A significant number of residents also work
in either Edmonton or St. Albert, a city of
62,000 that sits between Morinville and
Edmonton about 10 kilometers south along
Highway 2.
The availability of both jobs and affordable
housing has been a significant population
lure in recent years for the town, whose
resident total had stayed relatively level
from1996 (6,226) to 2006 (6,775) before a
26.5-percent spike prior to the federal
census in 2011 boosted the number to
8,569.
A town-level census in June indicated the
arrival of another 833 newcomers, swelling
the overall ranks by another 9.7 percent to
9,402 as of June 30.
“It really comes down to price-point and the
affordability factor, certainly on the new
developments in the community,” said
Schaun Goodeve, the town's economic
development coordinator sinceOctober.
“Average selling price in the last cycle here
was about 350 (thousand), which is a pretty
significant price difference and saving
versus St. Albert or even Edmonton, and
with all the extra benefits of travel,”
Goodeve said.“We're a very short hop – 10
minutes or 20 minutes to St. Albert and
Edmonton is just south of there – so we're
ideally positioned.
“A lot of people comment that what they're
looking for inMorinville is that safe, family-
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August-September 2014 | BusinessWorld | 151
