STAY CONNECTED: Have the stories that matter most delivered every night to your email inbox. Subscribe to our daily local news wrap.

City population expected to climb past 120-thousand over next 20 years

Dec 20, 2018 | 4:30 AM

The province is projecting that the population of Grande Prairie will double over the next 20 years.
 
Mayor Bill Given says the city is expected to be among Calgary and Red Deer as some of the fastest growing areas in Alberta.
 
“Provincial forecasts really identify that the Grande Prairie region is going to continue to be a hotbed of growth for the foreseeable future,” says Given. “In our economy, we see ups and downs, but the fact of the matter is Grande Prairie hasn’t lost population in probably the last 30 or 50 years. It really indicates there’s a lot of opportunity in the Grande Prairie region, and that opportunity is going to attract a lot of people in the future.”

Given says the region is already preparing for the population growth with projects such as the twinning of Highway 40 and the Northern Lights Area Structure Plan.
 
“We need to continue to think about a community that’s going to continue to grow, and what sort of amenities and infrastructure that growing community will need. We have an opportunity to do that on a proactive basis rather than a reactive basis looking forward. The Northern Lights Area Structure Plan is a really good example of city planning and preparing for future growth. Having that land ready and the planning done on it means that development can proceed faster on it than it would otherwise.”
 
The province estimates by 2037, Grande Prairie will be home to about 121,000 people.