There is literally nowhere to live in Jasper. Whether you're new to town or you're a long-time resident looking to upgrade to a larger home, there is absolutely nowhere to go.
The vacancy rate is at zero per cent and, according to Nancy Taylor of Royal Lepage, that's nothing new.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been at a zero per cent vacancy rate for as long as I can remember, with very little turnover.
鈥淚t just keeps becoming more and more critical,鈥� she said. 鈥淲ithout being alarmist, I call it a housing crisis and it鈥檚 been that way for probably 10 years.鈥�
The crisis has been especially visible this spring as people have been posting pleas on the Jasper Buy, Sell and Trade Facebook page.
CN conductor Jason McTavish even went so far as paying to have his ad at the top of the page for a week, and in that week he didn鈥檛 receive a single phone call from landlords or people looking to sublet their suites.
He is one of many new Jasperites using the buy and sell to find housing this season.
A month ago, staff from Friends of National Park were also posting pleas. Sue Cesco, general manager of Friends, said it took four weeks before she managed to find housing for two of her summer students, and, in the end, she only found it because of the organization鈥檚 membership.
鈥淪ome of the members stepped up and said 鈥業 can take in one of your students.鈥� So we鈥檙e really fortunate those people were able to do that for us.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a difficult time for businesses like ourselves, when you鈥檙e hiring student positions and you get a grant that requires you to hire a student it usually implies that they鈥檝e been in the city attending university and they want to come out here. But it鈥檚 difficult to find them a place to live. It鈥檚 a struggle every year.鈥�
And under those conditions, employers are often faced with an ultimatum along the lines of 鈥榝ind me a home or find someone else,鈥� said Cesco.
鈥淎nd that makes us a little nervous,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ecause we鈥檙e worried we鈥檙e going to lose our best candidates. You go through the whole hiring process, you spend a lot of time and you pick your best candidates and ... you can offer the position to the best people, but will they take it if they don鈥檛 have accommodation?鈥�
According to Taylor, people often move to town with a job and then leave because they can鈥檛 find somewhere to lay their head.
鈥淭his hasn鈥檛 been a seasonal problem for years.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 find something in the spring. You can鈥檛 find something in the fall. It鈥檚 a year-round problem.鈥�
There are solutions, though. Taylor said even if 100 more units were built, that would take a bit of the pressure off and it would allow some of the Jasperites living on couches or with roommates in bachelor suites, to live in a healthier environment.
The Jasper Community Housing Corporation (JCHC) is currently collecting information and data to determine just what the housing demands are in town. It held a community workshop in March to gather some of that information, and there will be another workshop with the business community to gather more the first week of June.
Leanne Pelletier, administrative officer for the corporation, said ultimately the goal is to determine whether needs have changed drastically since the last housing study was completed in 2002.
If they have, then the corporation will decide whether or not to complete a new study. If they haven鈥檛, then the corporation will compile all of the information it鈥檚 gathered, attach it to the 2002 study and come up with a plan to address the existing needs.
