Lethbridge’s economy recovering as building permits return to pre-pandemic levels

Ryan Slovack, Customer Service and Business Support Manager in Planning and Development Services, says construction and renovation activity has returned to pre-pandemic levels.

“2020 with the introduction of COVID was a particularly slow year as far as permitting goes – we didn’t see nearly the volume that we would’ve expected in 2020. Permitting in 2021 has been up significantly.”

He believes there are a few main reasons for the rebound.

One is that, since more people are stuck at home with fewer places to travel to and less recreational opportunities, they are instead opting to create spaces in their own homes where they can enjoy themselves.

“This year, we’re seeing a lot more residential additions happening, as well as there’s a significant increase in accessory buildings – that would be things like detached garages.”

Another major factor driving up this year’s numbers relates to the homes themselves.

From January to April 2021, there were 106 permits issued for new single-family dwellings, totalling more than $42 million. In the same time last year, just 47 permits saw $18 million in spending on this department.

LNN has previously covered how the beginning of 2021 has seen great numbers for both home construction and real estate transactions.

Trevor Lewington, CEO of Economic Development Lethbridge (EDL), says these are all positive signs for the local economy.

“We’ve seen a significant increase in building permits, primarily driven by the residential housing market, so that’s encouraging. That’s, of course, a discretionary income space, so when people are spending money on housing, that’s a pretty good sign of optimism.”

“Construction lost almost 1,000 jobs in 2020 across our region, so to see an uptick in the construction sector and, hopefully, replace some of those positions back, is a very good news situation for us.”

In January 2021, EDL conducted its second-annual Brighter Together Survey, which aims to get a grasp of how businesses in the city are doing.

Overall, many of the results are similar to the survey conducted in January 2020, which was, of course, before COVID-19 had hit Canada.

About half in both surveys reported being “busier than usual,” although there was a bit higher percentage who were slower than usual in the more recent one.

There was a five per cent increase in the number of companies who expect to increase their level of capital investments over the next six to 12 months.

Just under two thirds felt positive about the overall health of their business, falling from around three quarters in early 2020.

Fulls stats on building permits in Lethbridge can be found here.

by David Opinko

Lethbridge’s economy recovering as building permits return to pre-pandemic levels

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