Alberta

Building activity in Alberta's two largest urban centres went in opposite directions in 2010, with Edmonton building permit values increasing over the previous years and Calgary building permit values falling.

Building activity in downtown Edmonton could heat up significantly in 2012 and beyond, depending on the outcome of a January 18 public hearing and whether city council backs what city officials are recommending.

The principal city between Calgary and Edmonton recorded less-than-stellar building permit totals for 2010. Red Deer recorded $118.9 million in new permits for 2010, a decline of 15.

Suburban home developers in Alberta's largest city are looking at a year with a lot of questions ahead. While Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

The Alberta government has changed the regulations relating to the granting of development permits by municipalities - a change that should make permits easier to come by.

Hopes that Fort Macleod will become home to Alberta's only dedicated police college got a boost in late November when officials in that southern Alberta community reported positive discussions with the provincial government about funding schemes for

The City of Cold Lake has broken ground on a new arena/event venue that will be part of the existing Cold Lake Energy Centre.

Big-city housing prices continue to stagnate in Alberta. The Realtors Association of Edmonton reported in early December that the average selling price of a single-family home in that city was down 0.5 per cent in November from a month earlier and 2.

One of them, Trican Well Service Ltd., employs about 125 staff locally, explains Brad Kungle, base manager of the company in Hinton. Kungle estimates Trican's Hinton location may have 140 employees by the end of January.

"If they're trying to encourage housing affordability, dropping everything on the doorstep of a new homebuyer is not the way to do it," Flynn said.