Spray Foam Insulation in Eckville, AB.

Just over half of Eckville's housing is older than the 1980 code — 51.8% of 425 occupied dwellings, about 220 homes. What makes that share notable is the direction it is moving: Eckville's population fell 9.9% between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, the second-steepest decline of the 32 communities in this ledger, after Consort's -11.7%.

Nothing dilutes an old housing stock except new construction, and a town losing population builds very little. The 220 pre-1980 houses standing here in 2021 are, in practical terms, the town's permanent building inventory.

Where Eckville sits

The Medicine River flows through the area, and the town itself was physically relocated in 1912 when the railroad was completed — the reason its street grid dates from that year rather than from its founding. The ledger also records an Estonian community here numbering 171 residents by 1910, and notes Olympic skeleton medalist Mellisa Hollingsworth as a former resident. Eckville is 45.06 km from Red Deer on Highway 11 west, about 39 min.