BANFF – A $30 million donation will help launch a new tourism-based education and programming centre, while helping fund local YWCA Banff services into the foreseeable future.
The donation from the Wim and Nancy Pauw Foundation will see $20 million go to Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) to support long-term hospitality and tourism programming as well as convert space to student classrooms and housing. The remaining $10 million will go to YWCA Banff to help with renovations to add housing and enhance existing services.
“Not only will it provide us stable, consistent funding over the next 40+ years, it also allows us to further deliver on our mission. By partnering with SAIT, we can collaborate on curriculum and one thing we’re excited about is the space for the YWCA to develop our prevention programming,” said Ebony Rempel, CEO of YWCA Banff.
“We feel this partnership will allow us to divert resources from operating a social enterprise hotel towards doing more of the preventative and systemic change in our community with our tourism partners.”
Rempel noted the YWCA Banff helped 4,200 people last year. The funding will go to renovate the main floor to create purpose-built shelter space with each unit having its own kitchenette and bathroom. The exact number of units that will be built will be finalized during the design work, Rempel said.
In addition, the fourth floor will remain affordable housing, with the second and third floors being converted into student accommodation and classroom space. She noted the biggest challenge had been securing capital funding to do the main floor renovation in the building that was the original site of the Old Mineral Springs Hospital.
“All those we support with our programming and our mission-driven work – so shelter, affordable housing and crisis space services – will all remain or be enhanced with the partnership.”
The YWCA Banff’s 42-room hostel will officially be closing to launch new tourism-based education and programming.
The closing of the hostel will shut the door on one of Banff’s few low-cost accommodations, but financial support from the Wim and Nancy Pauw Foundation is expected to help cover costs for vital community programming offered by YWCA Banff.
Rempel noted the conversion of the hostel will be a “loss the community will experience.”
The hostel was a low-budget option in Banff where profits were used to support YWCA Banff’s programs and services for close to three decades.
With the YWCA holding the long-term lease, it will head to Banff’s Municipal Planning Commission in December to request a change in zoning use.
The property is in Banff’s public service district and SAIT is considered a public education service under the land use bylaw. It’s a permitted use in the public service land use district, the proposal also has housing in addition to education.
Under the agreement, the hostel rooms will be converted into apartment units for students and the 1,300-square-foot Great Room will be a SAIT classroom as part of the Calgary school’s hospitality and tourism program. The work is expected to start in 2025 and programming is anticipated for 2026.
The intent is to have students start their programming at the Calgary-based school, but come to Banff for a semester as part of a practicum.
David Ross, CEO and president of SAIT, said the partnership will ultimately bring hundreds of students through the Banff-based program each year. He noted some will spend all their educational time in Banff, while others will go between Calgary and Banff.
He said the aim is to have it operational in fall of 2026.
“It’s not a small number and the objective is we want them to experience Banff,” he said. “We want them to experience what it has to offer and build their career in the Bow Valley corridor.”
Cathy Geisler, the executive director of the Wim and Nancy Pauw Foundation, noted a long-term dream of Wim’s has been to have a tourism centre in Banff to “amplify and elevate the tourism experience and he always felt education would be a strong contributor to that.”
Stuart Back, chief operating officer for Pursuit Collection, said an education centre will help students come to Banff, make connections and advance in tourism-related careers.
“It’s still very difficult to find people who want to commit to a career in tourism,” he said. “It’s a national problem. It’s a regional problem and Banff is no different. This is going to make a phenomenal difference.”
In Banff National Park, an estimated 4.28 million people visited the premier Canadian site between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024.
YWCA Banff received $1.25 million earlier this year from the Wim and Nancy Pauw Foundation as part of a five-year partnership to help support services such as emergency shelter, affordable housing, counselling services and violence prevention and advocacy programs.
In 2023, YWCA Banff helped more than 2,300 community members and had more than 1,400 safe nights for people using the emergency shelters. They also received more than 670 crisis calls.
YWCA Banff provides services for people from Lake Louise to Mînî Thnî (Morley).
The Wim and Nancy Pauw Foundation was established in 2013 as a private foundation. It is funded by profits from Banff Caribou Properties Ltd. and Banff Lodging Company to reinvest in Banff and the Bow Valley to support local projects such as Bow Valley Food Alliance and Canadian Rockies Public Schools’.
Earlier in the year, Banff YWCA received one-time provincial funding of $530,000 to provide more beds to support women experiencing domestic violence. It was part of the province providing $5 million to women’s shelters in 17 communities to add an additional 104 beds.
Data from the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters in 2023 indicated domestic violence and abuse was increasing in surveys of shelters across the province.
According to the survey data, more than 65 per cent of respondents were at severe or extreme risk of being killed by a current or former partner; 51 per cent believed their partner was capable of killing them and 51 per cent experienced physical abuse.
Albertans can get 24/7 support by calling or texting the Family Violence Info Line at 310-1818.
YWCA Banff provides access to emergency shelter and support for anyone who has experienced or is experiencing emotional, physical or sexual violence.
The 24-hour crisis line: 403-760-3200 and email is [email protected].
