Canmore is a town in Alberta, Canada, located approximately 81 kilometres (50 mi) west of Calgary near the southeast boundary of Banff National Park.

Canmore was officially named in 1884 by Canadian Pacific Railway director Donald A. Smith (later 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal).

[14][15] Concerns over Canmore's urban growth adjacent to provincial and national parkland has led to many efforts to place a limit on future development.

[17] In May 2022, the Land and Property Rights Tribunal of Alberta overruled town officials and ordered that development for the two projects can proceed to completion.

[18] Bisected by the Trans-Canada Highway, located on the Canadian Pacific Kansas City railway and run through by the Bow River, Canmore is ideally situated on a number of major transportation routes, which has influenced its tourism-based economy and historical mining industry.

[19] This corridor allows animals such as bears, cougars, wolves, and elk to move between habitat patches, where they can find food, escape predators, breed, give birth, and establish territories.

Despite its modest population and environmentally friendly image, Canmore is highly sprawled and segmented (due to wildlife corridors, highways, the railway, and the Bow River) and takes over one and a half hours to traverse on foot.

Much of the recent development is taking place in Three Sisters Mountain Village, Silvertip Resort, and around the town centre.

Mountains located adjacent to and visible from the townsite are: Canmore's climate is relatively mild compared to some other regions of Alberta.

[citation needed] It does not have an Environment Canada weather observation station, but the nearby town of Banff has an average high of −3.1 °C (26 °F) in January,[20] with relatively low humidity.

The 1988 Winter Olympics revived the economy and set the grounds for a high-end bedroom and get-away community which would depend on construction and tourism income.

[46] Many feature films and series have been shot in the Canmore area, including Brokeback Mountain, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Open Range, The Edge, Legends of the Fall, Shanghai Noon, Mystery Alaska, Snow Dogs, the pilot episode of Everwood, The Last of Us, and others.

The town was also popularized by the late John Morgan of the Royal Canadian Air Farce with his monosyllabic character "Mike from Canmore".

The Nordic Centre hosts national training camps for Canada's biathlon and cross-country ski teams, in addition to providing winter and summer recreational facilities to the general public.

It has some 60 kilometres (37 mi) of world-class cross-country and biathlon trail systems designed to meet international Nordic competitive standards.

The Upper & Lower Grassi Lakes lie at an elevation of about 1,525 m in the southern Canadian Rockies overlooking the town of Canmore, Alberta.

In 2001, Canmore resident and Eagles goalie "Double Blocker" Dan Blackburn, was drafted into the National Hockey League to play for the New York Rangers.

On February 22, 2006, Canmore local Chandra Crawford won the gold medal in the women's cross-country 1.1-kilometre sprint at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

Beckie Scott, gold medalist in the women's cross country skiing pursuit race in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah also makes her home in Canmore.

During the winter season, the facility sees several cross-country ski races, ranging from local events to the FIS World Cup in 2005, 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2016.

In early 2010, several projects are beginning to show signs of life, and real estate pricing has begun to recover.

As of June 2014 Canmore has the lowest vacancy rate in Canada for rental properties according to a CMHC Spring report.

Canmore is a very difficult place to find affordable housing, and pet owners or families may have difficulty arranging accommodation.