More water, more development: Okotoks expecting significant growth over the next 25 years

Amir Said · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 28, 2025 2:28 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

Concerns astir entree to h2o person agelong held backmost improvement successful Okotoks, Alta., but a caller pipeline task is expected to springiness maturation a large boost successful the Calgary chamber community.

A caller maturation strategy, approved unanimously by municipality assembly connected June 9, volition assistance program for and usher improvement implicit the adjacent 25 years, with the municipality aiming for an yearly colonisation maturation complaint of 3 to 4 per cent.

That's a noticeable summation from the past decade's mean maturation complaint of 1.4 per cent from 2015 to 2024 — but besides a important driblet from maturation rates betwixt 1997 and 2007, which averaged 7.4 per cent annually with a highest of 10 per cent successful 2008.

Today, Okotoks is location to astir 33,100 people. The town's projections suggest the fig of Okotokians could deed 95,875 by 2049.

New pipeline to hole h2o problems

An accrued maturation complaint volition beryllium made imaginable successful portion by the Foothills Okotoks Regional Water Project, a pipeline expected to proviso the municipality with h2o from the confluence of the Bow and Highwood rivers erstwhile it begins operations successful 2026.

The Sheep River, which flows done Okotoks, offers the municipality lone a constricted h2o supply. Through the 25-kilometre pipeline, the municipality expects to resolve longstanding concerns implicit its h2o situation.

It's a task slated to let for much maturation successful Okotoks and surrounding area, said Okotoks Mayor Tanya Thorn.

"It'll bring h2o to the municipality of Okotoks, arsenic good arsenic to their h2o attraction works successful Aldersyde, which volition springiness some of america immoderate flexibility to bash immoderate maturation successful this portion that we share," she told CBC News successful an interview.

According to the Government of Alberta, the colonisation of Okotoks lone accrued by 1.86 per cent from 2023 to 2024. 

Growth successful Okotoks during that clip framework has been little than that of different municipalities wide considered to beryllium chamber communities of Calgary, with Cochrane's colonisation expanding by 4.75 per cent, Airdrie increasing by 5.63 per cent, and Chestermere hitting 10.2 per cent maturation from 2023 to 2024.

"It is wholly driven by our h2o policy," Thorn said of the antithetic maturation rates.

Okotoks, located southbound of Calgary successful Foothills County, has had a h2o allocation strategy successful spot since 2011 to assistance negociate the town's constricted h2o supply. The argumentation volition stay successful spot erstwhile the pipeline is operational.

"We volition inactive usage our h2o allocation argumentation successful presumption of however we spell astir approving development," she said. "We conscionable won't beryllium truthful adjacent connected the borderline that we've been successful presumption of the h2o that's disposable and the unit for development."

Even with those h2o regulations inactive successful place, the pipeline task volition beryllium a much-needed interruption for the municipality arsenic it looks to invited sustainable improvement and growth.

WATCH | How h2o volition let Okotoks to grow:

Limited improvement opportunities mean little homes being built, which has resulted successful Okotoks lodging prices being importantly higher compared to neighboring municipalities.

"We've had to bounds our supply," Thorn said. "The request hasn't changed. The request is truly rather high, truthful that is driving up lodging prices, which each 1 of our residents is seeing."

One of the town's objectives for maturation is attracting commercialized and concern development, which has agelong been a challenge, said Thorn.

"[Businesses] privation certainty, and water's ever created a level of uncertainty," she said. "So erstwhile they are looking astatine communities extracurricular of Calgary for wherever they mightiness privation to locate, we typically ever ended up connected the bottommost of the database due to the fact that there's conscionable a level of complication with processing successful Okotoks."

Now that the Okotoks pipeline is being built, "we've eliminated that [complication]," said Thorn.

She pointed to the caller support of the North Point Area Structure Plan improvement which, dissimilar others successful Okotoks, volition person nary residential buildings.

"It's each designed for commercial, organization and concern development, and that's a archetypal for our community," said Thorn.

She said the town's extremity is to execute an "80-20 per cent divided betwixt residential and non-residential." According to the town, the existent spot taxation appraisal divided is 88 per cent residential to 12 per cent non-residential.

"Our tendency would beryllium to person [Okotoks residents] beryllium capable to enactment present and person employment opportunities successful the community, oregon to make immoderate of that migration retired of the metropolis [so] that they're coming retired present due to the fact that there's jobs to enactment successful our community," Thorn said. 

Keeping 'that tiny municipality feel'

Residents of Okotoks, the province's second-largest town, person agelong embraced their unsocial mode of life.

"That tiny municipality consciousness [is the] crushed wherefore galore radical chose Okotoks," said Thorn.

Former Okotoks councillor Ed Sands, who served connected assembly from 1995 to 2021, said it could beryllium hard for the town's infrastructure to support up with growth.

"Traditional municipal maturation is ever a leapfrogging," helium said. "We person truthful galore radical that we're outstripping our services, and past you physique much services, and wealth is precious, truthful you don't physique your services that overmuch up of your need, but you conscionable physique it, and past the colonisation grows."

Sands said helium believes the town's maturation projections are reasonable, but that determination are galore factors to consider when it comes to sustaining a increasing population.

"When volition a 150-seat theatre not beryllium enough? When bash you request a 300-seat theatre? When bash you request a 500-seat theatre?" said Sands, a salient subordinate of the Okotoks performing arts community.

"It's those improvement pressures with much people, there's much request connected services, and that's the situation with accepted growth."