The Town of Niverville has never seen more new homes built than they did in the year 2020.

“Niverville is a little bit unique compared to other regions,” comments Mayor Myron Dyck. “Most of the southeast has seen ongoing growth for the past 10-15 years, but Niverville’s growth has come in three spikes.”

Dyck says the first spike took place around 2006, when the community set its previous development record issuing 136 permits and welcoming 57 new homes. That surge, he says, occurred because it was one of the first years a large section of the town was opened up to development.

Then, in 2013, the town enjoyed another sudden growth spurt; 115 building permits were issued and 51 new homes were built. Dyck says that second spike was felt by all communities in the capital region that benefited from a lack of housing availability in Winnipeg.

Now, this third spike in 2020 is the largest on record yielding 155 new permits, 63 of which were new single-family homes. Altogether, Niverville netted roughly $26 million dollars in permits in the past twelve months.

“It’s not way ahead of anything we’ve ever seen,” remarks Dyck, “but we are seeing numbers that have returned to those other two spikes and we are at the high end.”

Though most rural municipalities and towns in southeastern Manitoba have noticed their populations increasing since COVID-19 began, Dyck feels Niverville is growing for slightly different reasons. Whereas other regions have credited their exponential growth this past season almost exclusively to an interest in the rural lifestyle sparked by the virus, Dyck believes his town’s draw is in its amenities like its booming business sector, its brand new high school, and its budding recreation facility.

“There are a variety of opportunities in a lot more sectors than there used to be,” he states.

Dyck does not expect the appeal of Niverville is going to cease in 2021 but anticipates strong development for many months to come.