West Grey is seeing an uptick in building activity compared to last year.
Council reviewed the number of permits issued during the third quarter for residential, agricultural, commercial, institutional, and industrial builds at a meeting on Tuesday.
During the third quarter this year, the municipality issued 118 permits compared to 93 during the same time in 2024.
The majority of the permits came from residential projects, including four multi-residential and five new homes, contributing to 20 new units.
Additionally, there were 15 permits for new agricultural buildings and two new industrial buildings.
Permit revenue also sky rocketed from the year before as the municipality raked in over $203,000 compared to the nearly $105,000 in 2024.
Year-to-date, the municipality has seen an upswing in building activity with 236 permits issued so far, beating out the 218 from 2024.
Director of Infrastructure and Development Karl Schipprack says, “In my conversations with other municipalities, they are seeing an upturn in building permit activity for 2025. 2024 does seem to be a lower year for most municipalities.”
He says the municipality is seeing a shift in the types of housing being built in West Grey including more townhomes, semi-detached and smaller homes over custom homes.
Schipprack adds with the major projects going on in West Grey, to get a proper look how building activity is going in the municipality, he recommends focusing more on residential and agricultural builds.
“With the unusual activity in West Grey over the last few years, including Rockwood Terrace, the police station and currently in 2025 with Chapman’s, it is hard to determine exactly where we sit in comparison to previous years in our overall numbers,” says Schipprack.