The Towns Around Calgary — What the Next Five Years Actually Look Like
Calgary is one of the three fastest-growing metropolitan areas in Canada. In four years — from 2021 to 2025 — the city itself added over 250,000 people.
But here is what is interesting. The city is not absorbing all of that growth on its own. A significant portion of it is landing in the towns and cities that sit within an hour of Calgary’s ring road.
And those towns are growing in different ways, at different speeds, for different reasons.
Who is growing the most — and where
*Airdrie* is the biggest story. It added over 15,000 residents between 2021 and 2025, reaching a population of around 92,500. That is the largest population gain in the Calgary area of any community outside the city itself. Airdrie’s growth has been consistent for years — driven by its position just north of Calgary on Highway 2, its established schools and services, and land that is more affordable than Calgary’s inner suburbs.
*Cochrane*, to the west, added over 6,000 people in the same period, going from 33,000 to nearly 40,000. It is growing fast by any measure, and it is doing it in a community that has maintained a genuine small-town feel despite the growth — which is not easy to do.
*Chestermere*, east of Calgary on Highway 1, added nearly 9,000 people — a significant jump for a community that was already known for its lake lifestyle and family-friendly character.
*Okotoks*, to the south, grew more modestly — about 2,000 additional residents — and now sits at around 33,500. The southern corridor is growing, but at a slower pace than the north and east.
*Strathmore*, also east on Highway 1 but further than Chestermere, added around 1,600 residents in that same 2021-2025 period — with more growth continuing into 2026 and a population now estimated above 16,000.
Why people are moving to these towns
Three things are driving it.
*Calgary’s land prices.* The cost of buying or building within the Calgary ring road has risen consistently. A family that would have bought inside the city five years ago is now looking at communities 30 to 50 kilometres out and finding that the trade-off — a commute in exchange for significantly more space and a lower purchase price — makes financial sense.
*Remote work changed the calculation.* When you do not have to drive to downtown Calgary five days a week, the question of where to live becomes less about commute time and more about what you get for your money. A lot of families answered that question by moving further out.
*Infrastructure following the families.* The communities that have grown the most are now seeing commercial development, new schools, upgraded roads, and improved services following the residential growth. That makes the case for the next wave of buyers even stronger. It is a self-reinforcing cycle.
The north-south divide
One detail that does not get enough attention is the gap between how the northern suburbs are growing versus the southern ones.
Airdrie, Cochrane, and Chestermere are on the northern and western sides of Calgary. They have grown dramatically. Okotoks and High River, to the south, have grown, but at a slower rate.
Part of this is Highway 2. The QEII Highway runs directly north from Calgary to Airdrie, making the commute fast and straightforward. The southern suburbs do not have the same corridor advantage. If you commute to north Calgary or anywhere along the Highway 2 corridor, Airdrie is genuinely convenient. If you work south or southeast, Okotoks and Strathmore make more sense.
What the next five years looks like
This is harder to predict precisely, but some things are clear.
*The growth will continue.* Alberta’s population has crossed five million. Immigration is driving numbers up. The Calgary metro area is expected to keep expanding. The communities around Calgary will absorb a meaningful share of that growth, because Calgary’s own land costs will keep making the suburbs more attractive by comparison.
*Infrastructure will follow.* Communities at 90,000 people (Airdrie) need the services of a proper city — hospitals, transit, commercial districts, employment. That investment tends to follow population, with a lag. Buyers who get in during the growth phase benefit from the infrastructure arrival.
*The east corridor has a specific story.* Strathmore and the Highway 1 corridor east of Calgary are sitting on something different from the other satellite towns. Three major industrial investments — Phyto Organix’s $225 million plant, CGC’s $210 million wallboard facility, and DeHavilland’s aircraft manufacturing facility with 1,500 anticipated jobs — are arriving in Wheatland County. That is employment in the region, not just in Calgary. Employment in the region creates housing demand in the region. Strathmore is the established community that benefits from that.
*The communities that planned well will hold their value better.* Towns that protected green space, built proper infrastructure, and attracted the right kind of commercial development will remain desirable over the long term. The ones that just built as many houses as possible without thinking about what makes a place worth living in will see that reflected in how their property values perform over time.
What this means for buyers right now
If you are buying outside Calgary in 2026, the two things that matter most are which community you are looking at and whether the fundamentals of that community are sound.
The population data shows strong, consistent demand around Calgary. The employment data — particularly east of the city — shows that demand is becoming structural, not just driven by affordable housing. And the five-year picture suggests that communities with real amenities, proper planning, and employment nearby will see continued appreciation in ways that matter to families, not just to investors.
The window where these communities were still quietly growing is closing. Some of them are approaching city scale. The ones that still have the character of a small town with the trajectory of a growing one are the ones worth paying attention to now, not later.