Canada's fire-ravaged city set for large-scale home building boom

Fort McMurray, the fire-ravaged city in Canada's western province of Alberta, will witness the largest building boom in decades when the reconstruction begins in the coming days, Canada's federal housing agency said.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) said in a new report released on Thursday that 2,500 houses will be built in the next few years, which is expected to be the highest new home construction activity Fort McMurray has seen in 20 years.

A wildfire in early May has destroyed nearly 10 percent of the buildings in Fort McMurray, or 2,400 buildings. Of those, nearly 1,800 were single-family homes.

Neighborhood clean-up efforts began last week, where most homes were destroyed. The municipality said it hopes to have the most heavily affected areas cleared by the end of September.

CMHC said returning homeowners can rent houses or condos while waiting to see when their homes can be rebuilt.

Municipal crews have also repaired much of the damage to underground infrastructure such as sewage systems and have restored water services to most neighborhoods. Endi