A new report was just issued from the planning district for the City of Portage la Prairie indicating that we're still increasing our economy. 

Councillor and Chair of Economic Development and City Planning Preston Meier says they get a monthly opportunity to look over the new building reports, noting the last few years have seen record-setting numbers. Residential, commercial, and industrial development are all included with some cottage projects like RTMs (ready-to-move units).  

"We just got the January 2023 report," says Meier. "Even though we break it down to City and the RM, we always look at it regionally, because we look at it from a regional perspective. We're really excited to say that even though last year was a record year, this year, we're actually already ahead of that. We're not quite sure if it's going to go all the way, but you never know what happens."

He notes at this point in time, permits are up overall. Last year at this same time, there were 13 but there are currently 16.

"Even better than that is that our permits value has almost doubled. We don't see it in new starts just yet. We do see it in repairs, which is really renovations, or maybe people investing back into their businesses, their commercial enterprises, and, of course, their industrial enterprises. So, we're really excited about the start of 2023 and we hope the year carries on the way it should."

He adds the planning district and PRED (Portage Regional Economic Development), their investment team, and everybody that's involved, when they look at it from a regional perspective, has just done a great job in making sure that they treat their investors and their new business owners right. 

"Businesses come, businesses go," notes Meier. "We get that sometimes. But we always want to let people know that we are open for business, and we're open for business as a region."