Alberta has reached a significant housing milestone, and the implications for businesses and communities across Southeast Alberta are substantial.

In 2025, Alberta delivered more than 53,000 housing starts, setting a new provincial record and leading the country in per-capita housing construction. This growth is already increasing rental supply and helping to stabilize and reduce rental prices in several Alberta markets. For employers, workers, families, and local governments, this is more than a construction statistic. It is a competitiveness issue, a workforce issue, and a quality-of-life issue.

The Numbers Behind Alberta’s Housing Momentum

Compared with 2024, housing starts increased by 14 percent provincewide, with strong growth in both major cities and regional communities

• Alberta total: 53,184 starts in 2025, up from 46,632
• Calgary: 27,684 starts, up 14 percent
• Edmonton: 21,337 starts, up 16 percent
• Red Deer: 405 starts, up 14 percent
• Grande Prairie: 366 starts, up 89 percent
• Medicine Hat: 317 starts, up 64 percent

This level of expansion is helping relieve long-standing supply pressures that have driven up housing costs across Western Canada.

Southeast Alberta and Affordability Leadership

Equally important is where Alberta communities rank nationally on affordability. In 2025, six of the top ten most affordable small- and mid-sized rental markets in Canada were located in Alberta, including:

• Lloydminster - 1st
• Fort McMurray - 2nd
• Medicine Hat - 3rd
• Grande Prairie - 4th
• Red Deer - 6th
• Lethbridge - 9th

For Southeast Alberta, this positions our region as an increasingly attractive destination for talent, investment, and business expansion.

Why Housing Matters to Business

Affordable and available housing is now a core business infrastructure issue. Employers across sectors continue to face labour shortages and recruitment challenges. When workers cannot find housing they can afford, jobs go unfilled, turnover increases, and business growth slows. Strong housing supply supports business by:
 • Making it easier to attract and retain employees
 • Reducing wage pressure driven solely by cost-of-living increases
 • Supporting workforce mobility and newcomer settlement
 • Creating stability for families and local consumer spending

Simply put, businesses thrive when workers can live where they work.

Chamber Advocacy Making a Difference

The Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce has been actively advocating for housing solutions that reflect local realities, alongside the Alberta Chambers of Commerce. Our advocacy includes two active policy approaches:

• SEACC: A Tailored and Local P3 Approach to Affordable Housing
  This policy focuses on flexible public-private partnership models that reflect the scale, market conditions, and needs of Southeast Alberta communities.
• ACC: A Pathway to Fixing the Affordable Housing Crisis in Alberta 
  This provincewide policy calls for coordinated action across government, industry, and municipalities to increase supply, reduce regulatory barriers, and accelerate housing delivery.

The results seen in 2025 demonstrate that when policy, investment, and collaboration align, meaningful progress is possible.

What Comes Next

While the record-setting numbers are encouraging, the work is not done. Sustained investment, streamlined approvals, infrastructure readiness, and local flexibility remain essential to ensure housing supply keeps pace with population growth and economic development. For Southeast Alberta, continued advocacy ensures that regional communities are not left behind and that housing solutions meet the needs of employers, workers, seniors, and families alike.

Why This Matters for Our Community

Housing affordability is about more than shelter. It affects business resilience, community growth, workforce participation, and social stability. Alberta’s 2025 housing performance shows what can be achieved with the right policy environment and strong advocacy. 

As a Chamber, we will continue to elevate local voices, champion practical solutions, and push for policies that support both economic growth and livable communities. Because when housing works, business works. And when business works, communities thrive.