‘It absolutely reeks’: Canmore continues to battle sewage smell from wastewater plant

Cyclists ride through downtown Canmore, Alta., on Monday, April 24, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

CANMORE — There’s a persistent stench wafting through the bucolic mountain town of Canmore, Alta.

It’s so strong that one local coined a new tourism slogan for his local newspaper.

“Visit Canmore,” wrote Jamie McVicar in a letter to the editor.

“Come climb a peak; don’t mind the reek.”

The picturesque town on the eastern edge of Banff National Park, about 110 kilometres west of Calgary, has been permeated by a strong sewer smell emanating from the community’s sewage treatment plant.

“It’s ungodly,” said McVicar, a retired lawyer who has lived in Canmore since 1993.

“There were mornings when we would close all the windows in our house because it was so putrid.”

The town has been trying to fix the sewage problem for years. Efforts to eliminate the offensive odour from the plant, which was built in the 1990s, have included iron salt dousing and using carbon filters.

All have been unsuccessful.

The latest plan is to replace the open air tanks with those that have lids, but won’t be complete until next year.

“We know that sewage smell can be distressing. We are aware of the issue, committed to resolving it,” reads a statement from the town to its residents.

“We acknowledge that there remains a problem to solve, and we appreciate your patience as we continue to take steps to reduce odour impacts on our community.”

McVicar believes the town thought it was doing the right thing when it chose the current system.

“Canmore was trying to test out sort of a little more sustainable and more of a recovery system in wastewater treatment,” the 67-year-old said. “I can’t really fault them for that, but from the outset the design did not work.

“The bottom line is ... it absolutely reeks.”

Canmore Mayor Sean Krausert, who is seeking re-election on Oct. 20, said it has been frustrating that the two fixes already implemented haven’t solved the problem.

“It has always produced smells. However, due to the dominant west wind, the amount of complaints that were received before were relatively minor,” Krausert said.

Krauser said there are “two existential threats” the town of 17,000 is facing: housing and affordability, as it becomes more of a destination, and wildfires.

“We have to address both of these going forward,” he said.

Krausert said the smell is a point of contention in Canmore, but not as much of an election issue.

“It’s not really an issue. Everybody agrees. We have to deal with it and this is dealing with it,” Krausert said.

The mayor said he even gets days in his own neighbourhood where the sewage smell forces him to close his windows.

“I definitely have had it in my neighbourhood, but not nearly as bad as others. They get hit with it hard,” he said.

“For those who do smell it, it’s terrible and it’s unacceptable and we had to move on this fast.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 14, 2025.

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press