At 6:00 p.m. on a weeknight in Fort McMurray traffic is at a near stand still. In a city of just 80,000 residents, rush-hour looks more like that of a metropolis of a million.
On the streets, passing cars and trucks sport license plates spanning all parts of North America. Workers are once again flooding this oil-town.
"It seems to me its getting worse everyday…There's more and more people coming in for jobs working out here," says resident Elmer Olynyk.
Lineups snake onto the street at local coffee shops. Fitness centres are packed, seeing massive surges in membership. Even the local registry office is doing huge business.
"We come in and boom we're lined up at the door from the time we open to the time we close. its just so many people and so many newcomers," reveals Sonya Chatman.
These are just a few of the many signs that the economy in city is booming. But with the good, comes the bad.
Use of the Fort McMurray food bank has shot up by 73-percent in the past year. Apartment rentals and housing pricing has skyrocketed as demand outweighs supply.
In part one of a special two-part assignment, Scott Roberts takes an in-depth look at the changes going on in this northern city and if Fort McMurray is ready for boom.
