Jasper recovery

On July 25, 2025, the Jasper Field Unit Superintendent approved changes to the Jasper Land Use Policy and Architectural Guidelines as part of ongoing efforts to improve policy clarity, increase wildfire resilience, and make rebuilding easier.

What’s changed?

• Minor edits to improve policy clarity.
• Exempted Manufactured Homes from roof overhang requirements in the R4 District.
• Updated building material requirements to support building with FireSmart requirements in mind:
  o providing more options for decking materials,
  o providing direction on door materials,
  o providing direction on when wood trim/detailing is suitable; and
  o clarifying that rooftop screening should be non-combustible in Town Centre developments
• Updated variance criteria enabling greater flexibility for variances that are in the community’s interest, aligning with the newly updated National Parks of Canada Land Use Planning Regulations Guidelines.
• Reduced side setbacks in the Cabin Creek West Multi-Unit Dwelling District (CCWc) from 3.5m to 1.2m for interior lots.
• Allowing front-back two-unit dwelling configurations in the Cabin Creek West One-Unit Dwelling District (CCWa) and the Cabin Creek West Town-Unit Dwelling District (CCWb).
• Updated policies for secondary suites to address discrepancies between the LUP and Building Code to streamline processes.

Parks Canada has simplified variance approval processes for the most common “like-for-like” variances inside the Jasper townsite to support of recovery after the 2024 Jasper Wildfire.

What is "like-for-like"?

In general, "like-for-like" means the new building closely matches what was there before the wildfire—similar setbacks, footprint, overall shape, height, roof form and roof pitch. Some flexibility is allowed to meet modern building codes. The interior of the structure may be different than what existed previously on-site. Final determination is made by the Development Office based on how closely the proposal reflects the original structure.

Which variances can be pre-approved when related to like-for-like rebuilds?

1. Side and rear setbacks, building heights and site coverage
2. Roof-pitch requirements
3. Requests to place the primary entrance facing the side setback.

Note - Pre-approval for front setbacks is not included due to the need to verify impacts to utility easements.

Eligibility checklist

The variances listed above can be pre-approved when all of the following are true:

• The property was damaged or destroyed in the 2024 Jasper Wildfire.
• You are rebuilding “like-for-like”—essentially matching the previous footprint, height, roof form/pitch and setbacks. Small changes to meet today’s building code are included.

Projects that don’t meet these conditions follow the standard variance process.

How it works?

1. Apply for a development permit by submitting a Development Permit Application form and the required supporting documents (which depend on the type of development you are applying for). Detailed information on applying for permits is available here.
2. Development Officers will review your application and work to approve the permit.
3. No separate variance application, no variance fee and no public-notice posting are required.

On March 14, 2025, Jasper Field Unit Superintendent approved changes to the Jasper Land Use Policy and Architectural Motif to support residents in rebuilding their manufactured homes after the fire and replacing manufactured homes that have reached the end of their lifecycle. Other changes were approved to simplify and clarify some existing development regulations. The policy changes to the Compact Lot (R4) District will remain in effect until March 31, 2030, with minor amendments as necessary. The policy requirements will be re-evaluated as part of the future Jasper Community Plan review process.

Changes to the Compact Lot (R4) District of the Jasper Land Use Policy include:

• Adding ‘manufactured home’ as a permitted use;
• Allowing residents to replace older manufactured homes with new manufactured homes;
• Adding average setbacks for manufactured homes:
  o Front setback: 2.7 m;
• A manufactured home with a basement shall have an average front setback of 4.0 m.
  o Side setback: 1.5 m; and
  o Rear setback: 1.5 m;
• Decreasing the front setback of one-unit dwellings and two-unit dwellings from 6.0 m to 4.0 m; and
• Other minor changes to consolidate Article 7.15 Replacement of Manufactured Homes of the Land Use Policy into the Compact Lot (R4) District, and allow typical manufactured home designs without variance.

The following change was made to the Architectural Motif and Guidelines for the Town of Jasper:

• Exempting manufactured homes from minimum roof pitch requirements.

Other changes to the Jasper Land Use Policy include:

• Automatically allowing development permits to be valid for up to 24 months, up from 12 months;
• Modifying the regulations to allow additional fire-resistant materials for window frames and other detailing in residential and commercial areas;
• Clarifying FireSmart regulations for signage, windows, fences and heavy timbers in the Architectural Motif;
• Allowing row-houses in all residential districts to allow adjacent neighbours to collaborate to build attached and semi-attached housing forms at the same density as R2 District Lots; and
• Removing minor regulations restricting the design of residential parking.

Here is a snapshot of the status of permitting as of March 2025:

• 18 new staff have been added to support planning and development across Parks Canada and the Municipality of Jasper
• 99% of demolition permits issued
• 82 Development Permits Issued since September, with the first residential permit issued on February 3, 2025
• 12 variance applications approved since December 2, 2024
• 215 pre-development meetings held since the end of October 2024
• 1,350+ emails and phone calls with lessees and contractors since December 1, 2024

In the past, applicants had to pay a large compliance deposit at the beginning of the permitting process. These deposits could range from $40,000 to $500,000, depending on the size of the project.

Now, applicants only need to pay a smaller deposit once they receive occupancy approval, rather than at the building permit stage. This means most homeowners won’t need to pay a deposit anymore. For commercial or larger developments, a deposit may still be required.

Compliance deposits help ensure that outstanding permit conditions like landscaping, siding, or code issues– are completed according to approved plans. Once all permit conditions are met, applicants receive their deposit back.

The new system reduces the financial burden for applicants and helps speed up the permitting process, while still ensuring the project meets conditions. This change applies across Jasper National Park, including within the Jasper townsite.

The details:

• The compliance deposit is now required at the time of conditional occupancy, not at time of building permit issuance.
• The deposit amount will be based on 15% of the value of any outstanding landscaping costs and up to 100% of the costs of other outstanding conditions, only when the total value of those outstanding conditions exceeds $50,000.
• These changes are intended to streamline permitting and reduce financial barriers for applicants.
• As a result of these changes, most residential developments will no longer need to provide large upfront financial deposits.

In the building permit process, Parks Canada has eliminated the requirement for foundation elevation checks which simplifies the permitting process by issuing a single-stage building permit.

Parks Canada previously issued building permits for projects requiring a foundation in two stages. The first stage permitted only the pouring of the foundation, and once the foundation was verified by a professional surveyor, the permit was amended to allow full construction.

What’s changed?

The new approach has eliminated the requirement for foundation elevation checks. This simplifies the permitting process by issuing a single-stage building permit, making the building process faster.

New Land Use Planning Regulations for the National Parks came into effect in December 2024. These new regulations introduce a new fee structure for planning services to replace outdated fees that had not been changed in over 50 years. In response to the unique circumstances caused by the Jasper wildfire, all land use planning and development fees will be reduced for all properties to be no more than they would have been prior to the new Land Use Planning Regulations coming into force until further notice.

For more information on what fees may apply to projects, please contact the Development Office at developpementjasper-jasperdevelopment@pc.gc.ca.

In October 2024, the policies that apply to development in Jasper were updated using the following guiding principles: make rebuilding easier, rebuild with fire in mind, increase housing options, climate resilience, and sustainability. A team of Parks Canada and Municipality of Jasper planners also published a Rebuilding Guide, which summarizes the policy updates, present FAQs for rebuilding, and provides information on steps to follow when rebuilding.