St. Albert sees record year in home construction

St. Albert home construction experienced a boom in 2024, the city says — although one developer warns the boom could become a bust next year if US president-elect Donald Trump follows through on tariff threats.

City of St. Albert economic development director Mike Erickson shared the 2025 business forecast with the Gazette earlier this month.

While the final stats for this year are still being tallied, Erickson said that as of November the city had seen a record year for residential construction, with some $365 million in residential building permits issued. Some 57 per cent of those permits were for multifamily developments.

“A lot of that is being driven by demand and need for housing,” he said, especially rental units.

Population boom

Alberta’s strong economy is drawing people here in droves, driving up demand for homes, said St. Albert land developer Ray Watkins. The province has led the nation in population growth for five consecutive quarters as of Oct. 1, the provincial government reports. Much of this growth was in the form of international migration, which Watkins attributed to this region’s lower house prices, strong job market, and large immigrant community.

“The people who are coming here are younger people,” he said, many of whom are starting new families.

That means lots of kids, as reflected in St. Albert’s burgeoning elementary school populations, Watkins said. Add in high house prices, and you get lots of families seeking smaller, cheaper, or rental units, and high demand for multi-family residential construction.

We’re also seeing the results of project delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, said Brian Cyr, a Re/Max Elite agent who lives in St. Albert. With pandemic-related labour and supply issues now mostly resolved, developers are much more willing to put boots on the ground to build. St. Albert also has a shortage of basically all residential properties, creating plenty of demand for new construction.

Cyr said he’s seeing especially high demand for homes in Jensen Lakes, which has been a magnet for young families because of its swimmable lake and fancy new schools. He had also observed more seniors downsizing into condos such as Riverbank Landing, and a growing number of Edmontonians moving here as that city’s tax advantage over St. Albert continues to shrink.

High demand means higher prices. Re/Max’s 2025 Housing Outlook report projected a 10 per cent rise in residential sale prices in the Edmonton region next year. St. Albert was still one of the most affordable areas in Canada despite recent price hikes, Cyr noted.

Industrial potential

St. Albert’s industrial sector grew considerably this year, with some 200,000 square feet of space added, Erickson noted. Much of this was in QuadReal’s Anthony Henday Business Park, which includes the 169,000 square-foot building occupied by Raise Athletics.

“We’ve basically seen unprecedented growth,” Erickson said, with some 40 per cent of the city’s industrial land inventory built in the last seven years.

The Henday business park has drawn in companies such as Uline and OK Tire that need easy access to roads and rail, both of which are mere minutes away, Erickson said. St. Albert also has a ready supply of workers, some of whom can live across the street from the park in the Midtown neighbourhood. Work on the park’s final stage is expected to start next year, with the 130-acre region fully occupied in just nine years.

“That’s why Lakeview is so important,” Erickson said, referring to the 617-acre Lakeview Business District north of Big Lake and Meadowview Drive, as the city doesn’t have much open industrial land left.

City council approved a servicing plan for this region in October and will soon vote on a $78.4 million borrowing bylaw to fund it, Erickson noted. Once serviced, these lands could double the city’s industrial tax base and create some 5,000 jobs. Work to lay pipes and realign roads in this region could start as early as 2026, with the region fully serviced by 2030.

Trump-winds ahead?

Erickson, Watkins, and Cyr predicted continued good times for residential development next year given low interest rates and high consumer confidence.

However, US president-elect Trump could cause a turn for the worse if he implements his proposed 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods, Watkins said. Those would likely tank Alberta’s economy; the mere threat of them has already contributed to the Canadian dollar falling below 70 cents US for the first time since 2020.