Communities and employers in the Special Areas region now have a new tool to help attract newcomers to this rural area. The region was recently designated under the Rural Renewal Stream of the Albert
OYEN, ALTA. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney called the news of the cancelled Keystone XL project “a gut punch” and perhaps nowhere is that being felt more immediately than in Oyen. The small Alberta town, which is located about 300 kilometres east of Calgary, had been experiencing a mini economic boom during construction of the TC Energy Corp. project. In October last year, the town’s population doubled to 2,000 people as energy workers moved in. But, since President Joe Biden signed the executive order Wednesday, hundreds of people have already left. “It was bang! I think that’s what took everyone by surprise here,” said Doug Jones, Oyen’s mayor. “You don’t see near the traffic around here now you did when you were here last summer.”