More water, more development: Okotoks expecting significant growth over the next 25 years
Town aims for up to 4% annual growth as pipeline set to resolve water supply issues
Concerns around access to water have long held back development in Okotoks, Alta., but a new pipeline project is expected to give growth a big boost in the Calgary bedroom community.
A new growth strategy, approved unanimously by town council on June 9, will help plan for and guide development over the next 25 years, with the town aiming for an annual population growth rate of three to four per cent.
That's a noticeable increase from the past decade's average growth rate of 1.4 per cent from 2015 to 2024 — but also a significant drop from growth rates between 1997 and 2007, which averaged 7.4 per cent annually with a peak of 10 per cent in 2008.
Today, Okotoks is home to around 33,100 people. The town's projections suggest the number of Okotokians could hit 95,875 by 2049.
New pipeline to fix water problems
An increased growth rate will be made possible in part by the Foothills Okotoks Regional Water Project, a pipeline expected to supply the town with water from the confluence of the Bow and Highwood rivers once it begins operations in 2026.
The Sheep River, which flows through Okotoks, offers the town only a limited water supply. Through the 25-kilometre pipeline, the town expects to resolve longstanding concerns over its water situation.
It's a project slated to allow for more growth in Okotoks and surrounding area, said Okotoks Mayor Tanya Thorn.
"It'll bring water to the town of Okotoks, as well as to their water treatment plant in Aldersyde, which will give both of us some flexibility to do some growth in this region that we share," she told CBC News in an interview.
According to the Government of Alberta, the population of Okotoks only increased by 1.86 per cent from 2023 to 2024.
Growth in Okotoks during that time frame has been lower than that of other municipalities widely considered to be bedroom communities of Calgary, with Cochrane's population increasing by 4.75 per cent, Airdrie growing by 5.63 per cent, and Chestermere hitting 10.2 per cent growth from 2023 to 2024.
"It is totally driven by our water policy," Thorn said of the different growth rates.
Okotoks, located south of Calgary in Foothills County, has had a water allocation system in place since 2011 to help manage the town's limited water supply. The policy will remain in place once the pipeline is operational.
"We will still use our water allocation policy in terms of how we go about approving development," she said. "We just won't be so close on the edge that we've been in terms of the water that's available and the pressure for development."
Even with those water regulations still in place, the pipeline project will be a much-needed break for the town as it looks to welcome sustainable development and growth.
Limited development opportunities mean less homes being built, which has resulted in Okotoks housing prices being significantly higher compared to neighboring municipalities.
"We've had to limit our supply," Thorn said. "The demand hasn't changed. The demand is really quite high, so that is driving up housing prices, which every one of our residents is seeing."
One of the town's objectives for growth is attracting commercial and industrial development, which has long been a challenge, said Thorn.
"[Businesses] want certainty, and water's always created a level of uncertainty," she said. "So when they are looking at communities outside of Calgary for where they might want to locate, we typically always ended up on the bottom of the list because there's just a level of complication with developing in Okotoks."
Now that the Okotoks pipeline is being built, "we've eliminated that [complication]," said Thorn.
She pointed to the recent approval of the North Point Area Structure Plan development which, unlike others in Okotoks, will have no residential buildings.
"It's all designed for commercial, institutional and industrial development, and that's a first for our community," said Thorn.
She said the town's goal is to achieve an "80-20 per cent split between residential and non-residential." According to the town, the current property tax assessment split is 88 per cent residential to 12 per cent non-residential.
"Our desire would be to have [Okotoks residents] be able to work here and have employment opportunities in the community, or to create some of that migration out of the city [so] that they're coming out here because there's jobs to work in our community," Thorn said.
Keeping 'that small town feel'
Residents of Okotoks, the province's second-largest town, have long embraced their unique way of life.
"That small town feel [is the] reason why many people chose Okotoks," said Thorn.
Former Okotoks councillor Ed Sands, who served on council from 1995 to 2021, said it could be hard for the town's infrastructure to keep up with growth.
"Traditional municipal growth is always a leapfrogging," he said. "We have so many people that we're outstripping our services, and then you build more services, and money is precious, so you don't build your services that much ahead of your need, but you just build it, and then the population grows."
Sands said he believes the town's growth projections are reasonable, but that there are many factors to consider when it comes to sustaining a growing population.
"When will a 150-seat theatre not be enough? When do you need a 300-seat theatre? When do you need a 500-seat theatre?" said Sands, a prominent member of the Okotoks performing arts community.
"It's those development pressures with more people, there's more demand on services, and that's the challenge with traditional growth."
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With files from Helen Pike