IMPORTANT: Scroll down to see your opportunities to learn more in-person at the upcoming Fortress’ public Listening Sessions about what is proposed - and make your voice heard!
Our concerns regarding
the proposed Fortress Mountain Resort
The proposed Fortress Mountain Resort is in the Kananaskis Valley, not far away: just 25 km from Dead Man’s Flats, and 32 km from Canmore. The Bow and Kananaskis Valleys are part of the same ecosystem, connected by the low-elevation Skogan Pass.
We’ve read the All Season Resort Master Plan and the Environmental Assessment for the proposed Fortress Mountain Resort. The owners want to develop the site into a year-round resort community, proposing a large number of summer and winter uses, and adding hotels, gondolas, retail shops, and private real estate, with an anticipated 10,000 people per day visiting the site, creating development more than double the size of B.C.’s Panorama resort.
We have the following concerns:
Character of Kananaskis Country.
K-Country already receives 5 million visitors annually, and this development and increased visitation threatens to dramatically change the character of Kananaskis Country. Also, the Nakiska ski area - which also recently received an All Season Resort land designation - is just 13 km away from Fortress, and might also be allowed to grow its visitor numbers.
Impacts on Nature.
The area is an extremely important feeding and resting area for Grizzly bears, designated as a Threatened Species in Alberta. Summer use would increase the chance of conflict between humans and Grizzly bears in the short term – and remove this key habitat from these animals in the long term.
The proposed increase in use, particularly summer use, is very likely to negatively impact other at-risk animals, including Wolverine, and of course many other species. The Bull trout is protected by the federal Species at Risk Act - and 17% of the Fortress leasehold is critical habitat for Bull trout.
Fortress has not assessed their water needs or the environmental impact of water withdrawal for the proposed development. Their existing water license cannot provide enough water to support the proposed use – and for 20 years the government has had a moratorium on any new water licenses in the South Saskatchewan River Basin, including this area. Where would this water come from?
The proponent’s Environmental Assessment (EA) does not adequately address ANY of the points raised above – and also fails to consider how climate change might affect the development’s environmental impact.
The EA does not consider cumulative effects in the area. There are many other existing and proposed developments in the Kananaskis Valley, and Alberta’s All-season Resorts Act encourages areas such as Nakiska Ski Area – just 13 kilometres from Fortress – to similarly increase its activities, including summer use. This ecologically important valley, and its users, deserves a regional environmental assessment that would consider the cumulative effects of these developments on the ecosystem, to support planning in the entire region.
Photo by Jamin Mulvey.
This proposal contradicts several provincial government policies.
It runs counter to the Kananaskis Country Recreation Policy; part of the area proposed for development is listed as a Prime Protection Zone in the Eastern Slopes Policy; and the Land-Use Framework and South Saskatchewan Regional Plan outline the need for cumulative effects management.
More recently, the government’s All-Season Resorts Policy describes environmental excellence as a “foundational expectation. The Tourism Minister also stated in December 2025 that a key purpose of this policy is to reduce pressure on areas experiencing over-use. Kananaskis Country gets over 5,000,000 visitors annually (more than Banff!) - this proposed development runs counter to that purpose.
Last year the provincial government removed 131 hectares (324 acres) from Spray Lakes Provincial Park without consultation - those mountain slopes are now zoned All Seasons Resort Area, allowing Fortress’ lease area to expand.
In Conclusion. This proposal runs counter to many existing government policies - and the deficient Environmental Assessment means we don’t know what the impact of this proposal might be, or the cumulative impacts of existing and foreseeable developments nearby. Given that, we don’t support the development as proposed.
What can you do? Find out more…
To find out more, consider attending Fortress’ public Listening Sessions:
Tuesday February 17: Canmore Miner’s Union Hall (728 7 St, Canmore), 2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Friday February 20: Calgary: Mount Royal University, 4825 Mount Royal Gate SW,
Room EC2010. 2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Monday February 23, Edmonton: Stanley A. Milner Library, 7 Sir Winston Churchill Sq NW, Civic Employee Fund Room 1. 2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
…and then make your voice heard (by Friday 27th February, 2026)
The provincial government would like to hear from you (by 27 February) through its one-question feedback form.
We feel this form is constraining - they want you to ‘Include information regarding how you are affected by the proposed application.’
We recommend that, by 27 February, you write an email expressing your thoughts, and send it to the following:
All-season Resort Branch: allseasonresorts@gov.ab.ca
Fortress Mountain Resort: info@fortressmountainresort.com
And Alberta Minister of Tourism & Sport, Hon. Andrew Boitchenko: ts.minister@gov.ab.ca
WILDLIFE CAN BE ENCOUNTERED ANYWHERE, ANYTIME!
Please report any sightings of a bear, cougar, wolf or any aggressive wildlife in the Bow Valley or K-Country to Kananaskis Dispatch at 403-591-7755. In Banff, call Dispatch at 403.762.1470. They prefer to get the reports first hand from the people who see the wildlife!