I
f growth means change, then more
change is certainly on its way to the
townofOkotoks.
The southernAlbertamunicipality borders
the Sheep River and sits roughly 45
kilometers south of downtown Calgary –
but while that geography hasn’t been
altered since the town was incorporated
some 110 years ago, the recent uptick in
population will indeed prompt some
differences.
The town’s municipal census in 2013
counted a population of 26,319, which
indicated a jump of 5.4 percent from the
same town-level count just 12 months
before. Meanwhile, the federal census of
2011 recorded a rise of 42.9 percent from
five years earlier – meaning Okotoks was
the 10th-fastest growing municipality in
the entire country between2006 and2011.
Statistically speaking, the average age is 34
and about 50 percent of the workforce
commutes into Calgary, while 550
businesses are located within town borders,
in addition to 600 more that are home-
based. Government and schools, along with
the Cargill beef processing plant in nearby
HighRiver, are themain employers, and the
40 | BusinessWorld |
July-August 2014
