Greatest Boom Ever

A comprehensive report from the provincial Independent Advisory Panel on Electoral Boundaries released Monday in the Legislative Assembly recommends a sweeping reconfiguration of southern Alberta’s political map, expanding the Lethbridge area from two standalone urban ridings into four hybrid electoral divisions.       Read more: https://tinyurl.com/3svjb6yc     

Australia is approving almost 32,000 fewer new homes today than it was a decade ago, with grim new data prompting a warning for the future of the nation’s housing crisis.       Read more: https://tinyurl.com/3n4dya52     

        By Venice — October 20, 2026   Here's the trap: right now, Fort McMurray's housing market looks almost comfortable.   CMHC's October 2025 rental survey put vacancy in Wood Buffalo at 13.2 per cent , with an average rent of $1,426 . Fort McMurray placed second on a national list of the most affordable small and mid-sized rental markets in Canada. If you only looked at vacancy, you'd conclude the town is oversupplied and nothing needs building .   Now look at what's actually being built: 24 housing starts in a year , and most of those permits were for basement apartments.   That gap — high vacancy, near-zero construction — is the whole story. Fort McMurray is entering a boom with an empty construction industry.   The demand side has already turned. Housing demand is up roughly 30 per cent over last summer. Sales are up 25 per cent, inventory down 22 per cent, and the population is at an all-time high. The chamber of commerce says it...

For the fourth time in two years, Calgarians are being asked to curtail their water consumption as work continues to replace a crucial but decrepit pipe once described by the mayor as a ticking time bomb.       Read more: https://tinyurl.com/udpmfww7     

Just as Edmontonians endured the first significant snowfall of the year, a different kind of chill fell over the Canadian investment world.       Read more: https://tinyurl.com/s6kxz5zh     

October sales slowed to 1,592 units, contributing to a year-to-date decline of nearly 11 per cent. While sales have slowed this year, much of the decline was driven by steep pullbacks in resale apartment condominiums and row-style units. Although sales have fallen across all property types, we have seen a pickup in sales of homes that are priced above $1.5 million, which account for less than four per cent of all sales activity.       Read more: https://tinyurl.com/49wwx9xt     

A new poll suggests Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas continues to enjoy strong public support one year into his term, though a majority of residents still feel City Hall is disconnected from the needs of citizens.       Read more: https://tinyurl.com/56m3nbk2  

Jobs in Fort McMurray start early. At 6 a.m. the sky is still dark, and the dining area of the hotel is already full. A television blares the morning news, and the men sit apart at separate tables, heads down, in bulky winter coats with safety vests pulled over them, shovelling in their breakfast.         Read more: https://tinyurl.com/bdd4w4fx     

A year after forecasting that oil demand would keep rising until 2040, TotalEnergies has moved its peak forward to between 2035 and 2040, and says the Iran war could accelerate the energy transition.       Read more: https://tinyurl.com/4vdzzbn5     

Property taxes are likely going up the next four years in a row in Edmonton.       Read more: https://tinyurl.com/mrzkxm84  

An all-but-certain rate rise this month will take its toll on Australia’s office market, particularly in Melbourne, where the post-pandemic recovery is slower than in Sydney.       Read more: https://tinyurl.com/4w3rzp3r