Ian Boddy. *supplied image)
The Mayor of Owen Sound says 2025 was a year when “everything we’ve been working on seems to have started to come together.”
Owen Sound Mayor Ian Boddy in his year-end address pointed to progress on developments and unofficial numbers which suggest the city is seeing growth as confirmation that years of planning by council is starting to pay off.
“For past number of years council has prepared for appropriate growth, by making the right investments in order to have development ready land,” Boddy says. “We’ve ensured our community remains our home by fostering a sense of place, lifestyle and celebrating the culture of Owen Sound.”
Boddy says total construction value in the city exceeded $217.5-million this year, more than triple Owen Sound’s previous high of $67-million in 2020. The city also collected more than $1.3-million in building fees.
Beyond the numbers, Boddy points to developments on long vacant industrial land in the city that broke ground in 2025 as a positive sign. SkyDev started construction on an eight-building apartment complex on East Bayshore Road at the former RCA factory property. And Hansa Financial commenced work on a six-building apartment complex on the former Black Clawson Kennedy lot on 1st Avenue West, which has been vacant for decades. Site preparation work also commenced on 28th Avenue East, where a new St. Mary’s high school will be built.
Owen Sound’s mayor says unofficial population projections also suggest the city is starting to experience the growth council has been working towards. He cited data from consulting firm Environics Analytics which estimates the current population could now exceed 24,000 people.
The 2021 Statistics Canada census pegged the city’s population at 21,612. That number will be updated in 2026, when Statistics Canada completes its next census.
“They are the most accurate numbers. However, in between, Environics Analytics estimates … the population of Owen Sound could be as high as 24,190, accounting for recent residential development,” Boddy says. “This represents a growth of 8.4 per cent since 2020. They project the population to grow by 7.7 per cent over the next five years.”
“This is what we’ve been working towards,” Boddy continues. “I think back to 2014-15, we had a growth committee with a pie-in-the-sky phrase of ’30-by-30′ … 30,000 people by 2030. Depending what council does in the next term, that may be possible as we try and attract industry, new people and more housing.”
Some other highlights for the mayor from the past year are the completion of the $2.3-million ice pad, board and glass replacement project at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre, launching a new green bin program for curbside organic waste collection and the completion of a city-wide water meter replacement program.