Calmar break ground on 1st apartment building in 50 years amid town growth

The town of Calmar says the province's population growth and higher living costs in cities like Edmonton are drawing more people to the rural community — and faster.

With the cost of housing higher in big cities, some Albertans are looking to smaller communities in order to have better quality of living.

With that in mind, officials in a town southwest of Edmonton say a new project is just the beginning of the community’s growth.

“The whole region is booming, people are moving here,” said Calmar town councillor Krista Gardner. “We’re having new kids at our schools, we have new kids at our programs.”

Founded by homesteaders in the 1890s about 30 km southwest of Edmonton and populated by European settlers, the agriculture-based community saw major oil and gas development and rapid growth in the 1940s after the Leduc #1 oil discovery was made just down the highway near Devon.

But it hasn’t boomed in quite the same way other bedroom communities surrounding Edmonton have in recent decades, such as Spruce Grove, Fort Saskatchewan, Leduc and Beaumont.

The province’s regional population dashboard shows the number of people living in Calmar hasn’t changed much over the years, only up about 1.3 per cent in the last five years.

But now, the town says the province’s population growth and higher living costs are bringing more people into the community — and faster.

“Calmar is a fantastic place to be. The whole region is booming. People are moving here. It’s a great place to raise a family or to come as seniors. So we’re really excited to be able to provide housing choice here in town,” Gardner said.