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Affordability, jobs fuel population growth in St. Albert, province

St. Albert's housing sales are growing as Canadians move across the country into Alberta.
1304 real estate record file CC

St. Albert's housing sales are growing as Canadians move across the country into Alberta.

Out of province folks, eager for available jobs, amenities and low taxes are heading into the province, according to stats released this week and local experts say many of them are coming to St. Albert.

More than 45,000 people moved to Alberta from other parts of Canada in 2022. The UCP government news release notes that half of the net interprovincial migration occurred in the five months after the launch of the “Alberta is Calling” campaign in August. 

“More than 4.6 million people now call Alberta home. Thanks to Alberta’s growing population, employers are making progress towards filling vacant full-time positions as workers migrate to Alberta to find good-paying jobs with higher wages than the rest of the country,” said Brian Jean, Minister of Jobs, Economy and Northern Development.

The unemployment rate in Alberta is edging down, and at 5.8 per cent presents very favourable job prospects.

St. Albert home sales blossoming

But the secret sauce is the single-family home, running about a third the price of those in the Greater Toronto or Greater Vancouver areas.

“There was a negative flow from the province, now there’s a positive flow to the province,” said St. Albert Remax/Elite realtor Ian Robertson, of Robertson Real Estate Group. 

Edmonton’s amenities and prices a bit lower than Calgary’s make the capital something of a bargain for people from out of province with a February 2023 average house price of $410,500, he said.

That puts Edmonton as the least expensive of Canada’s major markets.

Seasonally, sales tend to drop off a bit, and pricing softens accordingly. But during the pandemic, prices went straight up, with no seasonal dip. Despite temporary reticence over showing and viewing homes because of Covid precautions, relocation was still needed, cocooning was happening and demand outstripped supply.

Now, as the province beckons with prime employment and affordability conditions, new families coming into Canada want amenities and jobs, and they’re showing up here, Robertson said.

Poised on the upper northwest side of Edmonton, with rinks, trails, shopping and schools made to order, the city of St. Albert is a popular choice with relocating families.

Robertson is seeing homebuyers relocating from the Toronto area, and more from the East Coast and B.C.

“Alberta has good employment, and we’re leading the country in (gross domestic product). Alberta has been undervalued, compared to the rest of the country,” Robertson said.

Buyers from more expensive markets like B.C. can put money in their pocket, socking some away while buying similar homes for much less — or upgrading to more home for the buck.

“They’re going to where housing’s most affordable, and they’ll get the amenity package in Edmonton. They just have to get used to the winter,” he said.

Inventory has been a bit light, but signs are popping up around St. Albert for the kind of seasonal movement expected as a school year wraps up.

However, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., 3.5 million more homes need to be built over the next seven years.

“Since we’re not building that many, we will see prices go up,” Robertson said.

Business base on rise

Between 2016 and 2021, St. Albert averaged a population increase of 500 people a year. Time and next year’s 2024 municipal census will tell if that rate increase has sped up or not, said Kerry Hilts, deputy chief administrative officer for the City of St. Albert.

The botanical art city’s business base has been growing nicely and at the end of 2021, there were 1,626 business licences. By the end of 2022, there were 1,679, showing a 3.26 percent hike.

Hilts said he was aware of the “Alberta Is Calling” program.

“Anything they can do to bolster and sell Alberta is a positive,” he said. “I think people move to St. Albert because it’s a safe and vibrant community, with that small town feel and community spirit that St. Albert does very well. When you live here, you get that very welcoming and inclusive environment for residents and businesses. It’s a great place to live and do business.”

St. Albert’s municipal development plan is preparing for growth that’s expected to take the city up to 100,000 population.

“Population demographics do impact your business attraction,” he said, citing the January 2022 annexation of land for the Lakeview Business District, which is expected to lead to the creation of up to 7,000 new jobs.

Poised on the northwesterly rim of the Anthony Henday, St. Albert rests its business feet on both the St. Albert side and the Edmonton side, giving access to a “catchment” area very capable of attracting both new businesses and new customers.

“One of the things we do very well is that we turn around permits fast. The feedback we get back from the greater business community is that they appreciate how easy it is to do business in St. Albert,” he said, citing a mindset shared by all the parts of the new business team, from planning and development to engineers.

Without compromising needed details, a parallel review process speeds up the development timeline.

“We can turn around an application within days, compared to some of our competitors,” Hilts said.

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