1. Banff, Alberta
Banff National Park saw 4.5 million visitors in the 2025-26 fiscal year, surpassing the previous high of 4.28 million in 2023-24, continuing a pattern of nearly annual increases over the last decade. Along with the record visitation, a record 2.3 million rides were taken on Roam transit throughout the park, and every frontcountry campground was fully booked, totalling 292,000 site nights. Some corners of the park are taking the brunt of it more than others.
Lake Louise and Moraine Lake alone draw about 2.6 million people each year, and Parks Canada has openly admitted the pressure points are narrow but intense. The Lake Minnewanka Loop near the Banff townsite now attracts about one quarter of the park’s annual visitors, creating congestion and parking chaos. A recent Town of Banff survey found residents are highly satisfied with their quality of life overall, but roughly one in three feel their quality of life has declined in the past three years because of the rising cost of living, tourism, and overcrowding. Adding to the strain, the Canada Strong Pass, which offers free entry to national parks, has been announced for return in the summer of 2026, a decision that allows free access to Canadian national parks and historic sites but whose greatest impact may be felt right here in Banff.
2. Tofino, British Columbia
On the wild edge of Vancouver Island, a town built around surfing and storm watching has become almost impossible to visit quietly anymore. The District of Tofino has roughly 2,767 residents, and that same year saw over 711,000 total visitors. That visitor-to-resident ratio is staggering, and the consequences are impossible to ignore. The influx has led to serious infrastructure issues including water shortages, sewage treatment concerns, and traffic congestion on the single winding road that connects Tofino to the rest of Vancouver Island.
Housing has arguably taken the hardest hit of all. Housing affordability has reached crisis levels, with many service industry workers who support the tourism economy unable to afford to live in Tofino, forcing long commutes or shared accommodations, while the average home price has more than doubled in five years as many properties get converted to vacation rentals. Local officials have described the situation in blunt terms, warning that the current trajectory simply cannot continue if the town wants to keep the workforce it depends on.
3. Canmore, Alberta
Just down the highway from Banff, Canmore has become something of a case study in how a mountain town fights back against short-term rental saturation. A 2024 Statistics Canada study on short-term rentals in the Canadian housing market indicated that at least 15 per cent of Canmore’s housing market is being used for short-term rentals. The study analyzed more than 100 population centres and found larger areas had fewer than 0.40 per cent of housing inventory dedicated to short-term use, but tourist locations such as Canmore, Whistler, and Mont-Tremblant were in the double digits.
Local government has responded with some of the toughest policy tools seen anywhere in the country. The Town of Canmore passed a bylaw in August 2024 that divided residential properties into five sub-classes and allows the administration to set different tax rates for primary residences, tourist homes, and vacant properties. The tourist home tax rate is about three times the rate of residential properties, and effective March 2025, the Land Use Bylaw was amended to eliminate tourist homes as a permitted use for a property. It’s a rare example of a small town using tax policy, rather than just pleading with visitors, to try to claw back housing stock for the people who actually live there.
4. Niagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls has always drawn crowds, but the scale of recent years has pushed the region into new territory. Niagara Falls is practically synonymous with Canadian tourism, and 2024 saw an unprecedented 14 million visitors, based on data from Ontario’s tourism ministry. The sheer scale of modern tourism in the region has reached a saturation point, and it’s not just the falls themselves, it’s the urban sprawl of tourist traps that surrounds them.
For the people who live there year-round, the falls have started to feel less like a backyard wonder and more like an obstacle course. Infrastructure in the Niagara region is being taxed to the limit, and local residents find themselves avoiding their own downtown cores during peak months to escape the gridlock and inflated pricing at restaurants. The experience for visitors is shifting too, since what should be a wonder of nature often feels like a crowded theme park, making it difficult to connect with the actual beauty of the Niagara River. City planners have started looking at expanded transit and additional green space as partial fixes, though nothing so far has meaningfully slowed the flow of buses arriving each summer.
5. Whistler, British Columbia
Whistler’s transformation from Olympic host to year-round mega-resort has come with a cost that locals feel every single day. Whistler has been a world-class destination since the 2010 Winter Olympics, but the growth hasn’t stopped, and what was once a seasonal ski town is now a year-round destination where, while the skiing remains world-class, the community is feeling the squeeze. Housing costs have climbed to a point where the people running the lifts and serving the tables often can’t afford to live anywhere near either.
Soaring housing costs have made it increasingly difficult for local workers to afford to live in town, forcing many to commute from distant areas. This, in turn, has led to increased traffic on the Sea-to-Sky Highway, the main road leading to Whistler, causing frequent congestion and delays. Emergency services are also struggling to cope, since when the highway becomes backed up, responding to emergencies becomes a genuine challenge, further highlighting the strain overtourism has placed on Whistler’s infrastructure. It’s a reminder that overtourism isn’t only a quality-of-life issue. In a town with one main road in and out, it can become a safety issue too.
6. Mont-Tremblant, Quebec
Tucked into the Laurentian Mountains, Mont-Tremblant built its reputation on being a quieter, four-season alternative to the bigger resort towns further west. Mont-Tremblant was once a peaceful escape for those seeking year-round outdoor adventures, from skiing in the winter to hiking and water sports in the summer. That reputation is getting harder to maintain as visitor numbers climb each season.
Seasonal workers, who are crucial to the town’s tourism economy, are being priced out of the housing market, with many forced to live in nearby towns and commute for hours just to serve the visitors flocking to Mont-Tremblant. The situation is especially pressing in summer, as the once serene atmosphere is disrupted by an overwhelming number of tourists. Mont-Tremblant has joined Banff, Whistler, Tofino, and Vancouver in rolling out visitor taxes to tackle overtourism, a recognition that voluntary restraint from visitors is no longer enough, and that formal intervention has become necessary to protect what makes these places worth visiting in the first place.
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