Alberta funding for Jasper housing rebuild ‘can’t be spent’ amid impasse: minister

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Alberta’s social services minister says $112 million earmarked for 250 new permanent homes in Jasper is off the table if Parks Canada and the local government continue to pursue a different vision for the town’s post-wildfire rebuild.

The Alberta government’s promised funding is now hanging in the balance as the mountain town argues multi-unit buildings are needed to help the town’s long-standing housing shortage. The province is requiring the funding be used to build detached, single-family homes.

“If we don’t have a project that meets those requirements, then this money can’t be spent,” Jason Nixon, Alberta’s minister of seniors, community and social services, told reporters.