What is Eligible Residency?
Residential leases in Banff restrict occupancy to eligible residents as defined in national park regulations. The eligible residency provisions ensure that community residential lands are available exclusively for community use, rather than recreational or second home purposes.
Why have Eligible Residency?
To ensure that a broad supply of housing types are available for those who work and raise families in the community, all people living in national park communities must meet eligible residency requirements. This ensures that housing remains available for those whose primary objective is to live and work in the community.
Who is an Eligible Resident?
According to the National Parks Lease and License of Occupation Regulations an eligible resident is defined as:
(a) an individual whose primary employment is in the park,
(b) an individual who operates a business in the park and whose presence at the place of business is necessary for the day-to-day operation of the business,
(c) a retired individual who resides in the park and who, for five consecutive years immediately prior to retirement,
(i) was employed primarily in that park, or
(ii) operated a business in that park and whose presence at the place of business was necessary for the day-to-day operation of the business,
(d) a retired individual who resided in the park at the time of the individual's retirement and who resided in that park on July 30, 1981,
(e) an individual who is a student in full-time attendance at an educational institution that is located within the park and registered under the Income Tax Act or applicable provincial legislation relating to education,
(f) an individual who is a lessee of public lands in the park and who
(i) was the lessee of those public lands prior to May 19, 1911, or
(ii) is a descendant, by blood or adoption, of an individual who was the lessee of those public lands prior to May 19, 1911, or
(g) the spouse or common-law partner or a dependant of an individual referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (f).