2025 was a year of growth for county

By Lethbridge Herald on December 30, 2025.

Nathan Reiter
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

With 2025 nearly in the rear view mirror, Lethbridge County is looking to grow on the positives in 2026.

In an interview with the Herald, Reeve Tory Campbell says he was pleased with the progress made throughout the year.

“I think we saw a year of just strong, steady, smart growth. I think the county continues to grow. We continue to grow our capacity internally and we see the region really starting to grow and really take off.”

In 2025, Lethbridge County launched a new 24/7 online service portal known as MyCounty to help residences manage services and payments. 

During the most recent budget, the county also passed new measures for dust suppression, a deep base stabilized road treatment on portions of haul routes and the replacement of a bridge northwest of Picture Butte.

“I think that this council is really focused on the big picture and looking forward to how we invest dollars today and what that means tomorrow.” Campbell explained. “I think it’s easy to take the shortcut at times, but I think this group is really honed in on the fact that we need to be strategic and really deliberate in how we invest our dollars to make sure that we’re building things stronger, better, more resilient moving forward so that we can have that strategic advantage in the future.”

The year included a completion of a pair of studies on Hamlet Growth for Monarch, Iron Springs and Turin. The other study was on regional water supply in cooperation with local irrigation districts to support sustainable growth and agricultural resistance.

Other highlights included fire service agreements with neighbouring municipalities to provide emergency services, a regional emergency management plan through a partnership with Barons, Coalhurst, Nobleford and Picture Butte. The county also contributed with the Turin community to upgrade the playground and sports court. 

With economic challenges such as inflation and shifts in grant money, Campbell says he is hopeful that the county can continue striking a balance moving forward.

“Smart and steady is what I’ve been trying to really hammer home. It’s trying to maintain that balance. We know that costs are going up. We know that people are feeling the pressure at the grocery store and when they go to the pump. So we acknowledge that and we feel that pressure as well. How do we move forward where we’re putting enough money in reserve? 

“We’re building for the future but at the same time we’re being mindful of the stress that everyone’s feeling on their pocketbooks. Just really trying to strike that balance and at the same time take steps forward. If you stand still, you’re moving backwards. How do we continue to move forward in a way that’s going to set future councils and really the future of Lethbridge County up for success?”