Building activity has been strong in the RM of La Broquerie this year according to Reeve Claude Lussier.  "It appears we have increased the amount of building permits and also the value of the building permits.  If I subtract the Arborgate School we are still running about a 25% increase this year from last year.  80% is purely residential, there is a little commercial and some farm and there is also about 5% of additions to homes."

He says there are a lot of factors driving this growth including the amount of people who commute in and out of the area.  "Eventually there is a flow of people that are using Winnipeg as a place of business and work and residing in La Broquerie and also those living in La Broquerie who work in Steinbach.  There is also the cost of housing between Steinbach, Winnipeg and La Broquerie.  The actual cost of the house construction is about the same but as you go further away from Steinbach and Winnipeg, land costs become less.  people are using that as a way to reduce their total costs of the housing start and financing that way."

This year in September alone permits totalled $1,112,000 compared to $814,000 last year.  This year to date permits in the RM are nearing $26 Million.  Same time last year they were sitting at $10.7 Million.