Avalanche Canada's Alberta funding secured after months of doubt
The province will put $250,000 a year into avalanche forecasting and safety through 2028-29, ending an uncertain stretch in which the non-profit warned it would have to cut backcountry services.
Why it matters
Avalanche Canada issues the daily danger ratings Alberta backcountry users rely on — and for five months it was not certain those forecasts would continue.
Avalanche Canada will keep forecasting for Alberta's mountain backcountry after the province renewed its funding for another three years. In an announcement on Aug. 17, the Government of Alberta committed $250,000 a year from 2026-27 through 2028-29 to support the non-profit's avalanche forecasting, education and public safety work.
The decision ends months of uncertainty. The previous agreement lapsed at the end of March, and by early August the renewal was still officially under review, with Avalanche Canada saying publicly that it would have to cut services without it. Chris Brookes of the Alberta Snowmobile Association told The Canadian Press that if Alberta forecasts stopped, it would be "a potentially life-threatening situation" for people heading into the backcountry.
The funding supports the daily forecasts covering the Alberta Rockies — Kananaskis, Banff and Lake Louise, Jasper and the Icefields, and Waterton — along with public avalanche warnings, training and outreach. It also pays for the organisation's school program, which reached 4,163 students at 31 Alberta schools during the 2025-26 season.
Alberta has funded part of Avalanche Canada's operations since 2004, and the annual amount is unchanged from the previous agreement — roughly five per cent of the organisation's budget, by its own account. "More Albertans than ever are heading out to ski, snowmobile, hike, and explore our backcountry each winter," Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen said in the announcement.
Forecasting for the coming season begins in late November. Until then, avalanche.ca is the place to check conditions.
Disclosure: Alberta Daily publishes Avalanche Canada's danger ratings on its avalanche map, with the organisation's written permission.
Compiled by the Alberta Daily Desk — an AI-written summary of reporting from the credited sources below, produced and reviewed under our editorial policy.