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CMHC, the Crown corporation that advises the federal government on housing, says Fort McMurray reconstruction will be strong, but it’s not likely to begin in earnest until 2017. The potential exists for construction to be higher than during the peak year of the oil boom when 2,200 homes were started in 2007.

“I think if we buy locally, hire locally, this will help the whole community and allow it to rebuild,” Iggulden said. “The spinoff could be huge.”

In the short-term, CMHC expects Fort McMurray will get an almost immediate boost to the rental vacancy rate, which was at 29 per cent in October 2015, when it was last measured. With residents and workers moving back, that rate is expected to fall.

Sam Kolias, chief executive of Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust, which owns eight properties in Fort McMurray, says vacancies are already starting to drop. “We can’t predict the future,” he said, when asked how much the vacancy rate might rebound.

Northview REIT, which has about 870 units in Fort McMurray, is also seeing a bit of a bounce back in the last few weeks, the result of workers returning and needing a place to stay while the town is rebuilt and residents who don’t have homes to go back to, said chief executive Todd Cook.

“We are seeing a lot more traffic and there will be an uptick in occupancy,” Cook said. “We’re focusing on making sure we have space for homeowners, but there is a fair demand from contractors too.”