Location:

Jasper is located only 20 km from Alberta's western border with British Columbia. It is 350 km east of Edmonton on Hwy 16, 300 km north of Banff on Highway 93, and 800 km northeast of Vancouver, BC. The CN Railroad provides regular service, and the nearest scheduled air service is to Edmonton (3 1/2 hours drive). It appears that scheduled service will come to the Hinton-Jasper Airport (a 45 minute drive east) by the spring of 2000.

The town of Jasper lies within Jasper National Park, a World Heritage Site famous for its Rocky Mountains, abundance of wildlife and pristine wilderness. A 45 minute drive west takes you to Mt. Robson, the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies.

General Information:

Jasper is renowned for the level of services offered not only to the millions of tourists who visit, but to the townspeople as well.

Of course, the town is fully serviced with municipal water supply and sewage system.

The school system is second to none, with Jasper students consistently scoring at or near the top as a group in province wide exams. There is an elementary school (grades 1-6), a junior high/high school (grades 7-12) and a French School (Ecole Desrochers) from Kindergarten to grade 10. Outdoor recreational opportunities abound for kids...the school even takes them to Marmot Basin (virtually a world class ski resort) as part of their physical education class!

The Jasper Activity Centre is a tremendous facility. It has an indoor 25 m pool complete with water slide, steam bath, wading pool, and spacious change areas. There is a weights/exercise room, two squash courts, six tennis courts, an indoor ice rink for hockey and skating, a separate curling rink, indoor skateboarding, indoor climbing wall, and meeting rooms.

Other sports facilities include baseball diamonds, soccer/rugby fields, cross country ski trails and tracks, and of course the Marmot Basin ski resort.

Jasper has a Post Office downtown, no delivery service to the door. This is quite a social place where townspeople run into one another as they gather their mail.

A modern hospital, four physicians, and public health unit handle Jasper's medical concerns. There is a seniors' home two blocks away and a new assisted-living facility attached to the hospital.

Other facilities include a museum, library, firehall, RCMP detachment, 2 screen movie theatre, art gallery, and more...

The finest facilities offered in Jasper are the Great Outdoors! The trail system that Parks Canada maintains gives you superb access to some of the world's most stunning scenery, taking you to lakes, alpine meadows, and mountain passes. Living in Jasper is truly a delight if you have an appreciation of, and can get out and enjoy the natural setting.

Real Estate Considerations:

Leased Land

Jasper land is leased from the federal government through a department called Parks Canada. The land is normally leased for a period of 42 years. A purchaser of real estate becomes the new lessee of the land and assumes the remaining life of the lease. The landlord (Parks Canada) renews the lease at the end of the term at its discretion. In the history of the townsite there has not, to my knowledge, been a case of a lease not being renewed. Renewal will certainly be delayed if the lessee is abusing the conditions of the lease (i.e.; the land is being used for a purpose not allowed by the lease, taxes are in arrears, etc).

The cost of the lease is included in your property tax bill, which, for the average home is about $2800 per year. Taxes do not include water/sewer/garbage which is invoiced from the municipality every 2 months and is typically $100 to $150 for a single family dwelling.

Why So Much?

For those of you not inquiring from Europe, Japan, or Vancouver, the housing prices may seem very high. You may ask "Why pay the higher price when I lease the land and don't own it outright?" Basically because the market says so! There is a willingness among the buying public to pay. Obviously the beautiful setting of Jasper and its high level of services have something to do with this willingness. In addition to this, the banks see these leases as very secure forms of home ownership. They will place a mortgage with a 25 year amortization on a property whose lease is up for renewal in, say, 5 years. The bank is certain of their security, certain that the lease on the property for which they are providing a mortgage will be renewed.

Parks Canada as the landlord has a mandate to preserve the wilderness. It does this largely through restricting development in the townsite. Parks Canada very rarely releases new land for either residential or commercial use. In fact, the last time land in Jasper was released for single family dwellings (houses) was in 1981-82! There have been three higher density (condo) developments built on newly released land in the last 15 years.

These factors together explain Jasper's relatively high housing values. A low supply of available land plus at least moderate demand equals high prices.

Eligible Residency:

In order to occupy housing in Jasper, you must be what is called an "eligible resident". This is a Parks Canada regulation designed to prevent people living outside of Jasper from buying vacation homes and leaving them empty for their own use and enjoyment, or from buying a retirement home. This would further reduce the supply of housing available to residents who live and work in Jasper, drive up prices even more, and put more pressure on the need for more development.

Anyone in the world can own property here (I recently sold a property belonging to a man from Tokyo) but the occupiers of the home must have a "need to reside" which qualifies them as eligible residents. Briefly, an Eligible Resident is one who:

• is employed in Jasper or owns a business which requires his/her attendance and is his principal source of income, or
• is the spouse or dependent of an eligible resident.

You cannot establish your eligible residency through an office in the home. This rule is designed to prevent a wealthy retiree from buying a home here, calling him or herself some sort of consultant, printing up business cards and not working at all. The hopeful retiree would have to lease (or sublet) some office space for a couple of years (or work for somebody for a couple of years) before retiring.

What does this mean for someone who wants to move to Jasper? Look for employment or business opportunities. If you are employed or have a business (or you are a spouse of same) then you're in!

Investment:

Because of the high rents in Jasper, many people who are not residents own property here and rent to Jasper residents. The best bets are houses with 2 or more suites, and 4 or 5 bedrooms. They will cost upwards of $550,000. Apartments rarely come up for sale, and the owners typically want way over market value.