St. Albert Minute: Merry Christmas, Census Data, and Budget Officially Passed

St. Albert Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of St. Albert politics

This Week In St. Albert:

• It’s Christmas on Wednesday. Thank you to every single one of our readers and supporters who reached out, donated, volunteered, or shared our content this year. We appreciate every single one of you and hope you have a wonderful holiday season filled with friends and family. Merry Christmas!
  
  
• We don’t often use these weekly emails to explicitly ask for support, but we’re in the middle of our year-end fundraiser, and we’ve set a goal to raise $5,000 by December 31st. This is a critical time for non-profits, and reaching our goal will ensure we can continue the important work we do. If you value what we bring to the table and want to see us keep going, please consider making a donation today. Every bit helps, and we’re deeply grateful for your support. You can contribute by clicking here. Thank you!
  
  
• There are no Council or Committee meetings this week. Regularly scheduled meetings will resume on January 7th.

Last Week In St. Albert:

• Council has officially approved the 2025 budget, including a 3.6% property tax increase. Utility rates will also rise by 7.2%. Capital projects for 2025 include a transit garage expansion, park development, and active transportation initiatives. The City anticipates a $9 million surplus for 2024 due to staffing vacancies.
  
  
• New census data revealed that St. Albert’s population has grown to 72,316, with an annual growth rate of 1.51% since 2018. Almost 11% of residents in 2024 were newcomers to Canada, up from 6.62% in 2018, and 10.2% of households speak a non-English language at home. The aging population has risen significantly, with seniors now making up 22.14% of residents, while other age groups have declined slightly. Homeownership remains high at 84.5%, and the city has added 3,082 new homes since 2018. Edmonton continues to be the primary commuting destination, though more residents now live and work in St. Albert.
  
  
• The St. Albert Food Bank and Community Village saw a sharp rise in demand in 2024, serving double the number of individuals experiencing homelessness compared to 2023. They are preparing to distribute 550 Christmas hampers, a significant increase from 402 last year, and have surpassed 1,000 regular hampers in December alone. City Council approved over $1.2 million in grants for various local non-profits, including over $200,000 for the Food Bank to support its services.

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Common Sense St. Albert doesn't accept any government funding and never will. We think you should be free to choose, for yourself, which organizations to support. If you're in a position to contribute financially, you can make a donation here.

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