Fernie Street Camping is back in focus after the City installed no-overnight-parking signs at Maiden Lake and reminded the public that vehicle-based camping is prohibited on City streets, parks and facilities.

The City says increased camping at Maiden Lake prompted the new signage. Bylaw Services is also reminding vehicle owners that recreational trailers must remain hitched unless they are on private property and that vehicles and trailers cannot remain parked in the same location for more than 72 hours. Violations could result in fines or vehicle impoundment.

Maiden Lake was never intended to become an informal campground. Neither were Fernie’s residential streets, parks and public parking areas. Unregulated camping can create problems with garbage, human waste, noise, wildlife attractants and conflicts with other users.

The City has every right to manage its public spaces. But moving people along is not the same thing as solving the problem.

Fernie Street Camping Is Becoming a Housing Question

Some people sleeping in vehicles are undoubtedly visitors trying to avoid paying for accommodation but, it would be difficult to believe that describes everyone.

Fernie’s cost of living is high, affordable rental housing is difficult to find, and our economy depends on workers in tourism, construction, hospitality, retail, recreation and other industries that do not necessarily pay enough to comfortably afford Fernie’s housing market.

For some people, a van, camper or RV has become the affordable option.

That makes the City’s suggestion that people use established campgrounds reasonable for tourists, but less useful for someone whose vehicle is actually their home.

For the past decade Fernie has had a successful example of longer-term RV living.

The Fernie RV Resort operates year-round and offers monthly RV stays with full-service sites, including power, city water and sewer, along with washrooms, laundry and Wi-Fi. The resort accepts long-term applications and has become home to workers, couples and families who choose or need to live in an RV.

That is an important part of Fernie’s housing mix. But Fernie RV Resort is a private business and cannot be expected to solve Fernie’s affordable-housing problem.

There remains a gap between a fully serviced commercial RV site and sleeping illegally at Maiden Lake.

What does Fernie offer the people who fall into that gap?

Canmore Asked the Same Question

Canmore also prohibits overnight camping on municipal lots, residential streets and other places not designated for camping.

But instead of relying solely on enforcement, the Town created Safe Park, specifically for people who are employed locally and living in their vehicles.

Applicants must generally work at least 20 hours a week in Canmore, have an operational vehicle that fits in a regular parking stall, and carry a valid driver’s liscence, registration and insurance. The program limits vehicles to two adult occupants.

The cost is deliberately modest: $100 per month or $350 for the May-through-September season in 2026.

This isn’t free tourist camping. It’s controlled parking for people who work in the community but don’t have conventional housing.

And there is demand. Canmore says Safe Park has supported more than 190 people since 2021, while 73 applications were received in 2025 alone — more than the program could accommodate. The Town describes the participants as people contributing to the community while dealing with housing insecurity and few safe or stable alternatives.

Safe Park isn’t a complete model for Fernie but it demonstrates an important principle: a community can prohibit street camping while also acknowledging that some members of its workforce live in vehicles and providing somewhere controlled for them to go.

So Where Will They Go?

Fernie has good reason to manage Maiden Lake and enforce its parking and camping bylaws.

At the same time, we shouldn’t assume everyone sleeping in a vehicle is simply looking for a free vacation.

Fernie is making substantial progress on housing. New rentals are under construction. Affordable housing projects are moving forward. Employers are investing in staff accommodation. EVFS and other organizations are actively creating solutions. Fernie RV Resort provides managed year-round RV accommodation and Coal Creek Camping and RV opened this spring and is also offering long-term stays.

All of that should give us some confidence that the housing shortage is being taken seriously.

But none of it completely answers the immediate question raised by the new signs at Maiden Lake: where will they go tonight?

Editor