As provincial population booms, report suggests Medicine Hat could fall behind
CBC
Closing schools, stalled housing starts — not common headlines in Alberta's booming cities.
But that's been the case in Medicine Hat, Alta., where low population growth since 2010 now paints a forecast of near stagnation for the next 25 years as other Alberta centres grow steadily.
A Statistics Canada report in January predicted Alberta's largest cities — and even the small and mid-sized centres in their orbits — will continue to grow rapidly, as the province moves above seven million residents by the middle of the century.
But figures for Medicine Hat are generally flat, an issue that has coloured civic elections and coffee shop discussions.
Academics say that is a symptom of the increased economic gravity of the Highway 2 corridor in the province and will be hard to reverse.
But the mayor of Medicine Hat says the city is hoping to beat expectations.
"I'm hopeful and pretty confident that we'll grow at a steady pace," Mayor Linnsie Clark told CBC News.
She first came to office in 2021 campaigning on "smart growth," and stating the Hat should grow to 110,000 residents to better use existing infrastructure and to raise tax assessment without raising the tax burden on individuals.
"There's a lot of opportunity to grow … we definitely want to do so in a strategic manner," Clark said this month.
For that to happen, however, the city of 68,700 residents today would have to grow at a rate 20 times higher than predicted by Statistics Canada.
Its medium growth scenario is for 71,700 residents by 2050 — less than one-tenth the growth forecast for some other mid-sized cities.
A net loss of population is the worst case, though Clark points to positive signals.
After years of controversy, and a major remake of city hall's economic development office, Clark says city council is ready to work together.
It has hinted the city-owned power plant could announce new clients soon, and recent federal defence announcements align with a city goal of building an aerospace hub.
The Swale Watchers plan to keep watching.
In a smaller city like Prince Albert, Ramadan can feel different.
About 125 people came out for a town hall meeting on health care in Charlottetown Monday night.
This is the second of two-part CBC News report on Taser use by Edmonton police. To read the previous story, click here.
A Merritt, B.C., father is urging parents to be on the lookout for ticks while the weather warms up, after his six-year-old son was partially paralyzed by a tick bite last week.
About that heartbreaking loss to the U.S. at the 2026 Olympic women's hockey final last month, Sarah Nurse says, “that was the most fun I’ve had in a hockey game in a very long time.”
The U.S. government on Monday said electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla and South Korea's LG Energy Solution had signed a supply agreement to build a $4.3 billion lithium iron phosphate (LFP) prismatic battery cell manufacturing facility in Lansing, Mich., with an expected production launch in 2027.
In one small town in Alberta, the assistant principal says teachers almost never meet alone with parents anymore.
Tens of thousands of customers are without power and four parts of Highway 401 are closed Tuesday morning as blasts of blowing snow hit the Ottawa-Gatineau area.
Melody Macsemchuk says volunteers at Grace Place in Thunder Bay, Ont., serve between 300 and 350 meals a day.
Groups of volunteers continue to search alongside police for a man who went missing in late January near Owen Sound, Ont., covering land on foot, and using drones for a view of the conservation area where his car was found.
Jessica Hay says her daughter Charlie loves to be included in everything — and a new accessible shopping cart at her local grocery store in Cornwall makes it possible for Charlie to come along for the ride.
The N.W.T. cabinet says it will review whether or not the territory needs an independent child and youth advocate after a motion by Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart calling on it to establish such a position was carried in the legislative assembly.