Even in the midst of a pandemic, there appears to be confidence in the local economy with a strong number of development permits being taken out in 2020.
Drumheller CAO Darryl Drohomerski presented the annual update at the Monday, February 1 Committee of the Whole meeting. In 2020 there were 55 residential development permits issued, with 36 alone coming between May and June. This is up from 47 in the previous year.
“I think we were a bit surprised at first,” said Drohomerski. “People were at home and looking at their kitchen or deck or something and decided to do something about it, and coupled with that you couldn’t go anywhere or spend money on your Mexican vacation, people were looking to spend money.”
He adds he has heard from contractors they have been busy and in May there were large numbers of development permits, not just in the Drumheller area, but all the region Palliser Regional Municipal Services serves.
He also notices there has been more real estate moving recently.
“We think it is more people moving to town from other places, so it is great because it helps to drive the economy for the home building, the material business and construction,” he said.
On the commercial side, there were 22 permits issued in 2020, compared to 25 in 2019. He said it appears some businesses took the opportunity of the slowdown to complete renovations. There were two institutional development permits issued.
“We also did some stuff last year with our economic incentive grants for storefront improvements or interior grants we did. We partnered with Community Futures and the Chamber on it,” he said.
While the number of development permits shows a healthy number of residents and businesses were undertaking projects, there weren’t necessarily big projects. The total value of residential permits in 2020 were $2,181,239, compared to $3,195,770 in 2019. The commercial value of permits were $491,400 in 2020 compared to $1,376,205 in 2019.

Researchers made a significant discovery after finding the first embryonic tyrannosaur fossil at a site near Morrin.
While the Canadian Badlands are renowned for several fossil discoveries, the finding of embryonic fossils is exceedingly rare.
Second author of the study, and University of Alberta PhD student, Mark Powers told the Mail, “These findings are significant as the first recognized and described embryonic tyrannosaurid material. This is a big discovery in the sense it fills in a gap in our knowledge of tyrannosaur growth.”
Tyrannosaur fossils, from juvenile to adult, have previously been found and Powers says the find was “a rare opportunity for any dinosaur species.”
The toe bone was recovered from a site in the river valley north of Morrin Bridge, which Powers says was “rich in small fossil materials.” Other specimens found at the site include eggshells and embryonic dinosaur bones, as well as teeth from troodon--relatives of the raptor.
The fossilized jawbone of a juvenile tyrannosaur was also discovered in Montana and was included in the study.
Crews were unable to return to the dig site in 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is our plan to return to search the site of the tyrannosaur claw for more embryonic dinosaur material,” Powers said, adding they are hopeful to return this year.