We are a family of 5 (children are 1, 5 and 11). This will be our first trip to Canada and I am having a difficult time choosing a date. Maybe September or early October - to avoid the summer crowds? Looking at flying into Calgary and renting a condo in Canmore as a base and traveling to Banf, Lake Louise and maybe a night in Jasper. It would be a 7 day trip. Hiking with the littles probably isn't a possibility for this trip but after reading the other postings on this board it looks like there are many things to do that our family would enjoy. We live in South Louisiana so just enjoying any scenery above sea level is exciting and wonderful for us! Would September or early October be a good choice to avoid crowds? Is this a good trip for our family or would it be best to wait until the children are all old enough for hiking/camping?

About 8 years ago, I visited Edmonton, Alberta in September -- around the 2nd or 3rd week. Being from Texas, I commented to one of the locals on how surprised I was that it was so nice and warm "that far north." She told me to be glad I had visited when I did, because "in a month" it would be winter.

Mid-September is a lovely time in the Rockies. The crowds are gone, the fall colours (mostly yellows and golds) are on the deciduous trees, and it is still warm. If you go before September 21st, you'll have more than 12 hours of daylight each day.
Since you plan on staying in a condo, it'll be very comfortable even with little ones. Your 5 yr old and 11 yr old will enjoy short walks, rides on the gondola to the top of the mountains, and seeing wild animals (elk, deer, mountain sheep).
And you can still plan to return when your kids are older for camping and hiking.

dwoodliff - she was joking !!!
I live in Edmonton, and it seems to be a pastime here to joke about the weather and to scare people with horror stories about how long the winter is and how cold it can get. Don't believe it!!
Mid-October can be very nice, it is usually sunny and pleasant during the day but frosty at night, and by then a lot of the leaves are on the ground and not on the trees.
Our Thanksgiving in Canada is on the second Monday in October (usually around the 11th to the 14th), and there have been years that we have BBQ'd the turkey and sat on our deck sipping wine to enjoy the sunshine and warmth.
Winter doesn't usually arrive till November, and even then, in some years only half-heartedly.

Yeah, but there are some years when winter arrives far too early, and there is snow on the ground by mid-October. The last year I lived in Edmonton it was -10C on Thanksgiving with 6 inches of snow on the ground.
But also some Thanksgivings when all one needed as outerwear was a light sweater.

Thanksgiving in Canada is in October.

IMHO, mid-September is the best time to be there

Thank you so much. September then it shall be! I will look into our rental now and begin my prayers for cheaper flights to Calgary! Thanks again for the replies!

I was just looking at some airfares from New Orleans (not sure how close you are to there) to Calgary in September. If you can leave on a Thursday, the flights are quite a bit cheaper than on Friday or Saturday. The price on American Airlines was just over $400 US including taxes. (I would also go to the mountains in Sept. rather than October - you never know about the weather, but Sept. would be safer)