‘I had higher expectations’: In tourist town of Banff, G7 felt rather than seen

BANFF — In her hometown of Banff, Alta., Monica Dominguez’s experience of the G7 leaders’ summit has been defined by the sound of helicopter blades humming from above.

“You never hear helicopters here,” Dominguez, manager at Magpie & Stump Mexican Restaurant and Bar, said Monday inside the restaurant on Caribou Street. “When you hear helicopters, it’s because it’s an emergency.”

“This is a little bit — I don’t want to say overwhelming — but it’s different.”

Though some of the world’s most powerful leaders have been just a few mountain passes away in the resort village of Kananaskis since Sunday, locals in Banff say the summit has been a spectacle felt rather than seen.

For the past week, aircraft have hovered overhead in preparation for the leaders’ arrivals, and police from other cities and towns have roamed the streets.

On Monday, small groups of international media were seen broadcasting curbside around the Rocky Mountain tourist town. Just outside the town’s main strip, hundreds of reporters, photographers and broadcasters from around the world are being housed at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

Shannon Thoren said she had expected more action from the summit. Though she hadn’t imagined run-ins with world leaders, she’d hoped to see their plus-ones and staffers wearing badges walk into the Canada House Gallery, a local art gallery where she’s assistant director.

“I like the chaos,” Thoren said in the brightly-lit store Monday as reams of tourists wandered around the community.

She said traffic has been normal for mid-June. The previous day was particularly busy, but she said a local half marathon and Father’s Day likely accounted for the buzz.

“I don’t want to say (I was) disappointed, but I had higher expectations of more traffic, and that just wasn’t the case,” she said of the summit. The only difference is she sees more people distracted by the helicopters flying around town.

At the Spirit of Christmas, a store dedicated to the holiday 365 days a year, visitors filed in and out while “Home Alone” played behind the cashier. Store manager Tawny O’Hara hadn’t been as curious as to how the G7 gathering would impact the town.

“I thought the protests might have been a bit of a pain,” said O’Hara.

O’Hara said it’s been busier in Banff this year compared to years’ prior. However, she chalks that up to a favourable exchange rate for Americans travelling to Canada and perhaps greater numbers of Canucks deciding to stay home in response to the trade war initiated by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Dominguez agreed that those factors seem to be at play. And she’s not complaining: the summer offers a brief window to cash in on tourism spending.

And who knows what will happen once the summit wraps on Tuesday and the world leaders are gone.

“This town runs on tourism — it’s short and sweet summers,” Dominguez said.

“You may as well enjoy it while it’s here.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2025.

Matthew Scace, The Canadian Press