Airdrie Mayor Peter Brown was the keynote speaker at the Airdrie Regional Chamber of Commerce's Annual State of the City Address yesterday.
Mayor Brown spoke to the regional business community during the Chamber's Breakfast at 525 Restaurant and Patio, highlighting the city's growth and path forward.
Upcoming Municipal Election
Brown started and concluded his speech by sharing what he and the council do, and encouraged those interested in running in the upcoming election to meet with one of the councillors to ask questions so that those interested can better understand the role.
"We listen to the community. We are trying to strive for a high quality of life, obviously. We want affordable services and amenities. The priorities we established are advocacy, caring community, economic prosperity, environmental protection, informed and engaged community."
According to Brown, the three main topics he and the council advocate for are schools, healthcare and infrastructure funding.
"I think formally we have at 36 formal meetings with different provincial cabinet ministers and 21 meetings with senior government."
The upcoming municipal election takes place on October 20, 2025.
Population growth and residents' concerns
Brown showcased that in 2017, Airdrie's population was around 64,000 residents, and in 2024 it was nearly 86,000. While the numbers from the municipal census conducted earlier this year have yet to be released, Brown believes Airdrie's population will now be north on 90,000.
He also shared some of the concerns the city saw when they conducted their citizen satisfaction survey.
"I talk to everybody who comes up to me. They come over, they say, they just moved here from wherever, and they absolutely love this place. Then you talk to somebody who moved here 10 years ago, and you're not getting the same feedback."
Brown shared that the city is doing what it can to get the funding needed to help this community grow and get the amenities that are needed.
Taxes
Brown mentioned he gets plenty of questions when it comes to taxes and why they seem so high in Airdrie. He provided a breakdown of how the city receives funds and how Airdrie compares to other cities in Alberta.
Infrastructure projects, recreation facilities and downtown revitalization
Brown talked about Inspire, the new multi-use facility and library and the new Southwest Recreation Centre.
According to Brown, Inspire is still on schedule and will be an important piece in Airdrie.
"It's going to be an amazing, heavily utilized space, and that's what we want. When you see these places (rooms within the facility) and experience them, you're going to go, wow, this was a great investment in our downtown."
Brown also talked about the different phases we will see with the Southwest Recreation Centre.
"The first phase is aquatics, gymnasium, and there are lots of cool spaces within that."
Expanding waterlines and wastewater lines are also major projects the city is focusing on.
"Those are like hundreds of millions of dollars worth of projects that are absolutely necessary. Recreation is great to have, but if you don't have tap water and you can't flush your toilets, we have a real problem."
He also talked about Airdrie's downtown revitalization with how it is going so far, some changes you might already notice, like the light standards and reminding local businesses about the incentives the city is offering.
Brown also shared that the City of Airdrie was able to secure $8.4 million from various grants.
He concluded his speech by thanking everybody who attended and for making Airdrie a better place.
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