Town of Ste. Anne issues $14.2 Million worth in building permits

The Town of Ste. Anne has issued 29 building permits during the first half of this year, up from 23 during the same period last year. 

Even without the permit this year for the Co-op grocery store, the town nearly doubled the value of building permits from the same period last year. 

In 2022, the town issued 23 permits valued at $3.3 Million, compared to the 29 permits this year valued at $6.2 Million, plus the permit for the grocery store which brings this year’s total to $14.2 Million. 

Mayor Yvan St. Vincent says it is exciting to see the town continue to grow. 

“We did actually see a little bit of a jump at our last meeting, probably largely due to the fact that I think we've got the hydro and the other services in place now which we're waiting on.”  

St. Vincent says it will be necessary to expand their boundaries so the town can continue to grow. 

“We’ve started some very informal conversations with the RM of Saint Anne and the landowners around potential growth and changing our boundary lines and that kind of stuff,” he says. “We haven't done a formal proposal for annexation or anything like that yet, but we've had some informal conversations with the different stakeholders to see what kind of appetite, or what kind of road we could maybe take to ensure that our growth doesn't get stymied by our boundary lines.” 

It is a big deal for the town to be looking at changing its boundaries. 

“I do not think they have changed since the town and the RM separated in 1960s,” St. Vincent says. 

With the town taking a serious look at expanding, it is indicative of significant growth in the community during the past few years. 

“There hadn’t been much growth in the town for forever, since I've lived there, which is my entire life,” he says. “It's been 1,200 to 1,500 (population) and now we're bumping up and probably over 3,000. So, there probably wasn't a need, honestly, there to look at the boundary lines until the last couple of years.”