The economists at ATB Financial have an interesting take when it comes to understanding the mercurial state of new home construction in Alberta.

They are turning an often-quoted line from the ’80s film Field of Dreams — “if you build it, he will come” — squarely on its head.

“They came — and we built it,” ATB chief economist Mark Parsons said Wednesday.

“If you look at the ramp-up on housing starts, we’ve never seen anything quite like it.”

Indeed, that’s what happened across Alberta in 2025 when it came to building new homes needed to keep up with an expanding population that has topped five million residents.

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After several years of a population boom, fuelled by newcomers arriving from other provinces and countries, new home construction roared during the past 12 months, setting a new record for housing starts.

Data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. indicates there were more than 53,000 housing starts in the province last year, a hefty 14 per cent jump from already strong 2024 levels —........

© Calgary Herald