BIRS website has several pages with information for participants, and also a FAQ section. Here we summarized most of them into a single page. Please, checkout their website when in doubt, or contact us.
Accommodation🔗
Participants' accomodation during the nights of Friday 28 and Saturday 29 are completely covered by BIRS. This means that participants won't have to pay for their room.
All participants that confirm after June 30 will have to ensure their own accommodation, since BIRS cannot guarantee room availability.
Find more information in BIRS Accommodations page and in BIRS FAQ page on accommodation.
Meals🔗
Meals are not included. Participants will have to cover the costs of their meals. BIRS offers breakfast, lunch and dinner as buffet style at reasonable prices.
You can check the prices and time for each meal in BIRS Meals page.
Getting to BIRS🔗
The easiest way to get to BIRS is from Calgary. It's possible to drive from the Calgary International Airport to Banff, or take one of the shuttles that operate between the Airport and Banff Centre. You can find more directions on how to get to BIRS in their website.
Some shuttle companies that operate between Calgary International Airport and Banff Centre offer a 15% discount to all BIRS participants.
There are other companies that aren't partnered with BIRS, but they might offer cheaper options, like VIVO GREEN.
Travel grants🔗
BIRS leads to some of its parters that can guarantee travel grants for participants. We would encourage every participant that might need some funding aid to cover the costs of the travel to review these travel grant options, and apply if they are eligible.
Besides that, we, the organizers, are looking for other funding options. If you need some sort of funding aid to totally or partially cover your travel costs, please contact us so we can review our options.
Visa letters🔗
It's important that you check if you need a visa to travel to Canada. You can also check out the visa processing time, which could vary depending on where you are applying from.
If you do need a visa, BIRS can send you a visa letter that you can attach to your application. Read more about it in their FAQ Section.
Recreation🔗
Besides the formal activities of the workshop, participants are encouraged to enjoy their time in Banff and use the Banff Centre facilites. They include an athletic complex with swimming pool, running track, workout room, climbing wall and more. It also has nice arts and music library. Besides, there are a lot of trails around Banff that participants could visit and hike.
Checkout BIRS Recreation page, and Banff Park website for trail maps and more information.