The Mayor for Ritchot says construction activity is slowing in his municipality.
    
Coming off a busy year in 2021, Ritchot saw an even stronger first quarter in 2022 before things started to slow. And now, with only a couple of months to go before the end of the year, Chris Ewen says they are well behind 2021.

"That was a banner year," says Ewen, referring to their 2021 numbers. "It's just not a sustainable number to keep going at."

Having said that, Ewen notes their numbers through the first three-quarters of 2022 are still strong.

From January 1st through September 30th, Ritchot issued 193 building permits worth more than $47 million. Both of those totals are down from the same period a year earlier when there were 215 permits issued worth more than $62 million.

So far in 2022, there have been 61 new housing starts. Of those, Grande Pointe has seen 35, while St. Adolphe has had 21, Ile des Chenes has seen two and then Howden, Ste. Agathe and the rural area have each had one.

If you compare some of the other permits issued in 2022 over 2021, there were more decks built this year but fewer swimming pools.

Meanwhile, Ewen says he is not sure if Ritchot is now in a phase where construction activity will continue to be slower. He notes there is definitely the potential for strong growth again as one new development in Ile des Chenes could see more than 400 new homes built, while another development in that community is looking at over 130 new residential dwellings. 

"There are some strong opportunities but making them come to fruition will really depend on what the demand and the market have to offer those developers and the people that want to move to Ile des Chenes," says Ewen.

He notes there is also a potential for more commercial development in Ste. Agathe. 

Again, Ewen says for sustainable reasons, it may be a good thing that construction activity has started to slow in Ritchot. He notes they need to make sure that their infrastructure is in place to handle growth for decades to come.