster of local interviewees, eventually landing Laval St. Germain, the only Canadian to summit Mount Everest without oxygen, for Episode 22. It was a turning point for the podcast, attracting even more well-known names to join Humphreys behind the mic. Now, more than 100 episodes in (and counting), he has featured compelling Calgarians such as master chocolatier Bernard Callebaut; Juno Award-winning musician, producer and songwriter Russell Broom; awardwinning sports, editorial and commercial photographer Candice Ward; and others.

“I knew I was going to connect with some cool people and have some great conversations, but I didn’t realize the impact and the kind of the community that was going to be built around this idea,” Humphreys says.—Tsering Asha

The Calgary Sessions is released weekly on Wednesdays. Listen on Spotify, Apple and Google Podcasts, or watch it on YouTube.

Out of Town

DAY TRIP OKOTOKS

LUXURIOUS SKIN-CARE EXPERIENCES, FRESHLY BAKED FRENCH PASTRIES, BASEBALL GAMES AND MORE AWAIT JUST SOUTH OF THE CITY.

1 TREAT YOURSELF TO A LUXURY FACIAL at Sweet Skin by Ivana

This day spa was founded by Ivana Dojcinovic, an esthetician with almost two decades of experience in the spa industry. Ivana is one of only a few operators in the Calgary region trained to offer the Biologique Recherche Facial, a three-stage method that uses cooling techniques and a personalized suite of products to balance, revitalize and hydrate the skin.

56 McRae St., 587-896-7546, sweetskinbyivana.ca, @sweetskinbyivana

2 GRAB SOME PASTRIES at French 50 Bakery

Last year, owners Brad Labrenz and Marie-Luce Denis transformed a more than 100-year-old farmhouse into French 50 Bakery’s new home. The bakery specializes in handmade pastries, rustic sourdough bread, brunch and artisanal pizza. Stop in for a tartine (an open-faced sandwich with housemade bread) and a hot or cold drink. 10 Elma Street W., 587-429-5906, french50bakery.com, @french50bakery

3 CATCH A BALL GAME at Seaman Stadium

Take yourself out to see the seventime Western Canadian Baseball League champion Okotoks Dawgs in action at Seaman Stadium, recently voted the best ballpark in summer collegiate baseball by Ballpark Digest

readers. The Dawgs kick off the 20232024 season with a home game against the Brooks Bombers on May 24. 256 Don Seaman Way, 403-262-3294, dawgsbaseball.ca, @okotoksdawgs

4 GAZE AT ARTWORK at Lineham House Galleries

This 117-year-old house is a registered historic Alberta landmark once owned by one of Okotoks’ founding families. Today, the site showcases the work of a rotating selection of artists within the main floor’s formal gallery, as well as artisanal items such as prints, metalwork, glass pieces, pottery and jewellery. Check out the second floor for a small gallery featuring the Lineham House’s associate artists, who often work on-site. 33 Elma St., 403-917-1445, linehamhousegalleries.ca, @linehamhousegalleries

5 EAT AUTHENTIC LEBANESE FOOD at Almira’s

Almira’s Mediterranean Grill serves up delicious Lebanese dishes made from authentic recipes and using fresh ingredients. Drop in to enjoy a platter of hummus or baba ghanouj, sfeeha (a meat or vegetarian pie made with flatbread), salads and wraps.

—Shelley Arnusch and Tsering Asha 40 Elizabeth St., 403-982-0744, almirasgrill.ca, @almirasmediterraneangrill

BY

Focus on the big picture, we’ll take care of the details.

From conferences to concerts, our versatile spaces and cuttingedge tech ensure an unforgettable experience for you and your guests.

Request a quote from MRU Event and Conference Centre

mru.ca/EventServices

Italian restaurateur

Tony Migliarese (D.O.P.) started the retroBrooklyn-inspired pizzeria Pizzaface with his former partner, Mike Garth, more than five years ago as a pop-up. They were operating out of Diner Deluxe when Garth’s idea for a pickle pizza was born. The pizza was an instant hit and has been on the menu ever since, following Pizzaface into its current bricks-and-mortar space on 17th Avenue S.W. We caught up with Migliarese to learn the “knead-to-know” details about the beloved pickle pie. –Chris Landry

THE DOUGH

“[The dough] is something we’ve been working on for the last five years,” says Migliarese. “Our dough is airy and light, so it does become hard to work with, but the end product is something we really enjoy.” The combination of the dough’s high moisture content and the oven’s high heat helps the crust crackle up nicely. To help keep the dough consistent, Pizzaface has the same person make all the dough daily.

THE SAUCE

The sauce is creamy and simple to avoid losing the pickle flavour, with a whipped consistency that makes it spreadable and prevents the pizza from getting too wet while cooking. “It’s just basic cream, made almost like a whipping cream,” says Migliarese. “We add minced garlic and a little bit of black pepper to it.” Is

THE PICKLES

Pizzaface covers the pie with Strub’s pickles, a holdover from the days as a pop-up at Diner Deluxe. “We just used the crunchy pickles that they used for their sandwiches,” says Migliarese. The tart Strub’s pickles bring a refreshing acidity to each bite.

THE OTHER TOPPINGS

Pizzaface uses a basic low-moisture mozzarella for Mike’s Pickle Pizza and finishes with fresh dill and cracked black pepper after it’s cooked.

515 17 Ave. S.W., 403-300-2022,

The Fun-Things-To-Do List

MAY

INDOORS

The Dada Ball

Contemporary Calgary’s annual gala returns on May 25 — an incredible night of art, fashion and fundraising that draws the local glitterati.

OUTDOORS

Inglewood Night Market

The first Inglewood Night Market of the season is on May 10. The outdoor market features 135 artisans and businesses, as well as live music and a beer garden. Admission is free.

PLAN AHEAD

Sled Island 2024

The annual music fest will be back June 19 to 23 at venues throughout the inner city. Order your pass now and check out sledisland.com to familiarize yourself with the lineup.

NOW OR NEVER

Beaches the Musical World Premiere Theatre Calgary ends its season on a high note with the international premiere of Beaches the Musical from May 18 to June 16, composed by Grammy-winner Mike Stoller.

FREE

Explore Calgary on a Jane’s Walk

Named after urbanist and activist Jane Jacobs, these free guided walking tours happen all over the world on the first weekend in May to encourage citizens to engage with their surroundings. YYC walks take place May 3 to 5.

JUNE

INDOORS

Go Roller Skating at House of Skate Calgary has a new destination for roller skating. House of Skate opened in the Highfield district in southeast Calgary over the winter and offers drop-in skate sessions, as well as lessons.

OUTDOORS

Rosé and Croquet

The annual YW Calgary fundraiser, taking place on June 20, is a garden party extraordinaire on the grounds of the Deane House restaurant with fancy canapés and fabulous hats.

PLAN AHEAD

Shop for Stampede Outfits

Start seeking out cool pieces to wear at this year’s Stampede, which kicks off July 5. Shops like Smithbilt Hats, Alberta Boot Company and Cody & Sioux offer western wear all year round, while thrift and vintage stores will be bringing out seasonal offerings.

NOW OR NEVER

Calgary Stampeders Home Opener

On June 7, show your support for Calgary’s CFL team during its 2024 season home opener against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

FREE

Lilac Festival

On June 2, expect hundreds of vendors and performers on 4th Street S.W. from Elbow Drive S.W. all the way to 12th Avenue S.W.

What does your dream kitchen look like?

TRADITIONAL  Nostalgic Vibes

TRANSITIONAL  New Age Change

MODERN  Sophisticated Drama

CULTURE OF

From the way we play to the way we grow food, make art, do business and beyond, Calgary is a place where innovation happens, every day.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY GUST OF WIND STUDIO

BY XIMENA GONZÁLEZ

GoodLeaf Farms’ new growing facility in calgary offers sustainable and innovatively produced greens from within the city limits.

and California. “Out West is a huge market that we want to be able to access and reach. If you look at both food service warehouses and the grocery chains, their main hubs are in Calgary.”

Designed by Riddell Kurczaba Architecture, the state-of-the-art building creates the ideal conditions for quick-growing vegetables to thrive.

ast November, a new brand of locally produced leafy greens hit the shelves in Calgary’s major grocery stores.

GoodLeaf’s romaine lettuce, baby spinach, pea shoots, micro-radish and micro-arugula aren’t anything out of the ordinary, but they are produced using innovative technologies such as automation and data analytics.

The Nova Scotia-based company produces hydroponic veggies that require significantly less water and energy than a conventional, open-field crop. To scale their production of high-quality, nutritious greens, and to expand their operation to Western Canada, GoodLeaf Farms constructed a bespoke, $56-million facility in Calgary’s southeast, with monthly production expected to reach 75 tonnes.

“It’s exciting for us to be able to offer a local alternative for leafy greens, which just hasn’t been readily available,” says Juanita Moore, vice-president of corporate development at GoodLeaf Farms, noting that a significant portion of Calgary’s produce is currently imported from Arizona

About 50 per cent of the 96,000 square-foot warehouse is a highly controlled environment dedicated exclusively to growing leafy greens. The remaining half of the building is used for support services such as administration, seeding, processing, packaging and shipping, as well as space to accommodate the mechanical components essential to the operation of a hydroponic farm. This isolated layout, which reduces the probability of potential contaminants entering the growing area, is part of the reason why GoodLeaf is able to mitigate common challenges other vertical farms experience, such as pests and plant pathogens, in addition to operating practices related to sanitation, water treatment, QA-testing methods and other safeguards.

A 40-foot-high ceiling in the growing area allows for various arrangements of the smart, stacked trays where the hydroponic vegetables grow using automation technology from TruLeaf, GoodLeaf’s parent company. To accommodate the specific requirements of the vegetables produced here, the benches that carry GoodLeaf’s adjustable trays of seeded plants are stacked in levels that hold the LED lights and irrigation systems, while a series of sensors and cameras monitor each plant to ensure optimal growing conditions at all times — even when outside temperatures plummet.

Currently, the company is testing artificial intelligence at its facility in Guelph, Ont., which is expected to reduce risk and optimize product quality by analyzing the unique conditions and nutrient mix each plant requires, meaning even smarter, fresher greens will soon be reaching the plates of Calgarians.

GROWING UP

BY RILEY FONGER

VIRTUAL REALITY

BECOMES

Why YMCA Calgary is pioneering esports as part of its youth-focused programming.

he YMCA, which has long advocated for active and healthy lifestyles, is now attempting to connect with youth in the digital age via esports — a first-ofits-kind program for the organization.

“We want to make sure that we’re meeting the needs of the youth in our community,” says Sarah Malahias, strategic lead of child, youth and family programs for YMCA Calgary. “All these youth are already playing esports, they want to play esports ... so we’re being a part of that esports ecosystem.”

Simply put, esports are video games that have grown in popularity to the point where they are played at a professionally organized and competitive level. When Malahias attended an esports expo in Edmonton, she realized the profound potential to engage with youth. “I got a sense that the values and goals of the esports community aligned well with the YMCAs values and goals. Both provided a space to play, to learn and to connect,” Malahias says. “The esports community is just everything the YMCA emulates.”

Malahias pitched the idea of introducing esports to Brigitte Edwards, senior director of programs at YMCA Calgary, who gave her the go-ahead to take the concept to reality. “This is an opportunity for us to hopefully

be able to connect with youth in a different way,” says Edwards.

With the green light, Malahias’s team hit the ground running, devising a four-phase plan to bring esports to Calgary’s two largest YMCAs, Shane Homes YMCA at Rocky Ridge and Brookfield Residential YMCA at Seton. The plan’s first phase, which launched in October 2023, opened the door with a series of virtual tournaments featuring games like Rocket League, Fall Guys and an esports version of chess. On Jan. 20, 2024, the team took the next step and transitioned into in-person tournaments.

Phase 3, launching this spring, introduces league play. Members participate in two hours of practice and tournament play per week at this stage, which Malahias notes is more than just joining a tournament: “They’re joining a community.”

Phase 4, set to begin this summer, will introduce week-long esports camps that encompass more than just simply playing video games. “We also want to layer in some physical components, mental components and digital components into that curriculum, as well,” says Malahias.

Midway through developing the fourphase plan, YMCA Canada announced an Innovation Grant. Malahias’s team pitched their esports idea and won. The team now has $40,000 to begin expanding the project across Canada.

“the esports community is just everything the YMCA emulates.”

SARAH MALAHIAS

STRATEGIC LEAD OF CHILD, YOUTH AND FAMILY PROGRAMS, YMCA CALGARY

PHOTOS BY JARED SYCH

BY SEAN P. YOUNG

THE LOCAL ACCELERATOR TRAINING FUTURE TECH TALENT

Graduates of TKS have gone on to work at the likes of NASA, SpaceX and OpenAI, or Start their own ventures valued at hundreds of millions.

n its first seven years, TKS (The Knowledge Society) has produced some of the youngest quantum computing engineers, artificial intelligence developers, synthetic biologists and blockchain engineers, plus some of the youngest employees at organizations like NASA, SpaceX, OpenAI, Microsoft, IBM, Google, Apple and Tesla. Alumni of TKS’s 10-month innovation program for youth aged 13-17 have also gone on to start their own companies valued at more than $200 million.

It’s impressive, no doubt, but TKS’s ethos is about inspiring young people to make a difference, rather than a fortune. “While we teach emerging tech and sciences, we teach it through the lens of how we can solve really large problems in the world,” says Elisha Kramer, Head of Growth at TKS.

Co-founded by Calgarian brothers Navid and Nadeem Nathoo, who found wealth and success in Silicon Valley and New York, respectively, TKS soft-launched in Calgary in 2016 and in Toronto in 2017. The brothers modelled it after the world’s leading startup accelerators and adapted to accelerate the younger generation, particularly in young people whose brilliance often remains hidden in traditional education settings. To design TKS, Navid leveraged relationships from his network at Harvard to access professors and programs at institutions including Harvard Innovation Lab, Stanford, TechStars, Alchemist Accelerator, Y Combinator and others. Nadeem, meanwhile, leveraged his network through MBA programs at institutions such as Wharton and Massachusetts Institute of Technology and consulting organizations like McKin-

sey, BCG and others TKS operates in New York, Vancouver and Dubai, with dozens of cities around the globe slated to launch and more than 4,000 alumni of the program worldwide. The Calgary program relaunched in September 2023. “Calgary has become a vibrant tech scene. It’s a really unique ecosystem for homegrown tech,” Kramer says.

The TKS program mimics the environments of high-growth startups in Silicon Valley, with a curriculum based on tech incubation programs at several Ivy League institutions.

Students who are accepted into TKS spend three hours per week at Platform Calgary, exploring cutting-edge innovations, learning business and leadership skills and training mindsets used by top CEOs and entrepreneurs, and designing their own technical and

scientific projects to address issues like climate change, affordable housing, disease diagnoses and education. They are given access to mentorship opportunities from more than 200 experts at companies like Google, Meta and Amazon.

Around 100 students will be accepted into the next Calgary cohort in September 2024. In keeping with TKS’s mission to uncover and encourage the brightest minds, admission is not based on grades or previous tech-related experience. Instead, students record a short video answering interview questions. Financial support is also available for those who can’t afford tuition. “We’re only looking for three things: curiosity, willingness to put in work, and a desire to make an impact,” Kramer says.

BY RILEY FONGER

GAME BOY ART OF THE

Multidisciplinary artist Kevin Stebner’s GreyScreen project makes a medium out of vintage video games.

“i needed to find a way to make music in a small apartment in A country where I didn’t know anybody.”

s a child of the Nintendo generation, multidisciplinary artist Kevin Stebner dreamed of composing music for video games. While that dream has yet to come true, he has since found another creative outlet that involves video games and music with his GreyScreen project, a multifaceted artistic endeavour centred around video games and incorporating everything from music to visual installations and poetry. Originally from Red Deer, Stebner has been based mostly out of Calgary for the past two decades. He first experimented making video game-inspired music back in 2007, while teaching overseas in Korea. “I needed to find a way to make music in a small apartment in a country where [I didn’t] know anybody, so I found out about Chiptune and started pursuing it further,” he says.

Chiptune is an electronic music genre in which tracks are created with the sound chips from vintage arcade machines and computers, as well as classic gaming consoles released during the 1980s and ’90s, such as the Nintendo Game Boy. After learning Chiptune, Stebner took things a step further in 2013 by manipulating Nintendo Entertainment Systems consoles to create glitched visuals to accompany his glitched music. The visuals were in full effect last fall in the Centennial Planetarium theatre at Contemporary Calgary, when Stebner performed as GreyScreen for the opening of the multimedia exhibit, Jennifer Marman & Daniel Borins: Three Dimensions. While GreyScreen began as a way for Stebner to learn video

game music, he now describes it as “a project that encompasses trying to engage with video games in a different way than just playing a game, that could be music, visual arts, poetics.” His next venture within the GreyScreen realm expands on the notion, with a book that features a series of lipogram poems that are all working Game Genie codes. The book is simply titled Game Genie: Poems,and will be published by The Blasted Tree Art Collective and Publishing Company this year.

SYCH

PHOTOS= BY JARED

BY TSERING ASHA

SOUND SUCCESS

With the launch of its new software, local audio innovators PK Sound continue to make A thunderous impact around the world.

ella Concert Hall at the Taylor Centre for the Performing Arts is one of the city’s most acoustically sophisticated venues. But, back in June 2023, an audience gathered at the Bella not for a performance, but to hear and appreciate the sound technology that amplifies and enhances the music.

The event was a local-market launch for .dynamics, the new live-sound software by Calgary-based audio-technology company PK Sound. A “soft launch” in name only, attendees were treated to a demonstration of the capabilities of .dynamics prior to its global online launch the following month.

It was another significant milestone for the local success story that originated as a speaker-rental company started by CEO Jeremy Bridge while he was in university. Two decades later, now headquartered in an expansive facility just east of the Calgary city limits in Rocky View County, PK Sound is known worldwide as a respected manufacturer and exporter of speakers and sound technology. Its flagship Trinity Black robotic line array system has pumped out sound at events such as the Essence Festival in the New Orleans’ Superdome and at outdoor electronic dance music (EDM) festivals like the Shambhala Music Festival near Nelson, B.C., and the Sunset Music Festival in Tampa, Fla., while the official global tour for the Broadway smash hit Hamilton amplified its hip-hop score with PK’s G30 subwoofers.

The company has built its reputation on innovation. In 2015, PK Sound patented the world’s first robotic line-source system — robotics within the loudspeakers control

both vertical and horizontal directivity, meaning they can be adjusted to play sounds in varying directions to suit all kinds of venues, including massive stadiums and outdoor festival sites.

According to Bridge, .dynamics is an evolved version of the platform they patented back in 2015, combining every stage of the live-sound workflow into one software application, a step up from competitors that require multiple programs to achieve similar results. It allows for real-time configuration of speakers in any venue, powered by software that provides all-in-one access and control from one central location.

“Our industry’s typical workflow is very linear, so we called our software .dynamics, because it’s about a dynamic workflow that lets you work at your own speed and order thanks to real-time control and remote coverage,” says PK Sound partner and global brand manager Andrew King. “Without robotics, setting up speaker systems is a completely different process. You first have to simulate how your sound coverage will work, and then you try and fine-tune that and determine best coverage and then physically set that up.

“With .dynamics’ system, you would start with that simulation, but once the best configuration is determined, instead of physically setting up that system for coverage, it can be moved around when it’s in the air,” King says. “This allows for adjustments to be made remotely and in real time, which is the biggest difference from other systems/workflows used throughout this industry.”

PK’s admirers range from the soundtechs behind the scenes to those up front, making and performing the music. “PK Sound focused on a specific genre of music, which is bass-driven dance music, and created technology that enhanced its sound quality in club and festival settings,” says Calgary-based DJ and dance-music producer Joanna Majik. “As a result, many artists began requesting a PK Sound system for their performances, and PK became closely associated with these artists and immersive music experiences. This rightfully boosted the PK reputation globally.”

With .dynamics, the buzz around PK Sound will undoubtedly grow even louder. “It’s exciting, getting to fly the flag on the international stage and lean into where we’re from,” says King.

With files from Deaniell Cordero

BY ELIZABETH CHORNEY-BOOTH

How

the new Arthur J.E. Child

Comprehensive Cancer Centre updated a vintage idea to create a safer way of transporting high-risk medications.

hen people hear the term “dumbwaiter,” they’re likely to think of food being transported from one floor to another in a restaurant or historic mansion. The small elevators were invented to save servers time while preventing the likelihood of spillage when carrying hot food from point A to point B.

If a dumbwaiter works so well for transporting platters of roast chicken, it follows that this simple technology should also work in other applications, such as in a large hospital where nurses and pharmacists need to move significant quantities of medication from one floor to another.

director of Cancer Services, requested some kind of lift to ensure both efficiency and safety. The building designers competing for the project suggested a dumbwaiter in response to her request.

“As a cancer hospital, we have a much higher volume of hazardous drugs than a standard multidisciplined, multi-site tertiary hospital like the Foothills,” says Chambers.

“That’s why we wanted to be creative in looking at a dedicated dumbwaiter system.”

For optimum efficiency, the Cancer Centre ultimately ended up with two dumbwaiters: one services the inpatient floors of the hospital, while the other services the ambulatory or day-patient treatment rooms. The dumbwaiters are electronically operated stainless steel lifts that run directly from the hospital pharmacies where the drugs are kept to medication rooms on those multiple inpatient and ambulatory floors. Only trained staff have access to the lifts, which are used exclusively for transporting chemotherapy drugs.

“as a cancer hospital, we have a much higher volume of hazardous drugs.”

CAROLE CHAMBERS

AHS PHARMACY DIRECTOR OF CANCER SERVICES

That’s precisely the idea behind the dumbwaiter system at the new Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre. Measuring 1.4 million square feet, with patient care spread out over 11 floors, the new facility’s expanded scope was set to make transporting chemotherapy drugs from the onsite pharmacies to patients a longer and more extensive operation. Even though accidents and drug spillage is rare in a hospital setting, rather than asking staff to carry highly toxic medications through public hallways and up and down shared elevators multiple times a day, Carole Chambers, AHS Pharmacy’s

Even though patients will never see these dumbwaiters in action, the lifts allow the hospital to run more smoothly while making life easier and potentially safer for nurses, doctors and pharmacists, so they can focus on patients, and the patients can focus on themselves. “They’re there to get the best care on the very challenging journey they’re on,” Chambers says.

Considering the benefits and safety measures the dumbwaiter systems are contributing here, one might argue that the name is due for an update that better reflects their ingenuity.

ASMART

June 20, 2024

Tickets on sale now!

MOVE

BY SEAN P. YOUNG

A HOLISTIC WELLNESS

HAVEN FOR ALL

n October 2023, the community organization Vivo for Healthier Generations in Country Hills debuted a stunning new addition in the form of Calgary’s first indoor park. “Vivo stands as a space crafted collaboratively by and for the community,” says CEO Cynthia Watson. “Our dedication to inclusiveness, such that every individual, irrespective of age, ability or background, can find a sense of belonging at Vivo, adds immense value to our members and guests.”

The $62 million redesign of Vivo is meant to address the rapid population growth and unique cultural makeup in Country Hills and the surrounding communities. The addition of the 19,500 square-foot indoor park, created in collaboration with the architectural firm Dialog, expands the facility to 269,000 square feet.

Marion LaRue, partner and architect at Dialog, says through extensive research and community outreach, Dialog learned that Eastern and Western cultures realize wellness in unique ways. “We discovered that for Eastern cultures it’s more passive, a circuitous route, there’s a focus on yoga, meditation, contemplation and mindfulness,” LaRue says. “And for Western cultures it’s more active, it’s more physical, it’s more getting from point A to B.”

To make space for all, the indoor park incorporates sound and lighting features

that follow a circadian rhythm to mimic sunrise and sunset, which can be adjusted to suit diverse audiences. Rolling hills, heights and various floor textures make it easier for visitors with visual impairments to navigate the park and encourage spontaneous play.

With a 1,400-person capacity, the park can also be set up to host community and cultural events. “It’s about different approaches to life that we’re trying to reflect in Vivo,” LaRue says. “The park is an example of where you don’t have to have a programmed, scheduled type of activity. There are many spaces where you can be very active or very quiet. We’re trying to address both.”

Vivo welcomes about 100,00 visitors per month and expects that number to grow as Calgary does. The facility now has a six-lane pool, updated yoga and fitness facilities, a spa and the BMO Collaboratory — 2,000 square feet of open space for individuals, charities, social enterprises and community groups to co-create, prototype and evaluate projects collaboratively for shaping healthier generations.

To measure the actual impact of these design considerations, Dialog plans to install an architect-in-residence. “We’re going to help Vivo measure the biophilic impact of the facility,” LaRue says. “Measuring how the connection with nature outside, the curved walls, the different articulations of the ceiling, the rolling hills of the park … how are these biophilic design moves impacting the health and well being of local residents when they come to visit?”

“it’s about different Approaches to life that we’re trying to reflect.”

MARION LARUE PARTNER AND ARCHITECT, DIALOG

A collaboration between architectural firm DIALOG and Vivo for Healthier Generations realizes eastern and western wellness practices in an expanded facility in north Calgary.

BY RILEY FONGER

OPENING DOORS

AMBYINT

Originally founded in Calgary, Ambyint has returned its headquarters to the city just four years after its move to Houston, Texas — a decision the company says was largely influenced by Calgary’s growth as a hub for clean-tech innovation. Currently based out of Platform Calgary, Ambyint provides AI-powered optimization for the oil and gas industry, which works to increase production, lower operating costs and help companies reduce their overall carbon footprint. With the relocation of its headquarters back to Calgary, the company aims to triple its workforce. ambyint.com

APPLEXUS TECHNOLOGIES

Applexus, a global SAP (systems analysis processing) consulting and implementation services provider, opened a new office in January 2024 in downtown Calgary. The company plans to create 125 jobs in the city over the next five years. applexus.com

EVENTCOMBO

In July 2023, it was announced that global SaaS (software as a service) company Eventcombo will invest $10 million in Calgary over the span of three years, with the intent of creating 250 jobs. The company’s comprehensive event technology platform employs artificial intelligence and machinelearning algorithms to make the process of organizing, carrying out and analyzing events a more streamlined and efficient process. eventcombo.com

A look at some of the companies that have recently set up shop or expanded operations in Calgary, bolstering the city’s reputation as a North American hub for innovation and technology.

GOODLAWYER

Calgary-based startup Goodlawyer expanded its operations by opening offices in the Telus Sky building last December. The company, founded in 2019, offers efficient, client-friendly and affordable legal services to Canadian businesses, startups and entrepreneurs. Co-founder and CEO Brett Colvin is a member of Avenue’s Top 40 Under 40 Class of 2022. goodlawyer.ca

TEKNOL

Silicon Valley-based startup Teknol expanded its presence into Canada last July by opening an office in Calgary. The company’s PREto3.com software is an all-in-one marketing and management platform for early childhood learning centres. The expansion is expected to bring $12.5 million and 125 new jobs to Calgary. teknol.xyz

TERRESTRIAL ENERGY

In March 2023, the Ontario-based nuclear technology company Terrestrial Energy expanded operations by opening a new engineering and research facility in the former Suncor building in downtown Calgary, becoming the first SMR (small modular reactor) company to establish an office in the city. Over the next two years, Terrestrial Energy’s $18-million investment is expected to create 29 jobs, primarily focusing on developing its zero-emissions

Integral Molten Salt Reactor heat and power plants, which are intended to be used in oilsands projects.

terrestrialenergy.com

VANTAGE CIRCLE

Global HR SaaS firm Vantage Circle announced in July 2023 that it will be expanding its presence in Calgary. The company offers services that emphasize employee recognition, wellness, diversity, equity and inclusion through innovative rewards and perks programs. With this expansion, Vantage Circle plans to create 250 jobs in the city over the next three years.

vantagecircle.com

WELL.CA

The Ontario-based online retailer for health, wellness, child care and beauty products opened its second warehouse facility in Calgary in the fall of 2023, creating 30 new jobs in the city. Offering more than 40,000 products over 2,800 brands, the new Calgary headquarters are intended to extend the brand’s reach throughout Western Canada and beyond. well.ca

Camplify Your Impact

YMCA camps have helped young people discover the skills they need to learn, grow and thrive for over nine generations. But for 1 in 5 kids, camp can be out of reach without financial support from donors like you. Send a kid to camp.

GROWING FROM WITHIN

Calgary Inner City Builders Association works to make redevelopments in established areas happen faster and smoother.

Calgary has undergone a lot of urban sprawl, but the surge in its population has builders, community members and city representatives alike asking: what’s the best way to accommodate this growth?

Shameer Gaidhar, board chair of Calgary Inner City Builders Association (CICBA), points out that under the Municipal Development Plan, 50 per cent of city growth was always meant to be in established areas while the other half occurred in new suburbs. But that hasn’t been the case — it’s closer to 80 per cent in new communities

“The problem is, there's only been effective representation of the building industry in the greenfield areas. There hasn't been much representation in the established areas, but CICBA is filling that gap,” says Gaidhar. “If we continue to grow outwards, all it's going to do is add costs to the city in the future.”

REPRESENTATION FOR ESTABLISHED AREAS

CICBA has over 200 company members and welcomes professionals who play any part in the redevelopment of established areas, whether it be professional consultants, builders, designers, developers, suppliers or engineers. “Our association is based on inclusivity,” affirms Gaidhar.

Members face unique factors and challenges when looking to redevelop, but collaborations and connections at the association help ease the process. “There are several factors to take into account,” says Mike Borkristl, vice chair of CICBA. “Land value is the biggest. Then we look at surrounding developments and zoning, and site conditions like power, utilities and compatibility.”

But permits and approvals can slow down projects, and the longer projects take, the more they cost. “It generally takes twice as long to get permits and approvals as it does to actually build smaller projects,” says Borkristl.

CICBA was created, in part, to address this issue. The association has built a strong collaboration with the City of Calgary to constantly improve and streamline the redevelopment process. CICBA works on policies and procedures with City Hall, and creates a reciprocal dialogue. Ultimately, this helps move CICBA member projects along.

RESPONSIBLE DEVELOPMENT

Cost is among the many reasons redevelopments in established areas are so important. More than avoiding unnecessary expenses that come with unused land and homes, developing in existing areas means there’s no need to build new surrounding infrastructure.

“We're reusing existing roadways, sidewalks, streetlights and parks. The key is the city does not have to build a new park or a new highway,” affirms Gaidhar. And without proper densification in established neighbourhoods, existing infrastructure like schools begin to shut down while the need for new ones further afield means more dollars. “If we bring more people back to established neighbourhoods, those schools will stop closing down and we can actually start using the existing infrastructure,” he says.

Plus, by reusing existing infrastructure, redevelopment becomes one of the more

environmentally responsible ways to address housing demands and city growth. “To rebuild, redevelop and pivot our existing buildings — that's partially what we can do to make a dent in the housing supply,” says Grace Lui, a CICBA board member. “Let’s look at recycling and reusing, adapting and reinvigorating what we already have.”

INCLUSIVE AWARDS

It takes a village to make redevelopment happen, and CICBA recognizes all the moving parts involved through its annual CUBE Awards. “Traditionally, award-winning builds celebrate the builders, but with CUBE, all aspects of the hard work that goes into a build are celebrated,” explains Gaidhar. “We can’t build a home without a plumber, a framer, a stair guy, a designer, flooring or cabinet supplier. So why are they not part of the celebration of building an award-winning home?”

When a company applies for an award, it must also submit an application for five partners who helped on the project. “It celebrates the best of the best in the industry, but it's also great for the public to know who's out there doing redevelopment,” affirms Gaidhar.

Redevelopment involves immense collaboration between professionals. “These awards celebrate and call attention to how diverse and how complex the depths of the team you might need for a redevelopment,” says Lui.

To learn more, visit cicba.ca.

2023 CUBE AWARD WINNERS

PRIMARY PARTNERS AWARD PRICE POINT CATEGORY

HOME RENOVATION (WITH ADDITIONAL SQ FT)

HOME RENOVATION (WITHOUT ADDITIONAL SQ FT)

RENOVATION AWARD

COMMERCIAL AWARD

KITCHEN RENOVATION

$350,000 - $499,999

$600,000 - $799,999

$800,000 - $999,999

$200,000 - $299,999

$300,000 - $399,999

UP TO $49,999

$50,000 - $99,999

$100,000 - $174,999

$175,000 - $199,999

$200,000 - $299,999

BATHROOM/ ENSUITE RENOVATION

BASEMENT RENOVATION

COMMERCIAL TENANT IMPROVEMENT

COMMERCIAL MULTI-FAMILY

UP TO $34,999

$50,000 - $74,999

$250,000 - $399,999

UP TO $74,999

$100,000 - $249,999

$300,000 - $399,999

$400,000 - $449,999

$450,000 - $499,999

$1,000,000 - $1,499,999

$2,000,000 AND UP

$400,000 - $499,999

$500,000 - $549,999

SEMI-DETACHED DWELLING

$650,000 - $699,999

$500,000 - $599,999

HOME AWARD

THE OPULENCE PROPERTY GROUP (LODGE CRESCENT)

DWAYNE SEAL CUSTOM DESIGNS (VARSITY ESTATES RENOVATION)

DYFFRYN DEVELOPMENTS INC. | LUX WINDOWS & GLASS LTD. NUWAY FLOORS & INTERIORS

DWAYNE SEAL CUSTOM DESIGNS (CANMORE ADDITION)

REBORN RENOVATIONS (MCKENZIE LAKE WHOLE HOME RENOVATION)

JULIAN CERAMIC TILE INC. | PEARL CANADA

MARTIN LEE DESIGN (ELBOW PARK RENOVATION)

ACE CABINETS CALGARY LTD. (SHAWINIGAN KITCHEN RENOVATION)

JEROME’S APPLIANCE GALLERY INC.

REBORN RENOVATIONS (BRIDGELAND KITCHEN REMODEL)

PEARL CANADA

MARTIN LEE DESIGN (ELBOW PARK KITCHEN)

LOOP INTERIOR DESIGN INC. (MOUNT PLEASANT KITCHEN RENOVATION)

METROPOLITAN HARDWOOD FLOORS | ROYAL FLUSH KITCHEN & BATH BOUTIQUE

A COLLABORATIVE DESIGN GROUP INC. ( SAVORY PALETTE)

MARTIN LEE DESIGN (ARBOUR LAKE RESIDENCE)

MARTIN LEE DESIGN (ELBOW PARK RESIDENCE)

MARTIN LEE DESIGN (OAKWOOD DRIVE RESIDENCE)

MKL DESIGN STUDIO (STUDIO 58)

CALVERT’S CONSTRUCTION SERVICES INC. | DENCA CABINETS ROYAL FLUSH KITCHEN & BATH BOUTIQUE

MKL DESIGN STUDIO (ABBEY’S CREATIONS - GREENWICH)

RAREBUILT HOMES (THE REEF)

MKL DESIGN STUDIO INC.

RAREBUILT HOMES (THE RAE)

MKL DESIGN STUDIO INC.

RAREBUILT HOMES (THE RILEY)

MKL DESIGN STUDIO INC.

INTEGER HOMES INC. (LIVEBRIDGELAND.COM)

LUX WINDOWS & GLASS LTD.

CHAPEL ROCK DEVELOPMENTS / WINCHESTER BUILDERS (ERLTON STREET TOWNHOMES)

TRICOR DESIGN GROUP INC.

ACE HOMES LTD. (22ND AVENUE NE)

EDGE GRAVEL & CONCRETE

MILLENIUM PLUS HOMES (THE QUARTIER)

CENTRE WEST DESIGN STUDIO INC. | JULIAN CERAMIC TILE INC. LIBER DESIGN PARAGON DRYWALL & INSULATION | PLY GEM CANADA | REGAL SHELF & MIRROR LTD.

MILLENIUM PLUS HOMES (THE JARDIN)

EDGE GRAVEL & CONCRETE | GALAXY GRANITE | LIBER DESIGN

PARAGON DRYWALL & INSULATION | PROGRESSIVE HOME WARRANTY SOLUTIONS INC.

RIK’S ELECTRICAL LTD.

MILLENIUM PLUS HOMES (THE GROVE)

COAST APPLIANCES | JULIAN CERAMIC TILE INC. | LIBER DESIGN PARAGON DRYWALL & INSULATION | REGAL SHELF & MIRROR LTD.

$600,000 - $749,999

$750,000 - $849,999

$850,000 - $999,999

SINGLE-FAMILY DWELLING

$1,000,000 - $1,199,999

$1,200,000 - $1,349,999

$1,350,000 - $1,449,999

$2,000,000 - $2,499,999

$2,500,000 - $2,999,999

UP TO $99,999

NEW SECONDARY SUITE

MILLENIUM PLUS HOMES (THE MAMBA)

CENTRE WEST DESIGN STUDIO INC. | DAVIDSON ENMAN LUMBER LTD. | LIBER DESIGN | PARAGON DRYWALL & INSULATION | REGAL SHELF & MIRROR LTD.

RAREBUILT HOMES (THE CAROLINE)

MKL DESIGN STUDIO INC.

RAREBUILT HOMES (EXECUTIVE ESCAPE)

MKL DESIGN STUDIO INC.

MKL DESIGN STUDIO (BHSM 40)

ROYAL FLUSH KITCHEN & BATH BOUTIQUE | SF HOMES LTD. SPINDLE, STAIRS AND RAILINGS

TECAI CUSTOM HOMES (THE AVA)

LUX WINDOWS & GLASS LTD. | MARTIN LEE DESIGN

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BY CAILYNN KLINGBEIL PHOTOS BY JARED SYCH

As co-founder of what is arguably Calgary’s most prolific venture capital firm, James Lochrie puts his money where his mouth is when it comes to building the tech and innovation economy here.

ut yourself in James Lochrie’s shoes for a moment.

It’s 2015, and you’ve spent the past four years living in Toronto and growing the software venture you co-founded, Wave Financial, into a successful company. Now you’re taking a step back from daily operations at Wave and considering your next move. You could head anywhere in the world. Where do you go?

As the price of oil crashed, layoffs amassed and downtown offices emptied, Lochrie made the unlikely move of choosing Calgary. Where others saw gloom, he saw something different. “I looked at that situation and I said, ‘Those are the ingredients for mass success of the technology ecosystem right there,’” Lochrie remembers. “There was this massive opportunity.” And so he made a bet on Canada’s next tech boom happening in Calgary.

That go-against-the-grain mentality is characteristic of Lochrie, 53, co-founder and managing partner of Thin Air Labs, a venture capital and professional services firm that is all about helping early stage and globally scaling startups. He started and built Wave — which would go on to be acquired by H&R Block for $537 million — in the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008. When he visited Calgary in 2015, meeting and talking with local entrepreneurs, he saw parallels between his experiences and what Calgarians were building amid the energy crisis.

It helped, too, that he knew Calgary and what makes this place tick — having previously lived here from 2000 to 2011. “All doors are open here. It is a community that builds together,” he says.

Nearly a decade since Lochrie’s decision, the city’s tech and innovation sector is thriving — and Lochrie and Thin Air Labs are a key part of its success. According to the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association, in 2022 Alberta achieved a record high in venture capital activity for the fifth consecutive year, with $729 million across 85 deals, defying an industry-wide decline in investments. Though not quite at the heights achieved in 2022, activity remained strong in 2023, with $707 million invested across 86 deals.

And, as Lochrie sees it, the best is yet to come. “When I think about what’s coming over the next five years, we’re going to see incredibly explosive growth in the technology sector in Alberta,” he says. “And we want Thin Air Labs to be the leading firm that is going to be at the front and centre of the biggest and most important companies that the city is bringing to market.”

Lochrie’s path to entrepreneurship started when he was well into a successful career, though it was also ingrained in him from childhood. He grew up in Toronto, alongside an older sister and younger brother, with entrepreneurial parents who had emigrated from Scotland. Lochrie’s dad was a software engineer and his mom worked at a nursery school, and at one time they owned and ran a nursery school. “Having the background of that immigrant mentality, having to fight for it and work for it and not accept just what’s given to you … that was embedded in me at a young age,” he says.

As a kid, Lochrie loved games and competition — particularly winning. He learned to play card games, board games, chess and poker from his father. He played professional poker in his 20s and 30s and became a top-ranked poker player in Canada. He’s still a big gamer to this day, and says poker and chess have greatly shaped how he views building companies.

Lochrie’s parents expected him to go to university and get a degree, but he hated it and dropped out three times. He had an interest in and proficiency for accounting, however, and, at age 24, parlayed that into an entry-level job at the national firm FBC.

He climbed the company’s ranks, eventually moving to Calgary in 2000 to oversee the FBC technology team. As Lochrie came to understand accounting, small-business owners, technology and data, he saw an opportunity coming with the advent of cloud-based systems. Plus, by this time, he was feeling bored at his job. “I’m somebody that really likes to challenge myself,” he says. “I was just in this uncomfortable position of not having that challenge, and so I created it.”

In 2010, Lochrie partnered with his close friend, Kirk Simpson, to found Wave Accounting, a software firm offering services to small businesses. Lochrie was initially based in Calgary and travelled regularly to Toronto, where Simpson was located, but he soon moved his family to Toronto to grow Wave.

Lochrie served as Wave’s chief technology officer and later chief product officer, stepping aside from daily operations in 2015 — though remaining a strategic advisor and board member — when the business had transitioned to the execution stage (and Lochrie had again become bored and started seeking a new challenge). When Wave was acquired by H&R Block for $537 million in 2019, it marked one of the largest-ever Canadian tech exits at the time.

By then, Lochrie had returned to Calgary and was spending most of his time with

Lochrie and Simpson initially wanted to build a lifestyle business that would give them enough cash flow to do their jobs on a beach and go surfing. (“I’m not kidding,” he says.) But, when it became apparent that Wave’s potential was bigger, the company’s growth took a more aggressive path.

other entrepreneurs. The atmosphere was so different than Toronto, he remembers, where he felt like he didn’t go to the right university and get the right degrees, or have a cottage in the right place. “When I was in Calgary, you could go and be talking to anybody at any time,” he says. “People were open to doing business and were interested in things and curious.”

Those conversations led Lochrie to angel investing and eventually to co-founding Thin Air Labs. His angel investments in four Calgary companies helped him refine the investment strategy that now guides Thin Air Labs, prioritizing founders and relationships.

Part-venture capital firm, part-professional services firm, Thin Air Labs is all about helping early stage startups scale

globally. “We don’t want to just be known as a venture capital firm; we want to be known as a place where entrepreneurs come to create great companies in partnership with us,” says Lochrie.

Thin Air Labs publicly launched in January 2020, co-founded by Lochrie, Jim Gibson and Greg Hart, all veteran entrepreneurs who met through the local organization Rainforest Alberta (Gibson and Hart have since left). The name is a reference to the idiom “out of thin air,” and its pertinence to entrepreneurship. “We come up with things out of thin air. They’re ideas and they disappear into thin air if you don’t act on them,” Lochrie says. (The name is also a reference to Calgary’s high altitude.)

On the venture side, Thin Air Labs’ focus is growing Calgary’s tech sector. Calgary-based venture funds are rare; most firms with local offices are headquartered elsewhere in North America. Thin Air Labs’ Fund 1 closed in October 2023 with nearly $20 million secured, primarily from Alberta investors keen to make money by growing the Calgary economy. At the start of 2024, the fund had invested in 21 companies.

The services side is broader: Thin Air Labs works with more than 400 companies across North America per quarter, offering funding catalyst and product traction services. Staff have helped founders secure more than $30 million in grant funding, while a separate team supports entrepreneurs on product strategy, development and growth.

Like the startups it works with, Thin Air isn’t afraid to evolve. Early on, one priority was building a video-game ecosystem in Calgary, but Lochrie says the team recognized more significant opportunities in other sectors. Another pivot happened as a growing number of founders came looking for assistance beyond capital, leading to the development of the firm’s startup services.

Yet another change is the size of Fund 1. The initial goal of $100 million narrowed to $20 million. Lochrie says there were two main factors behind that adjustment: the shifting of general market conditions and the fact that investors outside of Calgary did not understand the investment opportunity the way local investors did. He won’t mince words about the challenges of raising money for early stage startups — explaining that there’s a misalignment between the startups and the risk-averse institutional investors that dominate the sector.

In the end, Lochrie says, they found incredible investors for Fund 1, all aligned around building great companies at-scale, keeping people in Calgary and growing a diversified economy. Besides high-networth individuals, significant contributors include locally based Sandstone Asset Management Inc., as well as The City of Calgary’s Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund, which contributed $4 million.

As an investment firm, Lochrie describes Thin Air Labs’ distinguisher to be its focus on understanding the entrepreneur: who

the person is, why they wake up in the morning, why they do what they do. That focus is partly a natural fit for Lochrie, an infinitely curious person, and partly a strategic decision. By truly knowing the entrepreneur, Thin Air Labs can have a more supportive relationship with them.

Such an approach is contrary to the common narrative surrounding venture capital, one of bold investments and spectacular returns. While the common narrative is for investors to expect a large portion of their portfolio to fail, Thin Air Labs believes all companies can win. As such, they plan and expect all companies to be successful, putting resources toward that success. “The true heart of what we do is really boring,” Lochrie says, invoking his accounting past. “We’re assessing the financial opportunity of businesses within markets.”

While the assessment side of things might be tedious, for Lochrie, the magic is on the people side, whether that’s picking companies or helping entrepreneurs solve problems. It’s a privilege, he says, to sit with people who have big ideas and act on them.

One such person is Alex Todorovic, CEO of Calgary-based Arbor, a data platform to help companies measure their emissions. Thin Air Labs has supported Arbor extensively, including investing in three of its funding rounds, helping Arbor secure grants through the funding-catalyst services and providing office space in Thin Air Labs’ downtown headquarters. “They’re incredible for working hands-on with founders,” Todorovic says of Thin Air Labs. “They’re very unique in their approach. I haven’t seen anybody else do it the way they do it.”

Todorovic says by working with Lochrie and his team, Arbor learned what it means to be a successful global company tackling a large-scale problem. That journey comes with many challenges — Todorovic likens being a founder to riding a roller coaster — but says Lochrie’s willingness to share his experience of entrepreneurship’s ups and downs has helped him greatly.

“As an investor, he is one-of-a-kind,” Todorovic says. “It’s not often you work with investors who have done the entire startup journey, from having an idea, grinding all the way through to getting acquired.”

I would have surely slept a lot less as a Founder if I didn’t have his support.

VINCENT IRCANDIA, CEO, STELLARALGO

Lochrie is intentionally open about his journey, including the personal cost of building a successful business. Looking back, he describes his leap to entrepreneurship as a selfish decision that had a major impact on those around him. He had three young kids and says walking away from a stable, wellpaying job was challenging for his family.

“Whenever you do something big, and you have to sacrifice a lot to achieve those things, those sacrifices start to add up,” he says.

His public retelling of Wave’s success includes the broken relationships and the toll it took on his health, and he says he’s even more open when talking one-on-one with entrepreneurs. Why? Lochrie describes himself as outspoken and opinionated, and says he has become more transparent as he’s gotten older, believing young entrepreneurs can learn from his experiences. “I just don’t care what people think about me or the judgments

they might have,” he says.

Besides his forthrightness, Lochrie offers founders a unique and bold perspective on how to think about their businesses, one that was heavily influenced by an early and influential investor in Wave, who told Lochrie and his co-founder there was no way they should sell their business for $100 million — that number was too low.

Wave was “just a little baby company” at the time, Lochrie says, so the comment left him floored. But, in that moment, a seed was planted in his head, shifting his perspective from thinking he was building something small to building something massive. Now, he does the same for others. Giving founders an idea of what is possible enables them to create something really magical, Lochrie says. “What I love about entrepreneurs is they truly create a future that doesn’t exist unless they do it,” he says.

Entrepreneur Vincent Ircandia has felt the push from Lochrie to think bigger and bolder. Ircandia is CEO and co-founder of StellarAlgo, a tech platform that helps sports and entertainment properties understand, grow and monetize their audiences, turning fans into customers. Ircandia first met Lochrie through a mutual friend, and Lochrie introduced Ircandia to two people who became StellarAlgo’s co-founders. A few years later, when the company first raised capital, Lochrie contributed as an angel investor.

Ircandia describes Lochrie as a supportive and empathetic leader who is also a visionary. “He’s been an exceptional resource and advisor for our company, from the early going,” Ircandia says. “We wouldn’t have grown to the size that we’ve grown to as quickly — and I would have surely slept a lot less as a founder — if I didn’t have his support.”

Lochrie envisions many more success stories like StellarAlgo in Calgary’s future, and says Thin Air Labs will continue to evolve to support those businesses. And he believes the potentially massive technology companies forming and growing here will one day redefine the city’s skyline.

“I really can’t wait to see what the story of Calgary looks like in 10 years,” Lochrie says. “It’s going to be spectacular.”

LEADERS IN I N N OVAT I O N

Calgarians aren’t strangers to innovative thinking. We see it in so many facets of life here — whether it’s developing new technologies to solve age-old problems or creating hubs where different people can come together and collaborate in ways they haven’t before. After all, it’s human connection and sharing of insights that often leads to innovation.

Idea-sharing is critical among professionals to drive innovation, but even more so among students and young entrepreneurs to develop the skills to chase opportunities and become the next generation of changemakers. Read on to see how some of Calgary’s dreamers, thinkers and doers continue to lead the way in innovation, locally and globally.

SAIT GRADS SPARK CHANGE IN ALBERTA'S ENERGY SECTOR

As we move toward sustainable energy solutions, SAIT alumni help lead the way.

Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) graduates have made great strides with new technologies and entrepreneurship. Here’s what a few outstanding alumni are doing to build more sustainable solutions in the energy sector.

PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE LEADS TO REAL-WORLD INNOVATION

When Tej Grewal immigrated to Canada, he had no idea he would help change the face of sustainability in oil and gas. Grewal decided to get additional post-secondary education as a way to succeed in his new country. He wanted to complement the bachelor's degree in telecommunications and electrical engineering he’d earned in India.

At first, he considered pursuing a master’s degree, but a conversation with a family friend prompted Grewal to seek out practical training instead. After researching SAIT’s practicum options and learning he would gain industry experience, Grewal knew SAIT was the best option for his future.

“I already had engineering basics and understood most of the core values, but what I needed was an entry into the industry,” says Grewal. “I knew SAIT would give me hands-on experience.”

Grewal joined SAIT’s applied technology

petroleum engineering program. It was a class discussion about orphaned oil and gas wells that inspired Grewal to design a game-changing device. While tools exist to help monitor potential gas leaks, they aren’t designed for ongoing use, meaning a well could leak for months before detection, wreaking havoc on the environment. Plus, the prohibitive cost of these tools poses huge barriers.

Grewal created an accessible low-cost remote device that uses environmental sensors combined with artificial intelligence to continuously measure and detect hazardous greenhouse gas leaks.

He pitched his idea to potential investors at a SAIT industry night and, soon after graduating in 2018, he cofounded his cleantech startup, Qube Technologies. Since then, Qube has

grown into a market leader for emissions detection technology. Grewal’s devices are in use at more than 4,000 sites around the world to detect early leaks, reduce gas emissions and, ultimately, provide a sustainable solution to lessen the environmental strain caused by the oil and gas industry.

With Qube’s early detection and continual monitoring, methane emissions — one of the leading factors of global warming — are being reduced every day. “Qube is growing day by day. We are getting bigger, and we have a bigger impact on the environment,” says Grewal. And his efforts have not gone unnoticed. He’s been named a Top 30 Under 30 on Forbes’ 2023 energy list and was a recipient of SAIT’s 2023 Outstanding Young Alumni Award.

SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS

ACROSS INDUSTRIES

SAIT’s innovative programming spans business, technology, energy, construction, manufacturing, transportation, health and hospitality, and so too does the success of its graduates. Roger Haddad, a 2007 graduate of SAIT’s automotive service technician program, is part of the shift in Formula 1 regulations, which will see a move towards 100 per cent sustainable fuels. SAIT awarded Haddad with the 2023 International Impact Alumni Award for his work as a test engineer for Red Bull Powertrains, where he tests and designs sustainable race-winning engines.

Two more forward-thinking alumni are Gursh Bal and Kai Fahrion. Graduates of SAIT’s electrician program, they’re also working toward sustainable solutions for renewable energy. The duo founded their Calgary-based company, Zeno Renewables, with a goal to install solar solutions in over one million homes by 2040. Bal and Fahrion were both awarded the SAIT Outstanding Young Alumni Award in 2019.

At SAIT, these changemakers gained the skills and opportunities to become the leaders that our world needs.

To learn more about SAIT’s innovative programming, visit sait.ca.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY (TOP) KOKEMOR STUDIO; (BOTTOM) RED BULL RACING/VIA GETTY IMAGES

Roger Haddad

Tej Grewal

FUTURE LEADERS START AT SAIT.

We have our eyes on the future. We’ve been champions of change for the last 100+ years.

Technology has evolved over that time, but our purpose has remained the same — to empower our students to make an impact on their communities and the world.

With degree, diploma, certificate programs and more, SAIT helps students realize their potential to be changemakers — to create, to evolve, to make a difference.

THE FUTURE IS NOW FOR FASTER AND BETTER MEDICAL IMAGING

Alberta patients could soon benefit from cutting-edge AI imaging software at EFW Radiology.

Seldom do we hear people say they’re excited about a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, and it’s because it can be an uncomfortable and sometimes painful experience. Although it’s an effective medical imaging tool used for screening and diagnostics, it requires patients to remain very still for long periods — which can be challenging and unpleasant, especially for those in pain.

“Anything that we can do to speed up the acquisition of MRI images for those patients is extremely helpful,” explains Dr. John Lysack, a radiologist at EFW Radiology. To that end, EFW Radiology is in the trial process for a new AI software called Deep Resolve that could improve MRI scan times. So far, the trial is showing

promising results.

“We’re very pleasantly surprised that it looks like, in addition to being faster, the images are at least as good, if not better. We're getting a win-win here,” says Lysack.

REDUCING INTERFERENCE FOR QUICKER AND CLEARER IMAGES

In the past, shorter MRI scan times meant sacrificing the quality of the images, but now, the opposite is proving possible. This is thanks to the AI software’s ability to reduce the noise in the signal-to-noise ratio present in MRIs.

By getting rid of some excess noise, which entails any background variability that appears and interferes with the scan, it can produce better quality images, faster. “Radiologists will always have to train their brains to recognize what is noise, what is not and what's the signal. Now, it’s even better if we can have an assistant to help us identify at least some of the noise and make it go away. And that's what the AI is doing with Deep Resolve and these sorts of systems,” affirms Lysack.

EFW Radiology is currently performing traditional MRIs at the same time as using Deep Resolve, and comparing the results. So far, Deep Resolve is producing clear images in time frames that are, on average, improved by one third. In some instances, MRI scan times have even been cut in half. “In the world of MRI imaging, we used to get excited about times being

improved by 10 per cent. So anything that's 20 or 30 per cent is incredibly good, and anything approaching 50 per cent is mind-boggling,” says Lysack.

SERVING PATIENT NEEDS FIRST

While EFW Radiology prioritizes innovation, it is, firstly, a patient-focused company. EFW keeps up with modern advances, but cautiously, ensuring they will be the best option for its patients. But with the promising results so far, Lysack predicts EFW Radiology will soon put the AI software into full production, and when it does, the positive impact on Albertans will be significant.

He explains that in the not-too-distant past, it was practically impossible to use MRIs for some patients, like those who cannot remain still as they need to swallow or cough, for example. “Now with AI, the game is starting to change. We're not saying never anymore,” he says. “The things that even a year ago we wouldn't have thought about trying to image with MRI, we’re now successfully starting to image. It’s really exciting to be able to open up whole new areas that we thought were going to be technically impossible for the foreseeable future.”

EFW Radiology has proudly provided comprehensive diagnostic and interventional imaging services in Calgary and the surrounding areas for over 55 years. They perform over 600,000 imaging procedures, consultations and second opinions annually.

To learn more, visit EFW.ca.

PHOTOGRAPH BY HANNAH BEATON, COURTESY EFW RADIOLOGY

AGING WELL THROUGH INNOVATIVE HEALTH CARE AND SOCIAL SUPPORTS

The Centre for Health and Innovation in Aging improves the lives of older adults with advanced healthcare technology and intergenerational relationships.

A new research and education hub, the Centre for Health and Innovation in Aging, has found its home at Mount Royal University (MRU) to improve the health, independence and overall quality of life for older adults. At the centre, aging is not just a natural part of life, it’s viewed as a season of life with great potential for vitality and fulfillment.

Caring for aging people requires time, expertise and relational care, as their needs are complex and change over time. And yet, their need for skilled care and adequate support to age in place longer are often not prioritized or even recognized. As the Chair of Older Adult Health at MRU and the centre’s director, Jocelyn Rempel understands the pressing demand to provide innovative solutions targeted to the unique needs of older adults. In fact, her chair position was established in response to the aftermath of COVID-19, which revealed

the profound gaps in aging care, and the urgent need to prioritize aging in place.

“Older adults are caught in the midst of a workforce shortage, housing crisis and a struggling healthcare system. Immediate and sustainable solutions are crucial to ensure good quality of life and care,” says Rempel.

ACTIVELY INCLUDING OLDER ADULTS IN RESEARCH

When older adults have limited opportunities to contribute to research related to their demographic, their needs can be easily misunderstood and overlooked, causing disparities in health solutions and outcomes.

“Older adults are underrepresented in research as collaborators and participants. At the centre, we include their diverse voices and perspectives throughout the whole research process, including the initial design of a study,” says Rempel. Through ambitious initiatives, the centre is making strides in improving the lives

of older people.

One groundbreaking product being introduced by the centre is NEURVESTA, a non-invasive neuroplastic treatment that reduces fall risk in adults between the ages of 50 and 90 and allows aging adults the chance to live independently for longer.

INTERGENERATIONAL CONNECTIONS MATTER

The centre also creates social impact in the community by helping bridge the gap between generations. “Ageism is rampant in our society. Research shows that intergenerational connections are key to combat negative views and attitudes,” affirms Rempel. “The centre offers an Intergenerational Speaker Series at MRU to promote age-inclusivity and diversity — a unique and successful initiative bridging generations.”

And for students at MRU, the centre offers experiential learning programs and direct opportunities to participate in research partnerships in the industry. “The impact is twofold. They are introduced to research and innovation while also forming intergenerational connections,” says Rempel.

Looking ahead to 2030, the youngest of the baby boomers — the largest generation in Canada’s population — will reach the age of 65. It's imperative that we prepare to accommodate their diverse and complex needs. The centre plays a critical role in this preparation by promoting innovation and collaboration to combat ageism and influencing policy across sectors.

To learn more about how you can contribute to innovative research and advancements in aging-inplace initiatives, please contact Foundation@mtroyal.ca.

PHOTOGRAPHS (TOP) BY :JACOB WACKERHAUSEN; (BOTTOM) BY ND3000, BOTH FROM STOCK

PROPELLING INNOVATION TO NEW HEIGHTS

Plug and Play strengthens Alberta’s innovation ecosystem by supporting local entrepreneurs and attracting startups to the province.

Plug and Play, a venture capital firm, drives innovation on a global scale by connecting changemakers, innovators and trailblazers — and it’s doing so right here in Alberta.

After two successful years, Plug and Play Alberta has advanced homegrown innovations and attracted startups to the province, strengthening the fabric of Alberta’s revolutionizing economy. The network provides a global hub where leading corporations, startups, investors and mentors can connect and help each other reach the next level.

Albertan innovators and entrepreneurs can scale globally because of pilot programs, facilitated deal flows, pitch

events and impactful introductions arranged through Plug and Play’s worldwide network. Alberta corporations are working closely with Plug and Play to supercharge their innovation efforts as they strive to stay at the forefront of their industries.

“The network offers programs in four industries that help improve environmental sustainability, advance digital health technologies, and propel food and beverage institutions to reach new heights. Plus, the forward-looking network accelerates artificial intelligencebased startups in all industries,” says Lindsay Smylie, director of Alberta.

With Plug and Play’s platform for

accelerating the province’s innovation ecosystem and supporting Albertan entrepreneurs, the future is bright.

Plug and Play is part of the Alberta Scaleup and Growth Accelerator Program that is run by a consortium led by Alberta Innovates.

For more information, visit plugandplaytechcenter.com/alberta.

It’s easy to forget sometimes that Charcut is part of the Le Germain Hotel downtown. Co-owners and co-chefs John Jackson and Connie DeSousa have always branded Charcut as a stand-alone entity, even though the pair have long operated within the hotel world, initially working together in the late ’90s at the Westin Hotel’s Owl’s Nest restaurant and later teaming up to help open the San Francisco St. Regis Hotel. That hands-on hotel knowledge helped the two chefs effectively

partner with Germain Hotels (owners of the Le Germain and Alt chains), which trusted them to create a destination restaurant as a value-add for hotel guests, while also staking its claim as a local hot spot. “From the outside, it looks like the hotel and restaurant are two separate entities,” DeSousa says. “But, on the inside, there has to be a cohesiveness to operate smoothly.”

The strategy to position Charcut as its own entity has been intentional: Highlighting its house-

cured meats and urban-rustic food style earned the restaurant the credibility to captivate an audience of non-hotel guests. The formula worked so well that Jackson and DeSousa have continued to grow their company within the hotel group, opening Chix Eggshop in the Alt Hotel East Village in 2019 and a brand-new Charcut location in the University District Alt Hotel this spring.

899 Centre St. S.W. and 4150 University Ave. N.W., charcut.com, @charcut

PHOTO BY JARED SYCH

CHEFS JOHN JACKSON (LEFT) AND CONNIE DESOUSA (POURING) WITH SELECTIONS FROM THEIR MEAT-FORWARD MENU AT CHARCUT IN THE LE GERMAIN HOTEL DOWNTOWN.

BY ELIZABETH CHORNEY-BOOTH

CHECKINGIN FORDINNER

Hotel restaurants aren’t just for tourists, offering elevated and creative dining experiences that appeal to discerning patrons, whether they’re at home or away.

There once was a time when hotel restaurants set the standard for fine dining, with well-heeled socialites flocking to hotel ballrooms for gourmet food and of-the-moment cocktails. Many famous drinks and dishes — the Waldorf salad, the Boston cream pie and Calgary’s own Caesar cocktail — were invented at hotel restaurants during that golden age. But something happened towards the end of the 20th century and many hotel eateries turned into quaint relics or, worse, mediocre-service amenities designed to do little more than fuel hungry travellers as they arrived in or left the city.

That pendulum has started to swing, with more and more hotels electing to install restaurants that not only attract overnight guests, but residents of the city looking for a night out on the town. These local restaurants may all live within hotels but fit seamlessly into Calgary’s overall restaurant landscape.

THE WILDE AT THE D ORIAN HOTEL

While many boutique hotels hand their restaurant spaces over to outside partners, the Oscar Wildeinspired Dorian Hotel (part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection portfolio) elected to operate its fine-dining restaurant in-house, with the intention of making it feel like an independent restaurant. The Dorian team aimed high, both literally and figuratively, with a rooftop-level dining room and imaginative high-

end food from executive chef Joshua Dyer. As such, The Wilde sees more local diners than it does hotel guests, attracting Calgarians through wine dinners, luxuriant Sunday brunches and chef’s tasting menus.

“We had the opportunity to set the tone for what Calgary can do with a hotel restaurant,” says restaurant director Brye Ponto. “I very much feel like I’m running an independent restaurant.”

The Wilde is not the only restaurant within The Dorian: guests can grab more casual fare at the mainfloor Prologue Cafe or at Bistro Novelle in the adjacent Courtyard by Marriott. This leaves The Wilde to showcase its opulent dinners in the kind of style of which Oscar Wilde certainly would have approved. 525 5 Ave. S.W., thewilderooftop.com, @thewilderooftop

OF THE WILDE

FONDAFORA

AT THE W E STL E Y H O T EL

When Thank You Hospitality founder Cody Willis opened Fonda Fora in 2021, he wanted to make sure the Mexican restaurant had a completely different identity than his popular Native Tongues Taqueria. The location on the ground floor of the boutique Westley Hotel certainly helped Fonda Fora develop a distinctive groove: the hotel had room for a spacious dining room and an enormous

bar, with high ceilings and calming curves setting the scene for the restaurant’s upscale-Mexican fare.

Above-average food and cocktails is characteristic of Hilton’s Tapestry Collection, which The Westley is part of. While Fonda Fora runs very much like a regular urban restaurant in the evening, it’s also open for breakfast and operates a private dining room often used for corporate meetings

to accommodate hotel guests. It’s a shift from his other restaurants, but Willis says the hotel and Fonda Fora thrive off one another.

“This is a mutually beneficial relationship,” he says. “They want to run a boutique hotel where the restaurant is important and chose to partner with someone to provide that elevated experience.”

630 4 Ave. S.W., fondafora.com, @fondafora

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HAWTHORN DINING ROOM & BAR

AT THE FA I R M O NT PA LLISER

Over the last 110 years, the Palliser has been a glitzy gathering place for Calgary society. As a result, its in-house food service has morphed considerably over those years. In 2019, after a lengthy renovation, the hotel opened Hawthorn Dining Room, the first new major restaurant change-up to hit the Palliser in more than six decades. The modern-vintage-inspired dining room is worthy of

the grand hotel, spilling out into the main lobby with the Hawthorn Bar to welcome guests as they check in for a stay.

It’s taken Hawthorn a while to find its culinary footing (opening months before the COVID-19 pandemic was not optimal), but the restaurant has hit its stride with the help of chef de cuisine Rupert Garcia, who won silver in the Canadian

Culinary Championship earlier this year. The combination of Garcia’s luxurious dishes, all designed to reflect the bounty and flavours of Alberta, the signature cocktails at the bar, and a swishy afternoon tea have all put the Palliser back in the position of being a place to see and be seen.

133 9 Ave. S.W., hawthorndiningroom.ca, @hawthorndiningroom

Homestead Bread Calgary, AB

Vital Greens - Dairy Picture Butte, AB

Mans OrganicsVegetables Lethbridge, AB

Irvings - Bacon Camrose, AB

Bowden Chicken Bowden, AB

Popular BluffPotatoes East of Calgary, AB Gemstone Beef Gem, AB

LITTLE CHIEF RESTAURANT

AT G REY EAGLE RESORT & CASINO

Little Chief is on the hotel side of the Grey Eagle complex, away from the hustle and bustle of the events centre and casino. From the outside, it looks like a typical hotel restaurant, and, while it is the kind of place where you can grab a wholesome breakfast or a quick burger, Little Chief is also much more.

Since the Grey Eagle is located on and owned and operated by the Tsuut’ina Nation, Little Chief specializes in what it calls “Indigenous-inspired” cuisine. Chef de cuisine Brandon Dashnay is not Indigenous himself (his wife is a

member of the Nation), but he has a deep understanding and appreciation for Indigenous philosophies and ingredients, which he rolls into an innovative menu. Along with bannock, fry bread and bison hamburger steak, there’s also warm saskatoon berry soup, juniper-braised boneless short rib and a show-stopping charcuterie board stacked with house-cured fish and meats. This is food that tells a story of not just the hotel, but of the land and people.

3779 Grey Eagle Dr., Tsuut’ina, greyeagleresortandcasino.ca/ little-chief-restaurant, @littlechiefyyc

PHOTO BY JARED SYCH

LITTLE CHIEF S PICKEREL AND PEMMICAN WITH SAGE AND BROWN BUTTER, BIRCH SYRUP AND PUFFED FISH SKIN.

FIVE MORE CALGARY HOTELS WITH DESTINATION DINING

ALT HOTEL, EAST VILLAGE

Calgary’s first Alt Hotel is where you’ll find chef Darren MacLean’s renowned Nupo and Eight restaurants (both on the list of Avenue’s Best Overall Restaurants for 2024). Those looking for something more casual can opt for the breakfastfocused Chix Eggshop, operated by the team behind Charcut and Charbar. 635 Confluence Way S.E., germainhotels.com, @althotel

HOTEL ARTS, DOWNTOWN

Hotel Arts’ Downtown property is home to the Yellow Door Bistro, known for its epic brunch buffet and European bistro-style dinner menu. The hotel also features the Freestyle Social Club lounge, which includes a golf simulator studio and offers poolside service for the ultimate inner-city staycation. 119 12 Ave. S.W., hotelarts.ca, @hotelartsyyc

CALGARY MARRIOTT DOWNTOWN

In addition to its hearty comfort-food menu (including an amazing burger), Downtown Marriott’s One18 Empire restaurant offers one of the city’s most comprehensive selections of whiskies. 110 9 Ave. S.E., marriott.com, @calgarymarriott

DELTA HOTELS CALGARY SOUTH

Creating a destination hotel restaurant is one thing, but driving local traffic to an airport in-terminal hotel is a much more difficult challenge. Yakima, the Marriott restaurant that sits between YYC’s domestic and international terminals, manages to create a taste of place in a utilitarian building that most people would like to spend as little time in as possible.

The Marriott doesn’t hide the fact it’s in the airport — the people-watching opportunities are part of the charm — but executive chef Eric Beaupré (who also oversees the Codo Agave Social House restaurant at Delta Hotels Calgary Airport

In-Terminal across the street) still manages to offer a distinctively Calgary experience. Local ingredients are front-and-centre, with items like baked Alberta brie topped with Fallentimber honey and served with house-made bannock, as well as a charcuterie platter stacked with VDG meats. A partnership with Bridgeland Distillery provides Yakima with three bespoke “berbons” that appear in a number of sauces, as well as the smoked Old Fashioned. To sweeten the deal, the restaurant offers complimentary parking for up to four hours.

2008 Airport Rd. N.E., yakimayyc.ca, @yakimayyc

This southeast Calgary landmark features two notable eateries: the casual-but-chef-driven Southland Yard Bar and Table (a games and sports bar) and the family-oriented Sage & Co. Market Bar, both overseen by chef Michael Frayne. 135 Southland Dr. S.E., marriott.com, @deltacalgarysouth

HYATT REGENCY CALGARY

The Downtown Hyatt Regency is conveniently adjacent to Modern Steak, but it’s also worth checking out the in-house restaurant, Thomsons Kitchen and Bar, for its cocktails, Canadiana dinner menu and legendary brunch buffet. 700 Centre St. S.E., hyatt.com, @hyattcalgary

CONNECTED BY DESIGN

With the recent completion of Calgary’s ring road, the previously tucked away community of Alpine Park on the city’s west end is seeing a lot more visitors. The master-planned community by Dream Unlimited is a place where urban lifestyle meets easy mountain access.

A 25-minute drive from downtown Calgary and a 30-minute drive to Bragg Creek, Alpine Park’s location embraces the city’s nearby mountain range, surrounding prairies and bustling core — all just a quick drive away.

LEADING URBAN DESIGNS

Along the tree-canopied boulevards, an array of master-designed homes line the neighbourhood. With a mix of condos, townhomes, laned homes, and larger front-drive and rear-drive homes, Alpine Park is the ideal place for anyone looking for their dream home in a dream community.

HDR|Calthorpe, the urban planners of Alpine Park, designed the community to be unlike any other. Founded on New Urbanist principles, the community was built with a focus on human connection. You’ll see wider-thantypical sidewalks that allow you to walk side-by-side with family and friends, innovative public spaces to gather and porch-forward homes.

By favouring porches rather than driveways at the front of homes, Alpine

Park puts people first and cars second. With cars in the back, life can happen out front. Not only are porches more aesthetically pleasing, but they create a safer neighbourhood by reducing traffic and encouraging watchful neighbours, meaning kids can spend time on the front lawn or riding their bikes along the street with less worry.

DESIGNED FOR CONNECTION

The community is made up of spaces where you can easily meet, gather and connect. A pathway system, which illuminates at night, connects a green court system comprised of enhanced outdoor spaces including a large outdoor fireplace for community gatherings and an expansive harvest table arboured by a spacious shade structure. After only a short walk from home, you’ll come across interesting

open spaces including community gardens, viewing areas, BBQ grills, playgrounds, boardwalks and more.

“The vision for Alpine Park prioritizes connection and walkability in equal measure,” affirms Tara Steell, general manager for Calgary Land at Dream Unlimited. “Our goal has been to design a place that offers residents a truly complete community with both retail and residential amenities that coexist in harmony and afford residents a reimagined way of living.”

“THE VISION FOR ALPINE PARK PRIORITIZES CONNECTION AND WALKABILITY IN EQUAL MEASURE”

—Tara Steell, general manager for Calgary Land at Dream Unlimited

At the heart of Alpine Park, and only a short eight-minute walk from the majority of the homes in the community, Village Centre will soon come to life, bringing everyday essentials within close proximity. Village Centre is an accessible urban centre that will make restaurants, shops and services readily available to both those within and beyond the community.

“The idea is that after arriving at Alpine Park, residents or visitors feel the pull of safe, interesting places to explore, walk, bike or roll through,” says Ian Meredith, senior director of development at Dream Unlimited. “The retail offering within Alpine Village is carefully curated towards the needs of the community providing an array of services along with opportunities for entertainment and social experience.”

With this people-first approach, Alpine Park offers a chance to live where you can build a community of meaningful connections.

Alpine Park’s New Urbanist design brings unique neighbourhood features to Calgary.

TIBETHA

BLAZER $725, TANK, $195, AND PANTS, $495, FROM SMYTHE JACQUES DURAND FRAMES, $495, FROM CHINOOK OPTICAL; PURSE, $260, BY ONE21; REEBOK SNEAKERS, $120, FROM SIMONS

EARRINGS, $40, FROM COMBINIST GOODS

GAVIN (OPPOSITE PAGE)

HAT, $265, FROM SMITHBILT HATS; HUGO BOSS JACKET, $178, AND T-SHIRT, $98, AND LE 31 BOLO TIE, $19, FROM SIMONS

SAVANNAH

LE 31 PANTS, $125, LE 31 TOP, $89, AND NECKERCHIEF, $49, ALL FROM SIMONS; ADIDAS SHOES, $190, FROM GRAVITYPOPE JACQUES MARIE MAGE GLASSES, $1,989, FROM BRASS MONOCLE

SAVANNAH

ICHI DRESS, $99, FROM SIMONS; KUBORAUM SUNGLASSES, $575, FROM CHINOOK OPTICAL; BRACELETS, $35 EACH, AND NECKLACE, $75, FROM COMBINIST GOODS; BAG, $59, AND SOCKS, $8, FROM SIMONS; SHOES, $80, FROM ALDO

GAVIN HAT, $265, FROM SMITHBILT HATS; HUGO BOSS JACKET, $178, T-SHIRT, $98, AND JEANS, $178; LE 31 BOLO TIE, $19; AND SHOES, $150; ALL FROM SIMONS

KATELYN

SIMON MILLER TOP $295, AND PANTS, $495, FROM LEO BOUTIQUE SIMON

MILLER BAG, $400, AND AREA EARRINGS, $425, FROM SSENSE; CAMPER SHOES, $255, FROM GRAVITYPOPE

Architect: Saunders Architecture Local Design and Construction Coordination: XYC Design Lead Builder: Priman Homes Interior Furnishings: Kit Interior Objects

Photo: Ema Peter

A DIVINE BEGINNING

Carlos Soares, founder and CEO of Divine Flooring, shares how the pieces of his flooring company came together.

Carlos Soares was involved in construction and housing projects from an early age. His father, Carlos Soares Sr., ran his own ironworks business, then called A&C Ornamental Iron Works Ltd., which he began in 1976. Growing up, Soares watched his father expertly connect with clients. Inspired, Soares went on to marry his love of housing projects with his own passion for flooring.

“I’ve always loved housing [projects] and felt that flooring is an impactful part of that process, especially how it changes a house,” says Soares. When Soares began planning his own flooring company, he knew he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps, providing quality customer service, but also do things a bit differently. From the start, Soares planned to buy and sell directly to the customer, rather than use a middleman to interact with customers and ensure better quality controls.

In 1999, Soares opened his company, Divine Flooring. The company name was inspired by the most beautiful flooring Soares ever saw: a magazine cover showcasing a hardwood flooring installation inside the St. John Cantius Church in Chicago, captioned as “a divine installation.”

Although Soares knew the first year of starting a new business would be challenging, nothing could prepare him for what happened next. In 2000, Soares was diagnosed with stage 3 pelvic cancer at the age of 24 and hospitalized for three months to undergo surgery and chemotherapy. At the same time, his wife was pregnant with their first child. Soares’ community rallied to support him, and, with the help of his family and friends, as well as the local builder community, Soares beat cancer. The experience inspired him to make giving back to those in need — particularly charities supporting children with cancer — a foundation of Divine Flooring’s culture. (Read more on page 83.)

Divine Flooring grew organically from then on. In 2004, Soares’ brother, Dave, opened a branch in Edmonton. Then, in 2009, Soares’ best friend, Nick DeVito, opened a third branch in Vancouver.

After expanding into Vancouver, Divine Flooring’s growth accelerated.

Soares began importing throughout Canada and into the U.S., and sourcing materials from top factories in Europe and Asia. Soares also focused on ensuring that every Divine Flooring product line is locally designed, developed and installed by its team.

Today, Divine Flooring has showrooms in Edmonton, Calgary, Chicago and Vancouver, and offers stylish engineered hardwood, vinyl, carpet, tiles and laminate for specialty retail, commercial and residential needs. The company also has its own custom wood shop to produce mouldings for specialty projects.

Divine Flooring continues to live up to its name.

“You don’t build a company like ours with just one person. It takes a group of dedicated people, and that’s what we have — a team who believes in Divine Flooring,” says Soares.

Key Milestones on the Divine Flooring Journey

1999

Armed with a business plan and a dream, and backed financially by client and friend Johnny Chen, Carlos Soares establishes a wood flooring company based in Calgary.

Divine Flooring establishes a showroom and flooring store. The company continues to develop a signature approach to personalized customer service.

Divine unveils designer-inspired vignettes and a minimalist organization of its product.

Divine flooring expands into the U.S. and the Chicago showroom opens.

PHOTOGRPAHS: JARED SYCH

BUILDING COMMUNITY

In 25 years, Divine Flooring has seen a lot of change, but its values have remained the same.

To know brothers Carlos and Dave Soares is to know passion, humility and an unwavering drive to help those in need. Carlos, founder and CEO of Divine Flooring, and Dave, VP of operations, have undoubtedly impacted the community for the better through the business. Now, as 25 years have come and gone, Divine Flooring has a lot more than just beautiful floors to look back on.

2019

2024

Dave credits the company’s charity-driven values to his and his brother’s upbringing. “We grew up in an environment watching my parents lend a hand to family and friends when needed, and that definitely carries forward to our company,” he says.

Today, Divine’s community impact is widespread through different charity events, philanthropic projects and sponsorships. While the company has always offered a helping hand, Dave explains some years were tough, so giving back was more about time than money: “I’m proud that we have gotten to a point financially where we can now make more financial contributions to some of these charities and people that are struggling.”

Dave joined the company in 2003, around the time Carlos was in treatment for stage 3 pelvic cancer. “That was devastating for our family, and it just brought all those values even closer to home,” says Dave. Divine has helped charities and organizations of all sorts, but helping kids and families, especially those fighting cancer, has always been a core component of what they do.

Executive team member, Jason Mauro, has been with the company for two years. He says the community-driven values at Divine attracted him to join the team — and examples of these values in action continue to grow.

“As a company, we’re constantly innovating in anything that we’re doing: from our process, to the way we serve our customers, to how we’re going to make our charity events better or raise more money so that we can give more back. It’s always about innovation. We’re never afraid of that entrepreneurial spirit and to try something new,” he says.

Dave adds that there are bigger and better things to come, but for now, Divine already has many accomplishments and partnerships to be proud of. >>>

Divine Flooring launches Barley & Smoke, a charity event raising funds for the Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta.

Divine Flooring completes construction of its new headquarters building in Calgary and celebrates 25 years.

Carlos Soares (right) with his brother, Dave.

Jason Mauro, executive team member at Divine Flooring.

Dave Soares, VP of operations at Divine Flooring.

BARLEY & SMOKE

“It’s the best barbecue food in Calgary,” says Dave. Divine initiated the launch of Barley & Smoke, a charity event raising funds for the Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta. Since 2019, the summer barbecue and beer event has been growing, raising more and more money as the years pass. With a purchased ticket, Calgarians can enjoy food and drink samples from local establishments like Trolley 5 Brewpub, as well as live entertainment. In 2023, the event raised $156,128.62, and plans to return even stronger this August. The goal is to raise more than $1 million in donations in the next five years.

REVVING UP FOR KIDS

Divine Flooring has sponsored Revving Up for Kids with Cancer since 2006. The event, which involves dozens of bikers on an organized ride, has taken Carlos and Dave on motorcycle adventures from Alberta to B.C., and they’ve raised $84,000 through their participation.

“I’ll never forget our first one,” says Dave. “It was amazing.”

Dave remembers a ceremony from his first event where kids battling cancer showed off the beads they’d received for each treatment, medical procedure or milestone throughout their journey. “The first time that I watched this, a little boy had a chain that went around the room, and he had enough beads to make every biker a bracelet,” he says. “It just goes to show you what some of these families go through.”

Blast from the Past

Trolley 5 Brewery is honoured to support Barley & Smoke. To celebrate Divine's 25th anniversary, Trolley 5 is collaborating with Divine to create a hazy pale recipe — it’s a nod to Trolley 5’s now-retired Smooth Operator Hazy Pale. This smooth-drinking beer will be available for private consumption by friends, colleagues, and Divine Flooring customers at local events and festivities happening throughout the year.

PAR-TEEING FOR KIDS WITH CANCER

Inspired by the community-building efforts of Barley & Smoke, the Edmonton branch of Divine Flooring organized a charity golf tournament in 2023 that combines local craft beer and barbecue with a friendly competition of golf. Dubbed the Oak and Ale Invitational, this exclusive industry event raised over $74,000 for the Kids with Cancer Society of Edmonton in its inaugural year. The event returns this June with a goal to raise $150,000.

BUILDING HOMES

Throughout its 25 years, the company has been involved in affordable housing projects like the Bob Ward Residence project back in 2003, where Divine assisted with affordable housing for people living with mental illnesses or brain injuries. In 2005, Divine restored and expanded the Mary Dover House, helping provide safe and affordable housing for women and children. Without hesitation, Divine has jumped at opportunities to work with Habitat for Humanity, install flooring for women’s shelters and even help build a bungalow for a Calgary family after their two daughters were diagnosed with Friedreich’s Ataxia, a genetic disease that causes progressive damage to the nervous system. Divine is committed to acting on its vision to help members of the community. As the company continues to grow, the mission remains strong and the impact deep.

The 2023 Barley & Smoke event raised over $156,000 for the Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta. The event boasted a great venue and fantastic live entertainment (above).

PHOTOGRAPHS: JOEL KLASSEN

CELEBRATING DIVINE FLOORING’S PEOPLE, PAST AND FUTURE

This spring, the company moved its headquarters into a beautifully and thoughtfully designed space in Rocky View County that reflects all the brand stands for.

In Divine Flooring’s second location, located in Calgary’s southeast on Manhattan Road, a huge sign hung over a showroom door.

“Divine Hardwood Flooring Ltd.,” it read. “We have the best product on the market because we have the best people in the market.”

That sentiment still stands true today. For Carlos Soares, the company’s founder and CEO, it’s the people who have made Divine Flooring what it is: a trusted, well-loved and much-respected brand in the construction and homebuilding industry. This spring, Divine Flooring moved its headquarters and warehouse into a new, permanent location in Rocky View County; its showroom remains on Fairmount Drive. Soares helped ensure this new space was designed to attract and retain the best people and also reflect the innovation and expertise of the Divine Flooring team.

A PLACE WHERE GREAT WORK HAPPENS

After two years of planning, design and construction, staff at Divine Flooring moved into its new 88-000-square-foot corporate headquarters this spring, which is located near the Heatherglen Golf Course. Soares worked with Eagle Builders to erect a space that reflects the brand, its people and its impact over the last 25 years.

“In terms of our beginnings, we were very forward-thinking and true craftsmen. Since 1999, we have been innovating to be more than just a flooring company,” says Ashley Scott, Divine Flooring’s corporate showroom manager and product development. “Carlos is definitely a visionary. He knew exactly what elements he wanted to incorporate into the new headquarters to make it a place where people really wanted to come to work.”

Scott describes the design as industrial chic. “There’s an

organic, raw and industrial feel. Throughout, the colours are black and white, which is true to our brand. There are big windows with a ton of natural light, natural wood tones and an organic, minimalist feel.”

Additionally, the HQ has a gym and a golf simulator room, which highlights Divine’s playfulness and appreciation for its team. “The golf sim is true to the people who work for our brand and the culture of the community of customers we serve. It provides a fun leisure activity where employees and customers alike can connect,” says Scott.

A BRAND THAT CREATES CONNECTION AND ENCOURAGES COLLABORATION

The office layout, kitchen and lounges are also a nod to Divine’s appreciation for its people.

“We really wanted the space to be open concept to allow for optimal collaboration. We have so many different departments that work with each other, and no one in the company wants to appear unapproachable,” says Scott. The kitchen and bleacherstyle seating for company meetings and social get-togethers foster this sense of community.

The new space is also welcoming to the many different organizations Divine works with. “Our new HQ has an installer lounge and a pickup lounge for people who are sourcing material from our warehouse. We incorporated this into our new space because Divine recognizes that these people are important,” says Scott. “When they’re picking up material, they can come in for a break, have a coffee, network and connect with us.”

While the new space is symbolic of Divine Flooring and how far it has come, at its core, it’s a reflection of the people who are integral to the brand. It’s a creative, innovative, design-forward space that will continue attracting the best as the company looks to the future.

Renderings show the inside of Divine Flooring’s new headquarters, which includes a kitchen space, golf simulator and bleacher-style seating.

COLLABORATING WITH COMMUNITY

Divine Flooring was never a company that just took an order. From its first days in business, it aimed to push the limits and be part of interesting, creative projects. “We started importing and designing our own brand of flooring, and still to this day, we collaborate with the design community to create products,” says Ashley Scott. “We seem to be a designer’s first choice for flooring, and that is such a privilege.”

Here are just a few of the talented and influential designers who have chosen to work with Divine Flooring.

Karin Bohn

In 2013, Carlos Soares commissioned Karin Bohn (below), the award-winning designer behind the Vancouver-based firm House of Bohn, to design a contemporary collection of wide-plank engineered hardwood flooring. This collaboration resulted in the Cosmopolitan collection, a flooring that conveys a New York style of living. Several colours from this collection have been Divine’s top-selling products for more than a decade.

In 2018, Divine collaborated with six local interior designers to re-imagine the firm’s in-store vignettes at its flagship showroom on Fairmount Drive. Among the designers were Alykhan Velji of Alykhan Velji Designs, Janelle Erickson and Stephanie Smith of SmithErickson Designs and Nyla Free of NFDI Inc.

Alykhan Velji

Velji and his team created a bar space

that drew inspiration from the Regency era. The vignette mixes textures, materials and patterns, evoking feelings of luxury and poise. Using floors from Divine collections like the Louis XIV engineered parquet, Velji created a space that mixes classic and modern elements for a look that is both original and timeless.

Janelle Erickson and Stephanie Smith

The SmithErickson Designs team used Divine’s Cosmopolitan Naked oak hardwood to create a foyer vignette with a refined and vintage feel. The team took inspiration from a Parisian apartment and used a chevron patterned floor to add depth.

Nyla Free

The goal for Free’s powder room vignette was to design a timeless space inspired by European style that didn’t feel curated. Using Divine’s cultured yet homey Farmhouse collection, Free’s work shows that the flooring you use in a space can add texture, balance and sophistication.

Even More Collaborations

In 2023, Divine Flooring again teamed up with local interior designers, architects and select trade partners to bring thematic spaces to life for its flagship showroom. This time, vignettes included a luxe lobby by Louis DuncanHe Designs, a modern café by Hella Design Studio, a minimalist yoga studio by Martin Lee Design, a traditional mud room by Mera Studio Architects, a vintage pantry by SmiddyStegman and a rustic wine room by Studio Felix.

The bar space vignette by Alykhan Velji.

The foyer vignette by SmithErickson Designs.

The powder room vignette by Nyla Free.

VIGNETTES, JOEL KLASSEN

vignette

Louis Duncan-He.

Suzanne Tetrault, owner of Studio Felix.

How to g e t r i D All yoUr

BY RITA SIRIGNANO ILLUSTRATIONS BY JARETT SITTER

Years ago, or so the story goes, friends of friends purchased Leonard Cohen’s childhood home in Montreal.

Upon taking possession, the buyers discovered the house hadn’t been emptied and Cohen’s bedroom was exactly as he’d left it decades earlier. On the dresser they found a note: Please enjoy my things, I don’t need them anymore.

o F $ t

While I’ve no way of verifying this story, I don’t doubt it; Cohen was a Zen Buddhist monk for a time, and non-attachment is a fundamental teaching of the faith. A picture of him in his early 70s in the bedroom of his home (saved, aspirationally, on my cluttered computer desktop) shows him sitting on the bed, the only other furniture in the room being an old floor lamp.

I, too, once lived spartanly; someone once described the bedroom of my art-school apartment as looking like the dorm room of a nun. (Ironically, in the basement of the house was a tunnel that led to the Catholic church one street over, should the wiseguy son of the woman I rented from need to make a hasty escape.) Since that apartment, I’ve moved 11 times, including twice between countries, yet, somehow, I’ve still managed to acquire a whole lot of stuff. This was made no more evident to me than during the COVID-19 pandemic, when, for more than two years, I lived and worked amongst that stuff 24-7, often wishing JustJunk would come over and just haul it all away.

A partial list of the things in my house taking up space includes: my mother’s Limoges china that hasn’t seen a dinner party in 20 years; my adult sons’ vast collection of Archie comics, stored in boxes under a bed; my high school tennis racket, despite not setting foot on a court in decades; two plastic milk crates of record albums (I don’t own a turntable). There are shoeboxes of photographs of people whose names I no longer remember; shoes with three-inch heels that cost a

mortgage payment that my hobbled feet can no longer wear, and vintage clothes, lots of vintage clothes. Media passes from every event I attended in my past life as a journalist hang on lanyards off doorknobs. There are stacks of vintage Artforum, Vogue Italia and The World of Interiors magazines that Pinterest boards have replaced in usefulness. The girlfriend who once asked me to leave her the Vogues in my will has since moved to London and recently told me I could recycle them.

Then, I made the mistake of looking at what those copies of Italian Vogue sell for on eBay. One, from February 1990, featuring a double image of Linda Evangelista grimacing on the cover, is selling for 250 British Pound Sterling (about $426.45 Canadian!) — not including shipping.

Turns out that eBay listing was from a vintage fashion magazine shop in the U.K. that has an archive of more than 100,000 titles. I sent them an email inquiring what they’d give me for my copy, acknowledging I knew it would be far less than what they’d sell it for. They never wrote back.

And herein lies the rub: You have all this stuff, and you think it’s worth something, because it’s easy to find what this stuff retails for on the thriving resale market. Thriving, because the planet, like you, is being buried by stuff, and an increasing number of people, concerned about over-production and consumption, are buying and selling secondhand. It’s called the circular economy, and I’m all for it. But, unless you want to open an Etsy store, or spend half your day on Facebook Marketplace fending off scammers, lowballers, and buyers who never show up, you’re not going to get $426.25 for that Vogue Italia. Or maybe you will, but it will take weeks, months, even years to find a buyer who loves Linda Evangelista that badly. And you want it gone.

So where does a person in this corner of the world concerned about their carbon footprint get rid of their stuff?

Here are a few suggestions...

MATTRESSES

You’ve probably not given much thought to the environmental impact of hauling an old mattress to the dump, but you should. It takes years for a mattress in a landfill to decompose, or else it’s burned, which is equally bad for the planet. Rest easy by taking old mattresses and futons to Re-Matt, a mattress recycler located right here in YYC. (For $20, they’ll also recycle expired car seats.)

THAT BEATER IN THE BACK Alley

I’m holding onto my car until the Green Line is built. But, if I had one to dispose of, I’d probably call Donate a Car Canada. (Note, the name is something of a misnomer, as they also accept RV’s, boats and motorcycles, no matter the condition.) The process is painless — simply complete an online form and they come and tow it away. Depending on the condition, they’ll auction, sell or recycle it. Your chosen charity gets the proceeds, less Donate a Car’s commission, and you get a tax receipt. The Food Bank, Meow Foundation and Alberta Theatre Projects are just three of the many, many Calgary non-profits who will thank you.

METAL

If you really need the cash, a metal recycler will also give you money for your car — though you’ll have to drive or tow it to them. There are numerous metal recyclers in Calgary — most are located in the southeast — and they’ll also take things like refrigerators, patio furniture, pots and pans and filing cabinets. (Nobody keeps files anymore, so nobody wants your old metal filing cabinets. At the time of writing, one recycler, Recon Metal, was paying nine cents a pound for them.)

BOOKS

Did I mention I have books? I have many, many, books. Entire walls, in fact. (They do help keep heating costs down in my 1912 heritage home insulated with shredded newspapers.) I stand by the position that you should buy books because you love them and want to support writers — full disclaimer, I work for a literary festival — and not because they’re going to fund your retirement someday, or even your contentious divorce, as I heard one writer/book reviewer discovered when he tried to sell his library to pay his lawyer. Despite owning hundreds of books, many signed by icons of Can-Lit, he couldn’t get more than 2K for the lot. That’s not to say some books aren’t valuable; my signed copy of The Philosophy of Andy Warhol, bought at a Baptist church rummage sale in Texas for 75 cents some 30 years ago, is worth anywhere between $200 and $5,000 when I last checked abebooks.com

But there were 40 copies, so I suspect it wouldn’t exactly fly off my shelf anytime soon. If you don’t have the patience to sell your books to a reseller like Fair’s Fair or Pages, Books Between Friends will take your books off your hands. Located in the northeast, it’s a volunteer-run bookstore that gives profits to a variety of charitable organizations. There are also two charity book sales happening in May that will accept donations of books you want to pass on to the next reader: the Calgary Reads book sale and The RESET Society of Calgary’s book sale. Or, stock some of the many Little Free Libraries scattered throughout Calgary.

IKEA FURNITURE

Despite some vintage IKEA furniture items commanding big bucks on furniture resale sites (Instagram’s @geniusbones has a corner on the local market), your now-emptied Billy bookcases aren’t worth much, and some thrift shops won’t even accept them. But, IKEA now has a sell-back program: you email them pictures and they email you back with what it’s worth in store credit. (Just remember, you don’t need any more stuff!) Note that the item needs to be brought into the store fully assembled — not very convenient if you don’t own a truck.

ART

Loathe that painting your ex gave you one Christmas? Does the twee landscape inherited from Grandma not fit your mid-century-modern decor? Donate art you no longer enjoy to the Rotary Club of Calgary Heritage Park Second Chance Art Sale. Proceeds support community programs such as Calgary Seniors’ Resource Society and Hull Services.

BITS, BOBS + BATTERIES

New Calgary company, Tricky Trash, will take away the stuff you can’t give away — old batteries, old paint, expired medications, used razors, to name just a few pesky items — and make sure they’re delivered to the proper processing centre or recycler. Tricky Trash supplies you with a “Bits, Bobs, and Batteries” box, and, once full, bikes it away for a $5 collection fee (whatever doesn’t fit in the box costs an additional $2). And no, that’s not a typo, Tricky Trash does all its pick-ups and distribution using an Urban Arrow electric cargo bike, no matter the weather!

CRAFT + SEWING SUPPLIES

From that quilt project you started but never finished, to the sewing machine gathering dust in your basement, the Ujamaa Grandmas Fabric and Yarn Sale will gladly take it for their annual spring fundraiser for the Stephen Lewis Foundation Grandmothers to Grandmothers campaign. All monies go to support grandmothers and community-based organizations in African countries hit hard by the AIDS pandemic.

ELECTRONICS

Electronic Recycling Association will take all your old electronics, and either fix, recycle or donate them to schools and charities in need (laptops are always in high demand). As part of a pilot project with Alberta Recycling Management Authority, The City of Calgary will also accept most anything with a power cord or battery — even solar panels — free of charge. See the full list of acceptable items at armaepilot.com.

EVERYTHING, INCLUDING THE KITCHEN SINK

Altruism can often feel much better than the hassle of trying to sell stuff. And Value Village, as they often remind you over their P.A. system, is a for-profit organization. While they will give you a 20-per cent-off coupon for use in their store (good for purchases up to $50!), remember: You don’t need more stuff! Instead, donate your clothing and household items to an organization like The Kidney Foundation or Diabetes Canada which sell your castoffs to Value Village and use the proceeds for research. They’ll even come pick the stuff up.

Lately, I’ve been donating unwanted clothing and small household items to the volunteer-run Good Neighbour, whose retail model is one I can get behind. Good Neighbour will either distribute the items at their pay-what-you-can store, or sell them at their thrift store, which gives all funds raised back to the community. For larger items, like bedroom sets or kitchen furniture, The Calgary Drop-In Centre’s Free Goods Program provides low- and no-income Calgarians all the things needed to furnish a home. They take almost anything clean and not broken, and work with more than 120 agencies to distribute the goods to those in need, including new Canadians, refugees and victims of natural disasters. Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore will take new or gently used furniture, home decor, appliances less than 10 years old or building materials, with the proceeds going towards affordable housing projects.

If all of this seems overwhelming, call YYC Junk and let them do the work. While not a free service, YYC Junk will clear out your entire house, then make sure they either donate or recycle whatever they remove, with a trip to the landfill the last resort.

If you have the time, here are a few tips provided by my friend, Mike, who has taken an almost scientific approach to figuring out how to optimize the process of selling stuff he no longer needs.

If the price is firm, say so. Otherwise, you’ll have buyers showing up trying to dicker and getting peeved you didn’t put price firm in the listing.

Price it right. Mike believes you get more action when things are priced higher than they should be, and once conducted an experiment to prove it. He and his wife posted the same item — a very ’90s wrought-iron wine rack — on Kijiji. His wife put it up with no explanation, at half the price he posted; his listing included dimensions and a cheeky story about what a workhorse of a wine rack it had been. His wife got no inquiries and only five looks; his received over 30 and it sold for the list price. Mike says good copy makes all the difference. “Buyers need to feel they are buying something you valued, not just something you’re trying to unload,” he says.

Find your audience. “There are people out there who collect really weird stuff,” Mike says. “Do an online search and connect with them.” To Mike’s point: the guy in Brooklyn who trolls eBay for copies of The Velvet Underground and Nico, no matter what the condition — he owns 800 copies. Perhaps he’d be interested in mine, an original copy with the banana sticker half peeled off, bought in 1977 at a thrift shop in Providence, R.I., for a dollar. During one of my many moves, I left my record collection in a box in a humid basement and the corners were eaten by mould, but I just can’t toss it in the black cart, which is where all my other scratched, dogeared and mouldy records will go: Record albums are not recyclable, and there’s only so many oven crafts you can make out of them.

One last tip (from me): Let it Go. Be prepared to see some Gen X or Z’er selling your old crap at your next neighbourhood night market (it’s happened to me) for 10 times what they paid you. Remember, they’ve had to haul the stuff there, pay for the booth and stand around while people haggle over the price. Be thankful it’s no longer in your house, but didn’t end up in a landfill. –R.S.

HOW TO WORK YOUR COMMUTING ATTIRE

On a daily basis, Gabriel RisbudVincent bikes to and from the office where he works as a renewable energy analyst. But, unlike those who dress for the ride and then change for the workday, he has tailored his apparel to work either way. “The classic [choice for cycling] is wearing spandex, but an outfit that works for both removes the obstacle of having to change at work,” he says.

Favouring muted tones, RisbudVincent opts for collared shirts in breathable fabrics, paired with stretchy chinos. He layers on top a navy twill overshirt with pockets that provide easy access to essential items. Aside from his helmet — a piece that he admits has nothing to do with style and everything to do with safety — Risbud-Vincent’s go-to accessory for biking to work is a bespoke 3Dprinted pant-clip that he designed and created himself.

Overshirt, thrifted find; polo and chinos from Kit and Ace; T-shirt from Simons; belt from The Bay; socks, gifted by his parents; shoes, “my trusty Vans;” pant clip, designed and 3D-printed by Risbud-Vincent; ring is his “Iron Ring” received upon graduation in biomechanical engineering from the University of Alberta; helmet from The Bike Shop; pannier bag from MEC; bike, Trek FX 2 Disc.

ENGINEER GABRIEL RISBUD-VINCENT ROLLS WITH A SMART-CASUAL LOOK THAT WORKS FOR BOTH THE OFFICE AND THE RIDE.

Bathtub Bikes owner Adam Rhind on what turns his crank

tarting a business in a garage is pretty normal. A bathtub? Not so much. But that’s how Bathtub Bikes, a bike repair and sales shop specializing in vintage and used bikes, got its start. In 2015, founder Adam Rhind decided to restore an old 10-speed in his one-bedroom apartment, with his bathtub doubling as a wash bay. More bikes followed, friends came with their bikes, and soon Rhind had a small business on his hands. Eventually, demand got big enough to move the operation out of the bathtub and into a shop space, but the name stuck.

Rhind worked in retail management before switching gears. With Bathtub Bikes, his focus has shifted from just selling bikes to making them more accessible and affordable through the use of refurbished parts, community outreach programs and bike-repair courses. We caught up with Rhind to find out what he loves about fixing and selling bikes.

QWhat drew you to repair bikes?

“A lot of people view it as a hobby, but I find it to be more of a functional artform. I could sit here and stare at the stuff all day, and I do. When I was 14, I found myself staring at my BMX bike one night — I had been riding it all day, but I still was just staring at it because it was something so beautiful.”

QWhat is something you really geek out over?

“I really get jazzed off the detective work of bike

repair. When we bring in an old bike with mismatching parts, trying to stitch that story together of who changed what, and when they changed it is fun.

QWhat’s the most fulfilling part of your job?

“We do communitybased work with Youth En Route, which focuses on transportation accessibility for school-aged students. We did free bike maintenance classes in 10 different schools last year and we were able to reach 1,100 students and connect them with

education and resources, same way we do here in the shop.

Q

What keeps you excited about running the shop?

“We get to have fun. We have a bike that we built [from scratch] that weighs less than 10 pounds. I’ve also made a bunch of art from old bike parts. We build things just for the fun of it, with no purpose whatsoever other than just to be fun.”

3307 17 Ave. S.E., 587-227-5423, bathtubbikes.com, @bathtubbikes

unches of lime-green, yellow, orange and blue set the tone for a reimagining of the kitchen/dining area of this 1931 bungalow. The house, located in the inner-city community of Renfrew, belongs to Vlad Amiot, his partner, Stephen Keating, and their aging husky, Jack. After searching for an affordable, just-right “Goldilocks” house together (Amiot had lived in a tiny downtown apartment; Keating in a sprawling suburban house), the couple saw the 1,000-square-foot bungalow and immediately bought it to renovate.

Amiot, founder of Picostudio and a sessional instructor at the University of Calgary’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, wanted a project in which he could get his hands dirty as the designer, contractor and builder. He took on almost everything, contracting out the HVAC duct-work, mudding and taping, window installation, and refinishing of the hardwood floors.

As the couple often hosts lively gatherings of friends and family, it was clear that the traditional segmented layout needed to be opened up, so Amiot removed the wall separating the kitchen from the dining area. A bank of millwork now flanks one side, with a niche exposing the lath and plaster of an old wall. It serves as a sideboard for eye-catching decor items, or as a bar during parties. The millwork is topped by clerestorey windows that allow light to filter in from the primary bedroom behind it. A sculptural hood fan in Baltic birch, with ducting painted bright yellow, hovers above the cooktop. The focal point is a mid-century modern-meets-industrial table that seats eight comfortably. There’s also storage under the bench, much needed in the small twobedroom, one-bathroom house.

The end result is undeniably joyful. “My partner’s sister said to us: ‘How can you not be happy in this house?’” Amiot says

COMFORT AND JOY

The kitchen and dining area of an inner-city bungalow are given new life with thoughtful design ideas and pops of bright colour.

BY VALERIE BERENYI

THE FLOOR

The white, grey, yellow and blue tiles (Tex by Raw Edges, offered by Mutina) were a “splurge” says homeowner/designer Vlad Amiot, who configured the hexagonal patterns and painstakingly did the tiling himself. Looking back, he confesses the process “gave me migraines.”

THE FIXTURES

For the dining area, Amiot and his partner, Stephen Keating, chose LabWare’s subtly quirky opaque white-glass pendants, complete with cork stoppers, because, according to Amiot, they “liked how they reminded us of high-school science class.”

THE CUPBOARDS

The smooth, clean lines of IKEA’s white Veddinge cupboard fronts get a pop of personality with black matte cabinet pulls from Richelieu’s Aversa collection that Amiot deliberately laid out in a random fashion.

THE SEATING

Amiot designed and built all of the Baltic birch millwork used throughout the house, including the dining table and the bench, which has a cubby for Jack’s dog toys at one end and a built-in feeding station for his water and food bowls at the other end.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PICOSTUDIO

May is Mental Health Month

Nash Epp is a Youth Employment Counsellor at Wood’s Homes, a mental health centre for young people and their families. At one time, he was a client. “I’m living proof that meeting a young person where they’re at can dramatically alter the direction of their life,” he says.

Growing up, Nash’s family struggled to manage the complex realities of living with mental health issues.

“Our story includes generational trauma, significant loss, moving, addiction issues, and financial hardships,” he says.

“I was battling severe anxiety, depression, and navigating my identity. My family didn’t understand.”

To cope, Nash, turned to friends who were facing their own challenges, but trouble with substances, the law, and school led him to a breaking point.

“At a young age, my life was heading in a dark direction,” says Nash.

That’s when he found Wood’s Homes. Nash says being able to reconnect with school, receive guidance from counsellors, and meet peers facing similar challenges completely transformed his perspective and path.

“Fortunately, I found a place that helped remove the barriers I was facing and that changed the course of my life. I see young people every day with the same needs I had when I was their age.”

Building good mental health and well-being so everyone can thrive in their community.

BY ELIZABETH CHORNEY-BOOTH , LISA KADANE , CHRIS LANDRY , KARIN OLAFSON , ANDREW PENNER OLIVIA PICHÉ MICHAELA REAM AND ALANA WILLERTON

THE 2024 GUIDE TO

SUMMER IN THE MOUNTAINS

You’ve hiked to the Lake Agnes Tea House in Lake Louise, biked the Banff Legacy Trail and camped in Kananaskis. When you’re not roughing it, you have your favourite hotel where you always stay and restaurant where you always order the same thing. And sure, these experiences are great, but this summer, you’re ready for something new!

That’s where this guide comes in. We highlight activities that you might not have tried before and under-the-radar spots to explore; plus new places to eat and drink and bed down for the night

So, put a pin in those “but we do it every summer!” plans. Embrace the new and unexpected and make your time in the mountains ultimately memorable.

PHOTO BY JOHN PRICE, COURTESY OF TOURISM CANMORE KANANASKIS

A FRESH SPIN ON MOUNTAIN BIKING

some masochistic mountain bikers may tell you they derive pleasure from a rooty and rocky, unrelenting 1,560-metre climb. But the majority of those freaks are lying through their grit-smeared teeth.

Forget riding uphill: shuttling is the way to go!

Enter Toby Creek Adventures in Panorama, B.C., the first shuttle-access mountain bike operation in the area. Adventurous mountain bikers in the intermediate or advanced class can take the 20-person (max) shuttle, which departs on the hour from the Toby Creek base area. With the shuttle doing the uphill grind, your legs will be fresh for every lap.

Lorraine Blancher, Toby Creek Adventures’ marketing manager and a former pro mountain bike athlete, says each lap takes about 40 minutes and the shuttle ride up is 20 minutes. The cost is $30 for the initial ride and $10 for each additional lap. E-bikers can ride the up-track after the shuttle departs each hour at a cost of $20 per lap.

“So far, we’ve built two private, worldclass trails … and there are more trails coming,” Blancher says. She adds that trails at the bottom half of the mountain are rated intermediate and feature “nonstop berms, rollers, table-tops and tons of side-hits.”

Toby Creek Adventures also operates a skills park at the base area, plus a one-kilometre green-level flow trail that Blancher says is “perfect for beginners to practise their skills and try out the sport.”

So, while big-air aficionados — and, yes, easy-does-it “flow” riders who like to keep it chill — can all currently find their happy place at Toby Creek, the adventure company has even bigger plans on the horizon.

“We’re just waiting on [provincial] government tenure approval to add guided high-alpine rides in the upper reaches of our private terrain,” says Blancher. “It’s going to be a mountainbike experience on par with the best in North America.” —A.P.

tobycreekadventures.com

PACK IT UP

If adventure-riding is your jam, you may want to get into bikepacking, a fast-growing genre in off-road cycling. Bikepacking is an overnight or multiday adventure on your mountain bike or gravel bike — and thanks to a plethora of frame-packs, saddle-bags and tight-fighting panniers now on the market, it’s easier than you think.

(That being said, space and weight restrictions mean you’ll have to forgo bringing your drink-blending apparatus for plastic mini-bottles.) Some popular two-day bikepacking trips within range from Calgary include the Lake Minnewanka shoreline, Elk Pass and the Big Elbow/Little Elbow loop in K-Country. To learn more about bikepacking, the necessary equipment, possible routes and essential planning tips, visit the experts at your local bike shop. –A.P.

DIRT DREAMS: A RIDER ON AN ADVANCED TRAIL OPERATED BY TOBY CREEK ADVENTURES.

PHOTO BY MARGUS RIGA

EXPLORE NEW HEIGHTS

Ready to take your summer mountain experiences up a notch? Consider rock climbing in the Rockies.

from its inclusion in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, to cultural touchstones like the adrenaline-pumping Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo, the sport of rock climbing is more popular than ever.

Calgarians are fortunate to be in proximity to world-class climbing in the Rockies, particularly in the Bow Valley. But, climbing is an inherently dangerous sport that requires a lot of training and preparation. Thankfully, there are plenty of guiding companies that will help you on your way.

“[Outdoor rock climbing] is a bit of a break from city life, and a way to connect with a natural space,” says Mike Trehearne, founder and director of operations at Cloud Nine Guides in Canmore, a company that offers rock climbing courses and guided tours in the Canmore area.

For a beginner with little experience, the entry point is top-rope climbing — a style where the rope is anchored from above, while the belayer (the person holding the rope from below) takes the slack as you climb upwards, so there are few, if any, big falls. After that comes lead climbing, where you secure the rope on pre-bolted points as you climb higher — a style that can result in longer falls.

For new climbers Cloud Nine offers guided tours, where guides take care of the logistical and technical stuff, like gear, finding routes, and setting ropes and anchors. You just show up and climb with a gorgeous view.

The next step is to learn the technical stuff yourself. Trehearne says rock climbing is fairly low-risk with proper training, but he always suggests taking a course with an accredited guide. “One of the things I often see is friends teaching friends with the best intentions, but they’re not always up to date with best practices,” he says.

Cloud Nine offers two-day courses where you learn the basics indoors at Calgary Climbing Centre Rocky Mountain, then head to the

crag on the second day with an instructor. Guided tours start at $275 for a full day, while two-day lead climbing courses start at $225.

Another must? Helmets. Rockfall comes with the territory, especially at a busy crag with potentially dozens of climbers above.

Once you’ve mastered the technical stuff, Trehearne has a few suggestions for climbing spots. Wasootch Slabs in Kananaskis Country is an excellent place to start close to Calgary.

Sunshine Slabs in Banff National Park is another option.

And websites like thecrag.com are excellent resources for finding more climbing routes, complete with pictures, guides and grades of difficulty. —C.L.

cloudnineguides.com

RISE ABOVE

Hiking up to a viewpoint is all well and good, but if you want to go above and beyond, take a heli-tour! Heli-tours are generally short (around half an hour) and showcase alpine areas few people have ever seen.

Rockies Heli Canada

Taking off from Abraham Lake, Rockies Heli Canada has several options including a tour of Six Glaciers. rockiesheli.com

Banff Adventures

Banff Adventures offers heli-tours of the Banff National Park area, including Mount Assiniboine, and has the option of a “helicopter in, hike out” tour. banffadventures.com

Jasper-Hinton Air

Take a tour of Mount Robson, try your hand (and feet) at heli-snowshoeing, or land in the mountains and try some secluded heli-yoga. –C.L. jasperhelitours.com

CLOUD NINE GUESTS ON A ROCK-CLIMBING ROUTE NEAR BANFF.

PHOTO BY MIKE TREHEARNE/CLOUD NINE GUIDES

SADDLE UP

For a fresh perspective, make horse riding your mane event.

if you’re looking to experience the mountains in a whole new way this summer, then consider taking in the view from the back of a horse.

Thanksgiving Ranch, located approximately 20 minutes north of Waterton Lakes National Park, is a working cattle ranch that officially opened to the public in 2019. Brad and Christi Bustard are the second-generation ranch owners. Christi’s parents bought the land in 1979.

In 2017, the Bustards decided to renovate one of the ranch’s buildings, called The Lodge, to accommodate guests. While guests can explore the grounds through activities like hiking and mountain biking, the ultimate Thanksgiving

SUPER FRESH IDEA

Yeehaw! Mix Horses and Camping

To really embrace the Wild West lifestyle, try riding by day and camping under the stars by night. McKenzie’s Trails West in Cline River, Alta., about three-and-a-half hours northeast of Calgary, has a 50year history of guiding overnight horse riding trips. Do a single-night excursion or level up to an eight-day adventure through areas like the Coral Creek Valley. –M.R. mctrails.com

Ranch activity is horseback riding. “There’s definitely a romanticism to being on a horse, on a ranch, with cattle and mountains,” says Brad.

If you’re new to riding or a little nervous, you needn’t be. Thanksgiving Ranch caters to riders of all levels, from beginners to experienced cowboys. Rides take place within the ranch’s 3,600 acres and range from 90-minute introduction (or reintroduction) rides for $145, to three-hour, explorative rides for $290.

With so much ranch land to explore, every trail ride offers a unique experience. “The Rocky Mountains dominate the skyline to the west. If you’re up on higher ground, you can see all the way into the Crowsnest Pass and south into Montana; on clear days, to the east, you can see the windmills by Fort Macleod,” says Brad. Public rides are offered on a limited basis, with ranch guests given priority. So, consider booking a stay at The Lodge to get the full experience. As well as rides, guests can partake in a cattle move, joining the Bustards in moving their 1,600 cattle to a new grazing space. Brad also cooks for his guests (He’s famous for his homemade waffles.)

Sure, you might feel a bit sore after a long ride, but the slight discomfort is worth the incredible experience of trying something new in a place with an incredible view M.R. thanksgivingranch.ca

G ET OUT OF YOUR C OMFORT ZONE

One of my first writing assignments was to explore the benefits of cold-water swimming in a mountain lake. Popularized by Wim Hof, known as “The Iceman,” submerging in freezing water is said to have health benefits like improving circulation, stimulating the immune system and relieving anxiety. I am a complete baby when it comes to the cold, but I sunk my body into a stillfrozen Lake Minnewanka and emerged to tell the tale. Here are a few tips I learned if you want to give it a try:

Find a safe spot to get in. Your hands and feet will stop working in the cold, so an easy exit is crucial.

Don’t push yourself. If your body says you’re done, it’s telling you that for a reason.

Don’t jump directly into a warm car afterward.

Let your body reacclimate slowly. The cold blood from your limbs rushing back to your heart can be dangerous, so bring a blanket and warm up outside.

Enjoy the sensations! Pushing through the pain is a part of the therapeutic benefits. –C.L.

GO WILD

The backcountry around Crowsnest Pass is where you can truly go off the beaten path.

On a year-round basis, Banff and the Bow Valley Corridor see millions of tourists come and go. And for good reason: the incredible scenery, natural environment and history of the area is ultimately compelling. But this popularity means that even backcountry areas are often crowded during the summer season, making it difficult to truly go off the beaten path.

Less than three hours south of Calgary, the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass has its own stunning peaks and storied past — without the same kinds of crowds. If you’re keen to explore the backcountry around “the Pass,” a local guiding company, such as Uplift Adventures, can help you get out there and stay safe while enjoying the wonders of the wilderness

Uplift offers hiking and backpacking trips in the South Canadian Rockies — a region that encompasses Waterton Lakes National Park, Castle and Castle Wildland provincial parks and Crowsnest Pass. On an Uplift experience, guests might find themselves trekking untouched and undeveloped remote regions.

“It kind of puts life in perspective when you’re able to get away from the hustle and bustle, and the craziness that goes on in our lives, and just be,” says Heather Davis, Uplift Adventures’ lead guide and founder

Davis explains that while some hiking and backpacking routes they take their clients on have established infrastructure, others have only what Mother Nature has provided. The guides will set up a safe and effective camp, including a latrine and proper bear hangs.

“It really is off the beaten path, and I think that’s pretty unique,” Davis says. “It’s truly remote and wild.”

All of Uplift’s guides are certified through the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides

FRESH AND CLEAN

Spring Lake Naturals Bug Spray

You can keep bugs (and chemicals) off you this season, while supporting a local business. Albertamade Spring Lake Naturals bug spray lets you enjoy your time in the great outdoors with an allnatural formula that includes eucalyptus, rosemary and other essential oils. –O.P. springlakenaturals.ca

Let nothing stop you from exploring nature’s hidden gems. With these three courses, you’ll be prepared for almost anything.

Wilderness First-Aid

A medical emergency in a remote area can be scary. With a Rocky Mountain Adventure Medicine course under your

and they ensure the group’s impact on the environment is minimal. Uplift also considers accessibility in its mountain adventures; the company aims to match the person and their objective to an appropriate trip, whether that’s a hike designed for beginners, an intro to backpacking course or a five-day trip for experienced trekkers. Two-hour, drop-in hikes for beginners start at $30 and full-day expeditions are about $100. O.P. upliftadventures.ca

BE WILDLY PREPARED

belt, you can take action if someone needs help. adventuremed.ca

Navigation

Learn how to use basic navigation to find your way out of the woods, with courses offered by Yamnuska Mountain Adventures. yamuska.com

Rope Rescue and Rigging

With self-rescue and partner-rescue skills, you’ll enter your weekend wilderness adventure with full confidence. Learn these skills during a two-day course with Canadian Wilderness School & Expeditions. –O.P. cwexpeditions.net

VIEW FROM THE ROUTE OF UPLIFT ADVENTURES

MASSIF BACKPACKING TRIP.

PHOTO BY TROI CROMBIE PHOTOGRAPHY

THE BEST RESTAURANTS

IN THE MOUNTAINS

Forgo fast-food chains and opt instead for fresh food at these top-notch dining destinations in the regional mountain areas.

Too often, visitors come to mountain towns for the hiking, the climbing, the paddling and the extraordinary views, and are left to begrudgingly wolf down some fast food or otherwise-uninspired fare before making the drive home.

But Avenue readers know better than to accept substandard food. In an online ballot last fall, we asked them to vote for the best restaurants in the national parks and other popular mountain destinations within a half-day’s drive of Calgary. And these are the restaurants that readers crowned the winners. All of these culinary gems offer incredible fresh tastes that match the beauty around them.

B EST RESTAURANT IN BANFF NATIONAL PARK WALDHAUS RESTAURANT

The Fairmont Banff Springs hotel has several excellent restaurants, but the Waldhaus, a charming spot just down the hill from the main hotel building, is perhaps the most special. The Bavarian decor is retro without being overly kitschy, with comfortable seating perfect for enjoying the signature fondues and German-style entrées like pork schnitzel and beef short rib sauerbraten.

405 Spray Ave., Banff, 403-762-6860, fairmont.com/banff-springs/dining/ waldhaus-restaurant/

B EST RESTAURANT

IN CANMORE/ KANANASKIS COUNTRY ÄNKÔR

A five-minute drive from Canmore’s main drag and within a stone’s throw of the Trans-Canada Highway, änkôr doesn’t look like much from the outside. But inside, guests will find a creative culinary experience. Chef and owner Danny Beaulieu’s food is guided by the best

Canadian ingredients, including Canadiansourced dry-aged duck, which he transforms into elegant dishes that are best enjoyed via his six-course tasting menu. Sommelier Julie Hélie’s bold wine list is an ideal complement to the exquisite food.

1430 2 Ave., Unit 103, Canmore, 403-675-2424, ankorcanmore.com

B EST RESTAURANT IN GOLDEN/FIELD/ YOHO NATIONAL PARK TRUFFLE PIGS BISTRO

You might not expect to find a great restaurant in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it town like Field, but the community just west of the B.C.Alberta border is home to this beloved independent bistro. (The attached lodge means guests can engage in a night of revelry without worrying about navigating the highway afterwards.) Expect globally inspired dishes built on seasonal ingredients and a range of both casual and higher-end fare.

100 Center St., Field, B.C., 250-343-6303, trufflepigs.com

B EST RESTAURANT IN JASPER NATIONAL PARK JASPER BREWING CO.

The town of Jasper feels casual compared to glitzier Banff, and this relaxed vibe is perfectly encapsulated at this welcoming brewpub. Jasper Brewing Co.’s retro Parks Canada cans can be found all over the province, but a trip to the beer’s home base should include a meal as well as a requisite pint or two (nonalcoholic beers and other beverages are also available). The menu is full of suitably casual dishes with a slightly elevated edge — think rustic elk meat loaf and St. Louis-style ribs with Cherry Cola barbecue sauce.

624 Connaught Dr., Jasper, 780-852-4111, jasperbrewingco.ca

B EST RESTAURANT IN FERNIE/ KIMBERLEY/CRANBROOK

PEDAL & TAP

The beautiful town of Kimberley feels like its own little world and there’s no better place to enjoy its chill community vibes than at this easy-going restaurant in the heart of the town. Equally appealing to families, foodies and adventurers looking for a cold beer, this is a go-to spot for fusion-style food with hits of Vietnamese, Mediterranean and Thai flavours. Don’t miss out on the much-loved “mucky fries,” topped with cheese, maple bacon and house-made chipotle sauce.

215 Spokane St., Kimberley, B.C., 250-427-3325, pedalandtap.com

B EST RESTAURANT IN RADIUM/ INVERMERE/PANORAMA

CLIFFHANGER RESTAURANT AT GREYWOLF GOLF COURSE

Most golf-course restaurants exist for the convenience of players, but this dining room is a destination for anyone looking for a great meal and a spectacular view. The mountain vistas are matched by a Canadiana-inspired menu from executive chef Galasa Aden. Refined, without being stuffy, Cliffhanger’s food — whether it’s a bison burger and fries or a Tomahawk steak — comes beautifully prepared.

1860 Greywolf Dr., Panorama, B.C., 250-341-4102, greywolfgolf.com

B

EST RESTAURANT IN THE SOUTH CANADIAN ROCKIES (WATERTON LAKES NATIONAL PARK/CASTLE

PARKS/CROWSNEST PASS)

THE TACO BAR

Waterton is known for its quirky food scene and small-but-mighty community of seasonal restaurants, and The Taco Bar is a must-visit. It’s not fancy, but the tacos and other Mexican fare are lovingly prepared from scratch with natural ingredients. Salsas, guacamole and fillings are made fresh daily, and regulars know to get to the shop early before it runs out of its most popular offerings. —E.C.B 320 Wind Flower Ave., Waterton Park, 403-915-2294, watertontacos.wixsite.com

BEST MOUNTAIN CAFÉS

These cafés were voted the top three by our readers in Avenue’s 2023 Best of the Mountains online ballot.

COMMUNITEA CAFE

Canmore, Alta. thecommunitea.com @thecommunitea

ROCKY MOUNTAIN BAGEL CO.

Canmore, Alta. thebagel.ca, @rockymtnbagelco

WILD FLOUR ARTISAN BAKERY CAFÉ

Banff, Alta. wildflourbakery.ca @wildflourbanff

SUPER FRESH IDEA

Food Bike Tour in Canmore

If you love checking out foodie destinations, and exploring on two wheels, Food Bike Tours gives you the chance to do both at the same time. The four-hour guided e-bike tour of Canmore (the company also does tours in Banff, Edmonton, Calgary, Cochrane and Kelowna) costs $149 and includes stops at locales like The Market Bistro, EPICanmore and Rocket Pie. Don’t worry about riding on a full stomach, since the e-bike will give you a boost. And you can feel good knowing a portion of your ticket is donated to a local charity. –M.R. foodbiketour.com

H OW TO LOOK (A ND SMELL)

F RESH FOR YOUR P OST-HIKE

A few years ago, after a hard hike, my husband and I wanted to reward ourselves with a late lunch at a nice-ish restaurant. Before going through the doors, we looked each other up and down. My legs were smeared with mud. Our hair was styled with sweat. We definitely smelled. Ultimately, we decided that it wouldn’t be kind to force the other guests to share the space with us. Now, I always pack an extra bag to keep in the car, filled with items to help freshen up should we want to enjoy a sit-down meal after a mountain adventure. I hike in lightweight long pants (far fancier than shorts for a restaurant) and bring along an extra shirt, a change of shoes, a hair brush and a stick of deodorant. A pack of baby wipes is also handy for a quick wipe-down. Freshen up in the parking lot after the adventure and you’re (mostly) presentable for that desired post-hike dinner. But maybe avoid the five-star restaurant until you’ve had a chance to shower. –K.O.

PHOTO BY ROAM CREATIVE

CHEERS TO POST-ADVENTURE BEERS AND CIDERS AND SPIRITS

Check out these three new(ish) establishments in the mountains for your next après-hike or bike bevvy.

Exploring the mountains takes a lot out of you, and at the end of the day, most adventurers like to cap things off with a nice refreshment. If you’re hankering for an après beer or bevvy, check out these relatively new taprooms.

CORE VALUES CIDER CO.

Canmore, Alta.

Cideries are a bit of a rarity in Alberta, which is why Core Values, which opened its taproom last September, is such a welcome addition to Canmore. The neighbourly vibes here are as refreshing as the delicious wildly fermented ciders, which are mostly made with B.C. apples (The Local’s Special is made with locally foraged apples) and additional ingredients from Alberta like sour cherries and currants. 1402 Railway Ave., Canmore, 403-679-1578, corevaluescider.ca

E NCORE BREWING CO.

Cranbrook, B.C.

Encore opened last spring, injecting some fun and frivolity into the local scene. The taproom is a watering hole, casual eatery and rec room, thanks to the inclusion of a bowling alley and arcade games. The beer is as lighthearted as the venue, with refreshing core brews and rotating experimental seasonals. 1400 4 St. N., Cranbrook, B.C., 778-744-0460, encorebrewing.ca

L OST THINGS DISTILLERY

Pincher Creek, Alta.

Founded by two local couples in Pincher Creek, Lost Things’ flagship gin is built around ingredients and botanicals foraged from the banks of the Oldman River. Its tasting room opened last year and has become a community hub as well as a spot for a snack and a cocktail, with zero-proof options available. –E.C.B.

967 Main St., Pincher Creek, 403-904-1033, lostthingsdistillery.ca

Oldman River Brewing Lundbreck, Alta.

oldmanriverbrewing.com

@oldmanriverbrewingltd

Grizzly Paw Brewing Company Canmore, Alta.

thegrizzlypaw.com

@thegrizzlypaw

Fernie Brewing Co.

Fernie, B.C.

ferniebrewing.com

@ferniebrewingco BEST

3 COOL COOLERS

Is there a better feeling than having an ice-cold beverage in your hand after summiting a mountain? Is there anything more relaxing than a cool sip of whatever tickles your taste buds during a lakeside break from paddleboarding? Make sure that bevvy stays chilled with one of these Canadian-made coolers.

55L CHILLY ICE BOX from Chilly Moose

The substantial 55L Chilly Ice Box, with heavy-duty rope handles and a quick-drain valve, will let you keep snacks, drinks and lunch cool for the entire family during a funfilled day at the lake. chillymoose.ca.

KUKUI 10 from KAILANI Sports

This Calgary-based outdoor lifestyle brand has taken Canada by storm; KAILANI president and founder Sean Alexander secured a $1 million deal in November 2023 on Season 18 of Dragons’ Den. The KUKUI 10 is a soft cooler that’s easy to transport anywhere. Find it on KAILANI’s website and in stores across Alberta, B.C. and the Yukon. kailanisports.com.

NEWELLER TWELVE from Newell Outdoors

This Calgary-based company offers small and large coolers that’ll keep your bevvies and food cool for up to five days. (Five days! Really!)

Consider the Neweller Twelve, a 12-litre hard cooler available with either a carrying handle or a shoulder strap, if you want to convince your adventure-skeptical friend to go camping with you. –O.P. newelloutdoors.ca.

The Broadway/Hollywood Songbook

3 + 4 May

Saint-Georges' Sword + Bow

5 May

Brilliant Bassoon

10 + 11 May

Violins of Hope

15 May

Star Wars: A New Hope in Concert

17 + 18 May

Illia Ovcharenko performs Tchaikovsky

31 May + 1 June

Joshua Bell: One Night Only

8 June

A NEW BASECAMP IN CANMORE

Basecamp Resorts’ recently opened MTN House Canmore property boasts impressive accommodations and dining options, and will be home to a new Nordic spa in 2025.

With more than a dozen mountain properties to its name in Alberta and B.C., Canmore-based hospitality company Basecamp Resorts knows how to craft a memorable hotel experience.

Its latest luxury accommodation in Canmore is no exception. Stepping into the lobby of MTN House Canmore, you’re greeted by a lovely double-sided, woodburning fireplace that immediately sets the tone for a relaxing mountain getaway. Formerly a Holiday Inn, the three-storey building has been transformed into a comfortable, yet upscale, home-away-from-home with 99

renovated guest rooms equipped with Nespresso Vertuo coffee machines and Rocky Mountain Soap products. Additional amenities like concierge e-bike rentals, shuttle services and an outdoor hot tub add to the appeal.

The hotel is just a few minutes’ drive from downtown Canmore, but you don’t have to leave the property for a delicious meal.

Rhythm & Howl, the hotel’s 91-seat restaurant, café and bar, serves modern, seasonal fare for brunch, lunch and dinner — not to mention a daily happy hour.

Those on the go can also snag a quick Monogram coffee and items such as sourdough croissants or spinach-and-mushroom egg bites from the café, which is

open daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Perhaps the most exciting part about this new property is that, come summer 2025, it will be home to Canmore’s first Nordic spa (and only the second one in Alberta). Spanning just over 43,000 square feet, the outdoor Nordic spa promises to be a premier destination for relaxation and hydrotherapy experiences.

Around the same time, MTN House Canmore will also launch an 8,500-square-foot indoor spa in the hotel’s lower level where guests can pamper themselves with a variety of treatments, making it a must-indulge mountain spa destination. —A.W. basecampresorts.com/ mtnhousecanmore

MORE HOTEL NEWS

MOXY BANFF OPENS

Marriot Bonvoy hotel brand

Moxy has opened its first Western Canada location (and second in Canada) in Banff. Taking over the former Voyager Inn, the renovated property offers fun features like a cocktail at check-in, a retro bar with a ’66 VW food truck and hot pools.

NEW OWNERSHIP AT FAIRMONT HOT SPRINGS

In 2023, Aldesta Hotel Group purchased Fairmont Hot Springs Resort in the Columbia Valley. The Vancouver-based hotel group owns accommodations in Australia and B.C.

MORE BASECAMPS

MTN House isn’t the only new Basecamp property. Basecamp Suites Revelstoke launches its 31 suites this spring, while the 56-room Northwinds Hotel Revelstoke is set to open at a later date. Construction also begins this spring on a new Basecamp property in Fernie that aims to open in late 2025. –A.W.

WELCOME VIBES: THE COZY LOBBY AT MTN HOUSE CANMORE.

3 UNIQUE STAYS

Seeking something beyond a basic room or campsite this summer?

Check into these Airstream trailers, glamping domes and safari-style tents.

1

G LAMPING DOMES, TENTS AND “BUNKIES” in

Castle Provincial Park

For an immersive forest getaway, head due south from Calgary to Castle Provincial Park. Here, nestled next to picturesque Beaver Mines Lake, Glamping Resorts Ltd. has set up a six-person glamping tent (it’s known as Big Oak), three family-sized domes (there are plans to open a fourth this year) and six adorable “bunkies” (four-person mini-cabins with bunk beds)

The glamping accommodations boast kitchenettes and Endy mattresses for an elevated experience, plus decks with picnic tables and firepits for that traditional camping ambiance. When you emerge from your unique shelter, go for a hike, cast a line in the lake or make s’mores by the campfire. glampingresorts.com

2

PARKS CANADA OTENTIKS

in Banff National Park

They’ve been around for more than a decade, but there’s no diminishing the popularity of Banff’s oTENTiks, which are a cross between a tent and a cabin. Inside you’ll find two queensized beds and one double-sized bunk bed, a living area and electricity, but no kitchen — it’s BYO cooking equipment and bedding. There are 10 oTENTiks at Two Jack Lakeside campground and 21 at the Tunnel Mountain Village 2 campground. parks.canada.ca/pn-np/ab/ banff/activ/camping/otentik

3

A I RSTREAM TRA ILERS at Flint Rock Ranch

Settle into a restored Airstream trailer on this working cattle ranch located in the Porcupine Hills south of Calgary. Choose between a large trailer with a queen bed and kitchen, two smaller side-by-side trailers perfect for families, or one of two adorable cabins. The 1,000acre property has hiking trails, a reservoir for kayaking and a riparian habitat that’s excellent for birdwatching. Guests are also welcome to watch calf-birthing or branding in the spring. —L.K. flintrockranch.ca

SUPER FRESH IDEA Banffchella

After debuting last summer, Banffchella is set to return in June. This summer-long event at the Fairmont Banff Springs marries a pool- and gardenparty vibe with live music on select days of the week. It’s the height of Banff-chic, especially if you splurge for a night in one of the hotel’s newly renovated guest rooms, which feature modern bathrooms, contemporary furnishings and art that nods to the history of the storied property. –L.K. fairmont.com/banff-springs/

Global News Morning Global News Hour at 6 with Dallas Flexhaug & Blake Lough with Linda Olsen & Joel Senick

Global News Morning Global News Hour at 6

with Dallas Flexhaug & Blake Lough with Linda Olsen & Joel Senick

Parkdale Crescent N.W.

LICS

For four decades, LICS has been a popular spot for sweet treats, with more than 40 flavours of ice cream (dairy- and lactose-free options included). In February 2023, longtime proprietors the Leavitt family (the name formerly stood for Leavitt’s Ice Cream Shop) turned LICS over to Jennifer and Jeremy Andrews of YYCFoodTrucks, who changed it to “Lemonade, Ice Cream and Sips.”

DYP Refillery

DYP (Do Your Part) Refillery is a source for non-toxic and natural cruelty-free hair care, skin care and lifestyle products. Owner Brooke Needer started out making and selling wool dryer balls and expanded that into her current business, stocking a range of products based on sustainability and reducing waste. DYP also hosts workshops for making bath bombs, body scrubs and more.

Sprout Calgary

Formerly located in Eau Claire, Sprout Calgary moved to its current location last August. The business originated in 2020 during the pandemic lockdown period, when owner Daniel Baker started selling plants through Facebook Marketplace. The boutique nursery offers rare tropical plants and more low-maintenance plants, as well as the products needed to keep them alive.

Lazy Loaf & Kettle

A Parkdale Crescent institution since 1994, this bustling café bakes its bread in-house, including the namesake “kettle bread” — a nine-grain loaf that has been on the menu since the beginning. Lazy Loaf also bakes gluten-free breads and offers daily specials, salads and hearty soups.

Caspian Bakery & Supermarket

If you want to get your hands on authentic Persian ingredients and treats, Caspian Bakery & Supermarket is the place to go. Dates, figs, rollet (a rolled cake filled with whipped cream) and savoury-sweet saffron ice cream can all be found alongside authentic breads and ready-made meals.

Mofe Adeniran

Opale. Modular sofas with multi-position electric mechanism, designed by Maurizio Manzoni. Dolomie. Cocktail table and pedestal tables, designed by Efrem Bonacina & Greta Macrì.

CALGARY - 225 10th Avenue SW - Tel. 403-532-4401

VANCOUVER - 716 West Hastings Street - Tel. 604-633-5005

In-store interior design & 3D modeling services.(1)

Photos by Flavien Carlod, Baptiste Le Quiniou, for advertising purposes only. REM’A Arquitectos. (1) Conditions apply, contact store for details.

TURNING INNOVATION INTO OPPORTUNITY TURNING INNOVATION INTO OPPORTUNITY

Innovative ideas are just that – ideas. Until they have the right kind of backing to make them a reality. The Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund (OCIF) is one of our city’s most effective tools to help drive an economy that’s underpinned by innovation.

THE FUND IS STRATEGICALLY FOCUSED ON

opportunities with the highest potential benefit FINDING

these opportunities to ensure maximum impact FUELING

success by ensuring that these investments are integrated into our broader community. FOSTERING

Through OCIF’s targeted, strategic and impactful investments, we can build a broader view of what our city could be, as well as a diversified and resilient economy for generations to come.

Learn