Canada Alberta Fort McMurray

[Jay Hinrichs]

Wondering what is the plan to rebuild there.

I was up there about 10 years ago I bid on a commercial property and got out bid by Canadian super store.. spent 3 days there toured the tar sands ( awesome)  Just wondering what the plan is.

I owned a home in Kelowna as well. although from OR..

I suppose every contactor will be flooding north.

[Sean Kollee]

I imagine it's going to be Wild West open season for the framers, drywallers and roofers and slightly less so for the technical trades that are subject to more professional scrutiny.

A challenge will be housing those rebuilding the housing and this will drive labour cost and rent through the roof. There won't be an apartment or camp site within 100 km that isn't packed for two years or more.

The only possible restraining device here is the financial controls exerted by those with the money. The insurers won't allow the cash under the table mayhem to take place because in the end they are going to have to be accountable. The government will bungle payouts as it did during the last flood disaster where some well connected flood plain dwellers received up to $3 million ( yes 3 m of tax payer money) to sell their ruined house to the province, and others fought to get enough to gut and redo a basement and the government tried to say they could only compensate for the lowest grade vinyl or laminate rather than the hardwood and granite that was destroyed.

So in summary building 2000 houses is going to draw contractors from everywhere. Half of what will be built will be built bad enough it will be rebuilt again once the owners move in and find workmanship to be haphazard at best, and the rest will be done to a professional standard. I'm thinking some of what was burned wasn't high quality housing to start (older trailer type stuff) and likely the housing stock will overall see a net benefit, but we will be paying higher insurance premiums forever.

I doubt your going to see homes up Against the leading edge of the boreal forest armoured against future fires with metal roof, stucco, concrete etc. It'll be a vinyl, asphalt and chipboard bonanza and it'll take as much forest as was burnt to frame it all up again. Such is the way the province always has been, and will continue to do its business.