By KEVIN BERGER, Local Journalism Initiative
A report presented to RM of Corman Park councillors at their July 7 meeting shows that development within the municipality has continued to experience “sustained growth” over the past three years, with the number of development and building permits processed by the RM going up by roughly a quarter and rezonings and subdivisions increasing by nearly half.
The report, which was presented by Director of Planning and Development Doug Ramage, was later accepted for information via a council motion.
Ramage said the purpose of the report was to provide council with an overview of development trends since 2023 and how those trends affect service delivery, workflow management, and the general operating environment within Development Services.
“This is intended to be more of a high-level strategic overview of the department, not particularly intended to get into the specifics of any one stream of permits or applications, but more to give council a knowledge of development activity,” he said.
Ramage said that between 2024 and 2025, development permits have grown by 20%, building permits have increased by 25%, re-zonings have gone up by 44% and subdivisions have increased by 45%.
The report noted that re-zonings and subdivisions are important indicators of future workload since they precede applications for development permits, building permits, servicing agreements, drainage reviews and inspections.
“As a result, increases in rezoning and subdivision activity signal future demand across the broader Development Services function, even where some permit volumes have not fully materialized,” the report stated.
Furthermore, early 2026 data shows development demand is continuing. Year-to-date subdivision activity is projected to be 45% higher than 2025 levels, while permit activity remains near historic highs.
Notably, since the RM was granted subdivision approval authority as of April 1, 2026, Ramage said they have received 17 subdivision applications, whereas in a typical year they tend to get between 30 to 40 such applications.
When asked if those 17 subdivision applications were related to the RM being granted approval authority, Ramage cautioned that correlation does not necessarily mean causation, and they may have gotten those applications even if that hadn’t happened.
Nevertheless, that’s what has occurred since April 1, “so we’re seeing a lot of demand for development within the RM,” he said.
Of course, increased development activity also means that more time is required to deal with applications and inquiries, especially now that the RM has that subdivision approving authority.
The report estimated that since 2023, permitted use development permit timelines have increased by 55% and discretionary use application timelines have shot up by 176%. As well, the building permit backlog increased by 118% between 2024 and 2025.
Outside of formal applications, development-related inquiries have also increased. Ramage noted these range from quick questions about what property-owners can do on their land all the way to pre-application meetings with developers exploring subdivision activity.
In particular, those pre-application meetings are on the rise, which Ramage noted marks a good opportunity to work through some challenges that may arise before an application is completed.
Overall, the RM is now anticipating a total of 2,200 development-related inquiries in 2026, with 856 being received as May 22, 2026. That works out to an average of 8.4 inquiries per day.
“These inquiries are an important part of customer service, early issue identification, application readiness and public confidence in the development process,” the report stated. “However, they also require staff time and technical review capacity.”
Annual construction values within the RM have also grown since the establishment of its current staffing and service delivery model from $55 million per year to more than $133 million.
In terms of ways to improve service delivery, Ramage suggested they are looking at standardizing application intake requirements, cross-training staff to address surges in application volume, considering the use of contracted services to address those surges, and continuing advancement of digital permitting processes.
They are also considered a Trusted Development Partner Program (TDPP) on a pilot basis in 2027. Ramage likened this to the NEXUS program, which is designed to speed up border crossings into Canada and the U.S. by pre-approving certain travellers.
“What we’re doing is looking at how we can create a similar program for those developers that demonstrate a very solid understanding of our zoning bylaws and building codes and whose applications are complete,” he said.
Division 5 Councillor Arthur Pruim commented the RM needs to communicate with its ratepayers and make them understand “how busy this office is getting and (how) it’s not slowing down anytime.”