Fernie / Sparwood / Crowsnest

With a high percentage of both unionized mining jobs and entrepreneurial enterprises, Fernie is a small-town success story. Nestled in the snowy Elk Range about three hours south of Calgary, its economy benefits from a major Teck coal mine in Sparwood that exports coal (via rail) to China. Many Calgary professionals own second homes here and telecommute, especially during winter.

Fernie Alpine Resort welcomes powder-seekers from around the world. There’s historically been a lot of on-mountain real estate investment from skiers from the U.K., and there’s plenty of work in the construction trades up and down the Elk River valley.

Work: Coal has been dug out of the vast Crowsnest field since 1897 and currently there are five open pit mines in operation.

Play: Skiing and snowboarding are the major attraction in winter, but fly fishing on the Elk River is some of B.C.’s finest, especially during hatching season.

Culture: The refurbished heritage buildings downtown house retail stores, government services, professional offices and a funky local museum.

Municipalities & Districts:
Fernie – www.fernie.ca
Sparwood – www.sparwood.ca

Real Estate:
Fernie Listings 
Sparwood Listings
Crowsnest Listings

Builders:
Discovery Dream Homes – discoverydreamhomes.com
Pan-abode – panabode.com

Note: Population is listed by either municipality or region. Sample listing represents a home near the median average selling price in 2017. Real estate trend metric uses B.C. Assessment data for value and includes sales of all property types.