Doing Business in Mountain View County

Building Rural Better

Demographics

Our current population is 12,570 rural residents, with another 18,000 residing in the Towns of Carstairs, Didsbury, Olds, Sundre; and the Village of Cremona. These figures may not account for a large percentage of the 1300+ full time students who enroll at Olds College on a yearly basis.

Mountain View County is located within one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in all of Canada. More than 1.2 million residents live within an hour's drive of Mountain View County, with more than a million of those living within the city of Calgary- the Heart of the New West.

Nestled in the heart of beautiful central Alberta, Mountain View County has:

• A strong agriculture and food industry
• Thriving oil and gas manufacturing, rich natural resources, exceptional recreation and tourism venues
• 1,747 miles of maintained roads
• 1 Million acres over 1,500 square miles
• 1,800 farms

Services

County residents, businesses and visitors can count on:

• A state of the art EMS team offering integrated fire, ambulance and public services
• A well developed education system including public and private schools at the pre school, elementary, secondary and post secondary levels
• Olds College - Canada's premiere agriculture and land sciences institution
• Exceptional health, dental and social care facilities including senior's housing
• Numerous and varied recreation and arts facilities

Business

We encourage business and we support investment with:

• An outstanding transportation infrastructure including several provincial primary and secondary highways, and the County Collector Network.
• Direct access to Alberta's Queen Elizabeth II highway (QEII) corridor- the lifeline of the Calgary- Edmonton corridor- dubbed Canada's economic "Western Tiger"- which runs norh-south through the middle of Mountain View County.
• We're 45 minutes north of the Calgary International Airport - the main distribution hub for Western Canada into the Pacific Northwest
• Access to the Canadian Pacific Railway's national rail network through the Calgary- Edmonton line.
• Modern airport facilties at Sundre and Olds/ Disbury airports.
• A progressive business culture which promotes sustanable communtiies with documents like our Municipal Development Plan - and commerical developments like Netook Crossing.
• A well educated and motivated workforce - 15 per cent of the population over age 15 having attended university.
• A rapidly growing service sector, including major commercial developments in Olds and surroundign communities.
• Olds College's human resource development programs and workplace training
• The Alberta SUPERNET and technology infrastructure

The right lifestyle

• Easy access to Calgary and Red Deer makes acreage development an attractive alternative to urban living.
• Because of our attractive landscapes and proximity to Red Deer and Calgary, a wide range of tourist and recreational uses are located in Mountain View County.
• Golf courses are located in or near Carstairs, Didsbury, Water Valley, Sundre and Olds, with others approved or in the planning stages.
• Campgrounds are located at Westward Ho, Water Valley and other areas in the County. Bed and breakfasts, dude ranches and informal kinds of recreational activities including fishing, hiking and rafting complete the recreational experience in Mountain View County.