By Brady Lang

North Battleford attracts young families, corporations: Money Sense

Aug 3, 2018 | 5:00 PM

A survey from MoneySense came out earlier this week, highlighting the best places to live in Canada.

North Battleford was part of the list, coming in at 19 in the prairie division, which was Manitoba and Saskatchewan combined. Even though the city came in on the lower end of the spectrum, there are many things people can decipher and look at positively, including property taxes, amenities, health centres and home affordability.

Herb Cox, MLA for the Battlefords told battlefordsNOW the low property tax and home affordability shows that the area is growing, and is sustainable to live in, especially for younger families.

“It’s part of a whole suite of things that people would look at when thinking of moving here,” Cox said. “They’d also look at the other amenities that we have here. It’s just one more feather in our cap that adds to the attractiveness of living in the Battlefords.”

Another major factor that came in to play when looking at the survey was the health centre figures. In the population of North Battleford, there are 15 health centres within the city.

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 With the city’s population at just under 15,100, that means a health centre for roughly every 1,000 people. Those numbers are without the factor of the Saskatchewan Hospital opening in the near future, something Cox said makes North Battleford an attractive place for not only families, but corporations as well.

“It’s a big factor, it’s even a factor for a large corporation coming here,” he said. “If they can see that they have medical facilities for their staff. It something catastrophic should happen; they have the medical facilities readily available.”

Looking at the general picture of the survey, Cox said he knows numbers will improve when it comes to tackling crime and making it a viable place for newcomers. With improved police forces coming to the area, people feel safe living in the city, Cox said.

“Its trending in the right direction, it’s great news,” he said. “We have the new five member CRT force that’s here now, and that’s going to help the area. That would also be a factor for someone to move here. People in the Battlefords feel safe living here, their families feel safe here. It’s a message that we need to keep telling people about.”

The survey highlighted many cities within the prairies, but coming in at first was Weyburn, followed by Saskatoon, Brandon and Estevan.

brady.lang@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @BradyLangCJNB