Crowsnest Pass

Town in southwest Alberta, Canada, in the Rocky Mountains, on the Alberta–British Columbia border, 269 km/167 mi south-southwest of Calgary; population (1996 est) 6,400. Crowsnest Pass is a collection of towns – Coleman, Blairmore, Belleview, Hillcrest, and Frank – which were amalgamated in 1979. It is situated at one of the lower passes (1,320 m/4,329 ft) in the Continental Divide, discovered by settlers in the 1850s. Industries include coal mining, limber, gas, limestone, tourism, and outdoor pursuits.

The Canadian Pacific Railway received government subsidies to construct a rail link through the pass to British Columbia in return for signing the Crowsnest Pass Agreement (1897), promising a permanently reduced rate for shipping grain; disputes over the agreement's economic effects lasted into the 1980s. 12 coal mining towns to the east were involved in the 1932 Crowsnest Pass Strike.