Rocky Mountain House commits $125K for expanded housing study

The town of Rocky Mountain House is increasing its budget to study housing needs in the community from $50,000 to $125,000.

In Budget 2026, council had allocated $50,000 for a joint study with Clearwater County to look into seniors housing needs not just in Rocky, but also Leslieville and Caroline.

However, council will now be extending the scope for a comprehensive study to look at housing in the community as a whole.

CAO Dean Krause said the study will look into the housing needs of every income bracket in the community. He adds, some efficiencies could be found as some data collection would be overlapped.

The purpose of the study would be to prepare the town should any provincial or federal housing grants suddenly become available. It would also serve as a tool to promote construction and attract developers by establishing the need for certain housing types.

For clarity, administration documents indicated that council is well aware of the housing needs in the community, and does not anticipate any new information to come to light in the study — it would simply be used to reinforce grant applications and development inquiries.

In two separate motions, council resolved to both continue with the $50,000 Intermunicipal Collaboration Committee (ICC) study with Clearwater County, as well as to increase the budget to $125,000 for a comprehensive housing study.

The additional funding will come from reserves.

Seniors housing was a topic of conversation at the recent Alberta Municipalities Spring Leaders Caucus in Edmonton, which all seven members of Rocky town council attended.

In an hour-long meeting with Jason Nixon, minister of Assisted Living and Social Services Jason Nixon, Rocky Mountain House mayor Shane Boniface said the minister showed a willingness to work with council in its aims to build more seniors housing.