For some folks, the thought of heading off for the weekend to the family cottage or cabin brings to mind a sizable journey. Fueling up, tossing the kids in the car, purchasing and packing the necessary rations to make the long drive just to grab a little relaxation can be a taxing experience. Throw in the possibility that some of these refuges of recreation exist beyond the reasonable range of the family automobile, requiring the even more arduous task of hopping aboard an aircraft and actually flying in order to reach your desired destination. Catching some leisure time can become anything but leisurely.

This could be why so many Albertans have turned towards more domestic locales when looking to purchase a little bit of paradise to call their own. Forsaking the obvious allures of more temperate climes and embracing those unique local charms, otherwise known as spring, summer, fall and winter in Alberta, many residents of the province’s larger centres have chosen the charm and character that can be found closer to home.

Looking around Alberta, it’s not difficult to find places — whether it’s a town, village, hamlet or municipality — where a substantial portion of the population’s primary residence lies within driving distance of their weekend getaway.

Take a leisurely drive through any of the communities that seem to spontaneously appear every summer around the lakes that dot the region between Edmonton and Calgary, and it becomes apparent that a good number of Albertans choose to spend their weekends away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

Sylvan Lake — a community that could well be considered Alberta’s best shot at prime beachfront property — can attribute roughly one-fifth of its homes to those weekend warriors, otherwise known as seasonal owners.

The Crowsnest Pass certainly has its fair share of seasonal residents whose primary abodes lay outside of the mining municipality made up of Coleman, Blairmore, Bellevue, Hillcrest and Frank. Situated in Alberta’s picturesque southwest corner, and just a short drive from the summertime tourist destination of Waterton and some of Canada’s best powder skiing in Fernie, “The Pass” as it’s known by many, provides a quaint alternative for those Albertans looking to purchase their very own mountain retreat.

However, if places like Sylvan Lake and Crowsnest Pass are considered challengers for the title of Alberta’s seasonal home capital, then the mountain community of Canmore could be called the reigning champion. Sitting in the shadow of the Three Sisters, that iconic shale trio that signals to those travelling westward that they’ve really arrived in the Rocky Mountains, Canmore is just an hours drive away from Calgary, and roughly 400 kilometres (via the Queen Elizabeth 2 Highway) away from the provincial capital of Edmonton.

In a town that boasts a population of just 12,226 permanent residents, the number of secondary homeowners that, at times, call the area home is astounding. As of the 2009 census, Canmore listed the number of non-permanent residents at 5,744, meaning that at any given time, it’s possible that there are just two full-time Canmorites for every seasonal resident.

When it comes to figuring out just where this influx is coming from, Canmore Mayor Ron Casey is conscious of the fact that many of those coming to the town are from right here in Alberta.

“Certainly we’re very aware that the majority of our second homeowners are from Alberta,” said Casey of the town’s rather substantial base of seasonal homeowners.

A Canmore resident for 36 years, Casey has witnessed the evolution of the once sleepy mining town that found itself on the verge of collapse in the late ’70s following the closure of the last coal mine in the Bow Valley, into the thriving mountain community it is today.

According to Casey, one of the key elements in Canmore’s evolution has been the town’s proximity to Calgary, allowing city folk to enjoy the unique combination of small town living in a glorious mountain environment.

“We’re really only an hours leisurely drive from Calgary on an extremely good highway, so it makes it very attractive not only for people from Calgary, but even from anywhere in Alberta,” said Mayor Casey. “I would say that’s the one thing we offer over some of the other areas. If you look at the Crowsnest Pass or the Jasper area, they’re substantially further away from the major population centres.”

The rise of the town in seasonal homeowner circles began in earnest some 20 years ago, thanks in large part to the spotlight cast upon the town by the 1988 Olympic Winter Games, and has continued on even in recent years. Since 2000, Canmore’s non-permanent population has grown by roughly 130 per cent, increasing from just 1,955 seasonal residents to 5,744, while the town’s permanent population has seen only a modest increase of less than 20 per cent.

However, it’s not simply a matter of Canmore being a popular destination for seasonal owners due to its proximity. When it comes to Canmore, the key word is lifestyle, lifestyle, lifestyle.

“For people looking for a second home, lifestyle is really the key factor here,” said Mayor Casey. “If you’re into recreation, there are almost endless opportunities for anyone who lives in the community.”

The popularity of outdoor activities amongst Canmore residents is immediately obvious to anyone who spends as much as one afternoon strolling the town’s bustling main street. In the winter, the town provides it’s own folksy flavour to the aprèegrave;Egrave;s-ski scene, while in the summer, the town is bombarded by hikers, cyclists, rafters, mountain climbers and every other outdoor-minded individual you can think of.

Perhaps due to the predominance of so many outdoor pursuits, and the nearby presence of Olympic venues like the Canmore Nordic Centre and Nakiska, and the skier’s paradise known as Sunshine Village and Lake Louise, Canmore can boast an inordinate number of Olympic athletes who call the town home. At the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, Italy, Canmorites Chandra Crawford, Jennifer Heil and Sara Renner all took home medals, and several of those hoping to make it to the 2010 games hail from the town.

Their presence certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed by Mayor Casey.

“Just having gold medal athletes living in Canmore and training at the Nordic Centre, as they have for years now, that certainly adds a vibrancy to the community that doesn’t exist anywhere else. Just to be able to sit downtown on a Saturday morning while watching the National ski team go by on roller skis is just not something that occurs everywhere.”

Counted amongst the nearly 4,000 seasonal residents that have moved (at least on a part-time basis) to the town since 2000 is Charlene Butler. Butler, along with her husband Mark Algood, first purchased a condo in Canmore five years ago. Since then, the couple have upgraded, having recently bought a larger home in south Canmore — the area of town that appears to rank as the most sought after destination for seasonal buyers.

When speaking of the allure of the town, Butler says that in addition to the town’s proximity to the couple’s primary residence in Edmonton, it was (of course) the lifestyle that made the move a natural fit.

“We’re big hikers. We like to ski, and we’ve taken up snowshoeing and cross- country skiing, but we also spend a lot of time there in the summer. My husband’s a big mountain biker.”

Prior to purchasing their condo, Butler says the couple contemplated more distant locales in the United States and Canada before deciding on Canmore as the sight for their second home. Having grown up in Calgary, Butler was already familiar with the area, however she is still surprised to see just how busy the town has become.

“It’s pretty funny to go to Canmore for the weekend [and have to make reservations for dinner] on the Monday,” said Butler.

“It’s very popular, even once the ski season is over, it doesn’t seem to change how busy the restaurants and those places really are — it just means there are fewer tourists wandering down main street.”

With such a large percentage of the town’s population comprised of the seasonal owner demographic, the economic impact of these transitory townsfolk on Canmore has also seen a dramatic increase. Unlike Canmore’s neighbour Banff — where the need to reside rule has all but eliminated the seasonal housing market — the declining presence of the tourist market due to the global economic downturn has, at least according to Mayor Casey, been lessened by the number of seasonal owners in Canmore.

“I don’t think there’s any questioning that [seasonal homeowners are] a major economic driver for the town of Canmore — not only from a construction point of view, but also just from a retail point of view,” said Mayor Casey, of the importance of seasonal owners to the town’s financial outlook. “I guess you could compare us to other places, like Banff, for example, which doesn’t have the advantage of our second homeowners. I think you’d find that our businesses have fared a little better through this tourism downturn, and the only one real factor that comes to mind is the second homeowners.”

Of course, with growth come challenges. Take any small town and thrust it into the limelight, and problems — both large and small — will arise.

To the outside observer, the question of whether or not such a mass influx of temporary residents from various locales creates any discord or disconnect with the town’s permanent population seems obvious. After all, it’s common practice in many a vacation hotspot for outsiders to be viewed with a certain level of resentment.

Canmore, however, appears to run contrary to such trends, at least according to longtime resident Mary-Anne Kamenka.

Kamenka moved to Canmore 15 years ago for (you guessed it) the lifestyle, and says the reason the town’s permanent and seasonal population are able to co-exist so well is due to the fact that many part-time Canmorites intend to retire in the town when the time comes.

“I live on a street where there are a whole bunch of second homebuyers. The people across from me live in Florida, and the people next to them live in Edmonton. You just all get along. They become your neighbours — so what if it’s their second home? A lot of them intend to live here full-time once they give up their businesses and whatnot, so they’re pretty involved in what happens in the community.”

The sentiments expressed by Kamenka are echoed by Jessica Stoner, another longtime resident of Canmore and fellow REALTOR®, who says any change that has come about in the town is the result of the unique composition of permanent and seasonal residents that make up the population of Canmore.

“In the ’70s, we were a coal-mining town, and we couldn’t be further from a coal-mining town now. It was change that brought that about, and you can’t stop a community from changing — it’s going to grow and develop and morph based on the community that’s there. The vacation homeowners are part of that community though. So when they are here, they’re adding to the culture of the town. So if it’s changing, they are part of the change.“

If it were up to Mayor Casey though, all those vacation homeowners would be a little more vocal in relaying just what it is they want. Contrary to the thought that seasonal homeowners are having too much influence upon the direction of the town’s growth, Mayor Casey says that one of the biggest challenges faced by the town in regards to Canmore’s non-permanent population is simply finding out what direction to proceed in.

“One of the challenges that we have is trying to understand more what it is that the seasonal person really wants to see. Most of them bought here because of what was currently here, but as far as actual demands on the community, we’d like to know more about what it is that we can do to make it better for them. That’s a challenge — to actually get that information.”

Jamie Findlay is one of those who has a keen interest in identifying those wants. As executive director of the Bow Valley Builders and Developers Association (BOWDA), Findlay is head of the organization that in many ways will be tasked with shaping future development in the town.

For Findlay, the risks of failing to maintain a proper balance between what brought so many people to Canmore in the first place, and what will eventually entice even more seasonal owners to purchase in the town are obvious.

“I think everybody’s pretty cognizant that we don’t necessarily want to become Whistler. Though I think Whistler is a very successful community, we want to retain the things that drew people here in the first place and then give them the amenities that make them want to settle down here.”

So what does all this mean to the prospective seasonal buyer? After all, those who’ve already secured their place in Canmore are well aware of the obvious benefits and potential risks of living somewhere where so much rests on the appeal of the town as a vacation property destination.

Price wise, the economic downturn that has affected basically every market worldwide did not leave the town unscathed. Between 2008 and 2009, the average price of a two-bedroom condo (the starter home for many a first-time seasonal buyer) declined from $320,000 to $295,000. The once momentous Three Sisters Mountain Village development is in receivership, and the number of properties on the market offers plenty to choose from.

But that doesn’t mean there’s no room for optimism. Assisted by the fact that, depending on who you talk to, there is really only room for another 10 to 15 years of expansion in the town, and the drawing power of Banff National Park (nearly 3 million visitors a year) and it’s need to reside rule — which has undoubtedly increased Canmore’s popularity as an alternative destination for mountain living — Canmore has a couple built-in factors that will continue to make the town an attractive market.

“I think everyone in Canmore is pretty optimistic about 2010,” said Mayor Casey. “Real estate is selling again. There’s been a real upsurge here in the last couple months in properties. Everything around where I live is virtually sold, so there’s certainly property selling again.”

Speaking with REALTORS® around town, the same optimism exhibited by Casey is evident not only in the attitudes of those who make their living by helping to provide prospective buyers with an opportunity to live the mountain life, but also in the level of activity. Much like how a decrease in prices and lower interest rates has spurred sales in larger markets, a return to normalcy in the Canmore market is enticing more than a few buyers who previously found property in the town out of their price range.

Take Dennis Valentine for example. Valentine and his wife took possession of their Canmore condo on Oct. 1. The Calgary couple had been thinking of purchasing a second home in the area for some time, but until recently the prices had been a prohibitive factor.

“We’ve always thought it might be nice to get something there, but before the downturn, prices on condos got a little bit crazy,” said Valentine. “I think it’s the timing. The owner that we bought [the property from] had bought it brand new about a year before, and I think he paid $85,000 or $90,000 more than what we got it for.”

But contrary to thinking that such a large decline in prices signals doom and gloom, Valentine believes that there’s nothing but good news on the horizon for the former mining community.

“It was kind of a window of opportunity, and we genuinely feel that [the market] is going to go back up. It’s got nowhere to go but up. It’s an hour away from a city of over 1,000,000 people. Look what happened to Aspen.”

Cody Stuart is the CREB® Publications staff reporter.