The start of a new year has not seen a slowdown in construction in the Rural Municipality of Ritchot.

The RM of Ritchot announced a banner year for construction in 2020. And, through three months of 2021, the municipality is already ahead of last year's pace.

Ritchot Mayor Chris EwenThe municipality is reporting 55 building permits were taken out in the first quarter, totalling more than $13.2 million. Through the same stretch a year ago, there were 35 permits taken out for more than $11.6 million.

"It baffles me every time I look at the numbers," says Mayor Chris Ewen. "We are up quite a bit from last year which is great to see."

When breaking down the type of construction, the list includes 11 pools, 10 renovations, three decks, two commercial buildings and two shed/ accessory buildings.

"We see a few pools being built, I guess they are getting ready for the season, we're seeing decks being built and we're also seeing commercial growth," says Ewen. "We're seeing new home builds, renovations, it's quite a lush picking of all these different things happening in Ritchot and it's a fantastic thing to see, even given these current circumstances of the pandemic."

As for new housing starts, there were permits pulled for 15 between January 1st and March 31st, including 10 in Grande Pointe and five in St. Adolphe. By comparison, there were 18 during the same period a year ago.

Ewen says when you consider that this building boom is happening when the price of materials has skyrocketed, it is really quite astounding.

"It blows my mind," he says. "I'm looking at wood prices and they have more than tripled in some circumstances from the last year and a half and I just can't believe it that people are still doing it."