According to Statistics Canada, Albertans spent $1.78 billion on home improvements in the first quarter of this year and some say it’s a sign that homeowners are regaining confidence in the province’s financial future.

Albertans have already spent 25 percent more on home renovations this year than in the same period of 2016.

Some of that increase is the result of repairing residences damaged in the Fort McMurray wildfire but economists say homeowners are more confident in the value of their homes and the province's future.

 "And that is borne out by other statistics on interprovincial migration. We haven’t really seen a lot of people leaving Alberta, we have lost some on a net basis, but not a tremendous amount. I think more people are sort of doubling down on saying, in the long run we think Calgary and Alberta are going to be in good shape, this is our home, this is a community we love and because of that we are going to invest in this piece of real estate," said Todd Hirsch, Chief Economist, ATB Financial.

Statistics Canada says spending on renovations dropped nearly 15 percent in 2016 as oil prices tumbled and jobs were eliminated.

Contractors say business is already better this year and some have already had to turn a few jobs down.

“Bigger contracts and more contracts with each six month period that passes by and I’d say in the last six months we’ve signed more than we signed in the previous calendar year,” said Greg Wagner, Managing Partner, Wallace Fleming.       

"They may also have this sense that if you're going to hire contractors, 2016, 2017, this is when you want to do it, because you're going to be able to get them and they might not be as expensive as they might have been three or four years ago," said Hirsch.

The surge in spending comes with some cautions. ATB Financial says repairing the damaged homes in the Fort McMurray area is likely skewing the numbers and that severance packages could leave a little extra pool of cash for some Calgarians.

The City says that the number of building permits issued for the first half of 2017 should be roughly equal to the same period last year.