There's a bit of a building boom going on in the village of Englefeld these days.
Not only did the village located along Hwy. 5 near Watson record growth of 8.8 per cent - growing from a population of 227 to 247 between 2006 and 2011 - lots have been selling like hotcakes recently.
"Five residential and one commercial lot have been purchased in the last few months," said Mayor Darrell Athmer when contacted by the Journal.
Usually, they sell one or two per year, so that's an increase of about 500 per cent.
It's expected construction will begin on homes on a few of those lots once spring arrives.
Two of those lots are going to be used to build spec homes, Athmer noted, but the rest have been purchased by people intending to move to Englefeld.
The village council was anticipating that an increase in population would be reported in last year's census, from the number of rentals being occupied in the community.
"We've been short of rentals for some time," Athmer said.
The rise of 8.8 per cent is pretty close to what they thought the numbers would show, he agreed, but added that the population of the community has definitely risen since the census numbers were gathered in the spring of last year.
"We've had a couple of families move in. It's definitely gone up even more since then," he said.
"That's nice to see in a small town," he noted.
It wasn't too long ago that all the small towns in Saskatchewan were seeing declines in their population, as young people moved into larger centres, or even out of the province. Around 2007, that trend started to shift, and more people started moving back into the province.
What has drawn them to Englefeld?
Industry, Athmer believes.
The village is home to two major local manufacturers: Schulte Industries and Koenders Manufacturing, who are located right in Englefeld.
Schulte employs over 100 people to design, manufacture and market its diverse line of equipment for farm, industrial and commercial sectors all over the world. Koenders produces polyethylene and non-poly products for agricultural, industrial, recreation and residential use.
"They're both bringing in new employees. That's the majority of it," Athmer said.
Development in the entire region is bringing people to Englefeld as well, Athmer added.
"The last family that moved in (was) due to construction in the area... so outside sources are definitely helping us as well."
The newest family to call Englefeld home had just moved in the week before, so Athmer hadn't had a chance to talk to them about their reasons yet, but the rest of the new families had told him they chose Englefeld because of its atmosphere.
"They like the quiet part of it, and the small town atmosphere. That's the biggest reason why families are moving in... The small town atmosphere, you can't beat it," said Athmer, a lifelong resident of Englefeld.
The commercial lot sold to a man from British Columbia who also purchased two residential lots for himself and his son, Athmer reported.
They plan on opening up a new business in the village, and were drawn there because of Englefeld's reverse osmosis water system.
Englefeld school, which is considered one of the best in the province, is another draw for young families, Athmer agreed.
