CANMORE – Canmore Community Housing (CCH) has a new leader as plans to develop the Palliser lands begin to take shape.
Kristopher Mathieu was named the housing authority’s new executive director – which was ratified Thursday (Aug. 8) by the CCH board – after he filled the interim role for the past five months.
“When I got involved in CCH, I really enjoyed the relationship between the municipality and I really enjoyed providing homes for people,” he said. “I’ve been involved in construction and home building, but stepping into the executive director role I get to look at this as a more wholesome approach.
“I get to utilize all the tools that are in place with CCH. I get to utilize the amazing people living in our homes right now and also by seeing our waitlist triple in the last 15-16 months has helped me want to grow CCH. We have a really good team and everyone’s been working very hard. … I want to see this to the end and that we can do everything we reasonably can in developing in the Bow Valley.”
Mathieu joined CCH as development project manager in 2023 after more than a decade working in the private construction and development sector.
He said both he and his fiancé had discussed for years in making Canmore their home.
He previously worked in commercial construction with project coordination and project management, utility and infrastructure-related projects such as bridges and the Bruce Power nuclear plant in Ontario with Black and McDonald Ltd., residential development with Anderson Development Group and asset management with Triovest.
Mathieu, a Southern Alberta Institute of Technology graduate in architectural technologies and raised in nearby Strathmore, said his past roles helped in gaining experience at multiple levels of development.
“By having these different facets under my career belt, it’s really helped me understand both the municipality and city management of it,” he said. “It’s helped me understand dollars and cents and livability factor, but also helped me get a good understanding you can’t develop or build a community without willingness to build.
“You need to have infrastructure in place. You need to understand how people are going to live in the community and how they’re going to navigate the community, get home every day, how they go about their day. It’s a big part of urban and municipal design. It takes good expertise to look at that and by being involved in all these facets, it’s really helped me do a good job of planning land usage, making sure we’re building homes in a cost-effective way.”
Jeff Mah, one of council’s representatives on the board, said at the Aug. 8 meeting CCH hired Human Edge as a consultant for its search for potential candidates within 100 kilometres of Canmore. He said they shortlisted three candidates in addition to Mathieu, with interviews done over two days.
“After a lot of deliberation, we felt that we would stick with [Mathieu]. [He] has a great track record of being workable,” Mah said, with the process being finalized in late July.
Lisa de Soto, a CCH board member, noted it can be frustrating to go through the process as an incumbent, but “it’s really important that process is undertaken, especially in a public-facing organization.”
“To come out on top of that, we have the confidence we have the best person,” she said.
The top position for CCH has been a revolving door for the last 18 months.
In February 2023, long-time CCH managing director Dougal Forteath was fired without cause, which led to former Town of Canmore CAO and CCH board member Lisa de Soto temporarily assuming the role of strategic leadership advisor.
Michelle Ouellette was named the executive director in July 2023 following a lengthy search, but resigned last March leading Mathieu to become the interim executive director.
CCH’s operations staffing also saw a full turnover during the same 18 months and it has also expanded the number of employees.
In addition to the multiple top position changes for the housing authority, Canmore council shook up the board makeup of CCH.
In the past, two board positions were comprised of council members. However, in 2022, council changed the ratio to have four of the nine board members be elected officials. It had originally been recommended by Town staff to have five council members sit on the board.
CCH is a separate organization from the Town and is run at an arm’s length, but its shareholders are the Canmore CAO, Canmore mayor and CCH executive director.
CCH has several projects in the pipeline, but the Canmore council-approved Palliser Trail area structure plan (ASP) will be the focus for the foreseeable future.
The ASP was approved in 2023 and is estimated to build 1,300 units, with more than 1,000 being affordable.
Council approved a four- and six-storey affordable housing project earlier this year and the project is in the permitting and tendering stage. It’s anticipated construction will start in 2025 and be completed in 2026.
Once finished, an estimated 144 rental units will be added to CCH’s portfolio at 100 Palliser Lane.
“I look at this as a wholesome approach. Palliser’s a big area and it will take time to develop. It’s going to be a several year plan,” he said.
“It’s fantastic news for Canmore.”
The project is anticipated to break ground in October, but reliant on funding and receiving development permits. The expected completion is in 2026.
Construction is ongoing at 205 Stewart Creek Rise for 18 new units in a mixture of two- and three-bedroom units.
In addition to the two projects, Three Sisters Village ASP received conceptual scheme approval earlier this year and is in the subdivision phase. The plan outlines 10 per cent of all housing built be affordable and potentially added to CCH’s portfolio, though not required. A bonus density tool in the ASP would allow developers to increase the amount it could build, but it would also mean more affordable housing would be required.
There’s no decline in the need for affordable housing in Canmore as the interest remains in high demand.
CCH has a waitlist of 264 for homeownership and 189 for its rental properties, according to the June operations report. There are 169 affordable homes to own and 111 for rent in its portfolio.
Its homeownership program is primarily comprised of full-time workers in Canmore. On the rental side, the average wait time for units is between 300 and 425 days, depending on availability of one-, two- and three-bedroom units.
Through the first six months of 2024, there has been a turnover of nine homeownership units and four rental properties. In 2023, there were 19 homeownership units sold and 29 rental units had turnover.
Mathieu said with several projects upcoming, it’s a promising opportunity and way to benefit the community.
“I’ve learned a lot in the last year I’ve been at CCH. It’s been an evolution, but it’s been great,” Mathieu said. “The team is great and everything CCH is doing is really beneficial. … You get the benefit of creating a bigger community and creating a sustainable community.”
