Although 2016 was a challenging year for Airdrie in many ways, Shay Barker at the City of Airdrie says the city still experienced growth.

"We can look at the provincial numbers and know that it was a challenging year. We know that there's a number of people that were laid off. But within Airdrie itself, and not to undermine the fact that there are people that are struggling in Airdrie, we still saw substantial growth."

Barker, Economic Development Officer with the City, explained that Airdrie saw an average of 8.6 new residents per day, for a total population growth of 5.37%

According to Barker, the City handed out more business licenses this year as well. 2016 saw 409 new businesses, compared to 342 in 2015.

Barker said highlights for the City and for the Economic Development department specifically included the completion of a new Land Use bylaw, as well as master plans for both transportation and transit. Barker says Economic Development's biggest project, however, is a new ten year economic strategy, which they have been working on since May.

"The focus of the strategy is really to look beyond classic economic development practices like investment attraction and business retention and expansion, and focus on contemporary aspects like planning for our future lands, looking at urban design, looking at downtown vibrancy, arts and culture, community amenities and quality of place."

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