Hang on, Acme! Calgary’s population boom expected to spill over to small-town Alberta next [Video]

Acme, Alta. Population 640 — plus three.

As Calgary’s real estate prices edge upward, life in small town Alberta is looking increasingly tempting for the thousands of Ontario residents heading west. Linda Stephens is one of them.

She moved to Acme from Barrie, Ont., with her husband and son last year and is loving it.

Calgary was too expensive. So she found a house here with three times the space she could get in Barrie. Now she’s rebuilding her real estate business and runs the rink concession stand in nearby Beiseker.

She’s amused by the twists and turns of life that landed her here.

“It was never even on my radar,” said Stephens.

“Now we’re in our third [hockey] season and providing local jobs and giving back to the community and interacting with all of the families and the kids. It’s wonderful.”

Alberta’s population took off post-pandemic, when the Bank of Canada started raising interest rates and housing became even more expensive in other major Canadian …