Jasper

The Athabasca valley has been home since time immemorial to Nakoda, Cree, Secwépemc and Dane-zaa peoples. In 1813 the North West Company set up Jasper House, a fur-trade post about 35 km north of today's town on the route across the mountains to New Caledonia and the Columbia River; it later passed to the Hudson's Bay Company, which closed it officially in 1884. Métis families descended from the traders settled in the valley, but after Jasper Forest Park was created in 1907, six families were declared squatters in 1909 and ordered to leave.

The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway established a divisional point here in 1911, naming it Fitzhugh after a company vice-president; the Canadian Northern opened its own station nearby in 1912. The townsite was surveyed in 1913 and renamed Jasper after the old post. In 1916 an internment camp held people classed as enemy aliens, many of them Ukrainians. The park became Jasper National Park in 1930, a road from Edmonton arrived by 1931, and the Icefields Parkway to Lake Louise opened in 1940. The town became a municipality, governed jointly with Parks Canada, in 2001.

On 22 July 2024 wildfires north and south of town forced the evacuation of about 25,000 residents, workers and visitors. Two days later the fire swept into Jasper and destroyed 358 of its 1,113 structures, about a third; the hospital, schools and wastewater treatment plant were saved, and a firefighter was killed. The fire was declared extinguished in April 2025. Areas outside the town reopened gradually from August 2024, debris clearance was finished by May 2025, and rebuilding of homes continues.

Jasper is a railway town at heart: the station stands at the centre of Connaught Drive, on the Canadian National main line, and one of the town's weekly newspapers, the Jasper Fitzhugh, takes the name of the original railway stop. The rustic stone information centre, built in 1913–14 as the park headquarters, set the style for buildings across Canada's national parks, and the Jasper the Bear statue, a familiar landmark, came through the 2024 fire undamaged.

The community is small and outdoor-minded, in a park that is larger and quieter than Banff. Hiking, cycling, paddling, skiing at Marmot Basin and the long relay run between Jasper and Banff are part of local life. In 2011 the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada named Jasper National Park a dark-sky preserve, and stargazing has become a draw in its own right. Jasper's Pride festival in late April mixes spring skiing with parties.

French is part of the town's schooling, with French immersion in the public schools and a francophone school for all grades. Jasper has been twinned with Hakone in Japan since 1972. Since the fire, residents' shared experience of evacuation, loss and rebuilding has become part of the town's identity.

The 2021 census counted about 4,700 people in the Municipality of Jasper. Living in the town, as in Banff, is tied to the national park, and governance is shared between the municipality and Parks Canada. Tourism is the backbone of the economy, from restaurants, guiding and the ski hill to park operations, alongside the railway and public services.

The 2024 fire changed daily life. A third of the town's buildings were lost, and the Alberta and federal governments put $170 million into recovery, $30 million of it for temporary and permanent housing. By May 2025 debris had been cleared and Parks Canada had issued 100 permits to rebuild houses, and construction continues. The loss of so many homes has left housing scarce.

The year follows the seasons: crowded summers when visitors fill Connaught Drive and the trails; a ski season at Marmot Basin from mid-November to early May; and quiet shoulder months. Elk wander through town, Jasper Transit buses link the neighbourhoods and Hinton, and the trains still mark the hours.

Jasper's food follows the Alberta table: beef in steak houses and burgers, and bison and other game on menus aimed at visitors who want a taste of the Rockies. Many of the town's restaurants are on or just off Connaught Drive, and many of the hotels in and around town have their own dining rooms, since the choice in a small community is limited.

The Jasper Brewing Company on Connaught Drive is the town's brewpub, and pizza places on the same street are a regular stop after a day's skiing at Marmot Basin. A sports lounge with big screens and a weekly karaoke night is among the evening options.

Eating outdoors is a large part of a Jasper summer. Picnic sites line Pyramid Lake and other lakes near town, campgrounds have fire pits, and many visitors carry a packed lunch for the long drives to Maligne Lake or along the Icefields Parkway, where food is found only at a few stops such as the restaurants of the Columbia Icefield Glacier Discovery Centre, which closes in winter. Self-catering from the town's grocery shops is the usual way to keep costs down.