the 1990s The mill was closed for part of 1991–1992 but reached a period of peak production between 1993 and 1996 when three shifts were employed full-time (160 employees). The population increased in these five years by 17 percent. In 1998, Slocan reduced its work force by two thirds and by 2001 the local population had dropped by 7.7 percent. The sawmill, which had shut down by Slocan and then acquired by Carrier Lumber, never met its former production or employment levels, and closed permanently in 2006. There are approximately 20 restaurants in Valemount. Improvement and expansion of village infrastructure All streets in the village were paved between 1993 and 2000. Major projects, such as the Curling Rink and the Arena, were completed or renovated, and the airport terminal was completed in 1996. In 1995, Valemount was invited to join the Columbia Basin Trust, created by the Columbia Basin Trust Act to benefit the region most adversely affected by the Columbia River Treaty. The Mica Dam had been completed by 1974 and the whole Canoe River Basin flooded. In 1997, the one-person office of CREDA grew into a busy Valemount Learning Centre; since then, the Valemount Learning Centre has been employing three full-time and three part-time staff, who provide various training and employment services to Valemount's residents. 21st century Valemount has high speed wireless internet, train, bus and highway service. The village has one weekly newspaper, The Rocky Mountain Goat News, locally owned and based in Valemount. It covers the communities of Valemount, McBride, Dunster, Tête-Jaune, and to a lesser extent Jasper and Blue River. The Goat was named the top newspaper in its circulation category in 2015 by the BC Yukon Community Newspapers Association. Borealis Geopower obtained three permits October 27, 2010, to explore the Canoe Reach area of Kinbasket Lake south of Valemount for geothermal development. It is the second region of B.C. opened up to geothermal exploration. Valemount has increased its infrastructure capacity by adding a second water tower () in 2003, and now has a water treatment plant. A wireless wide-area network was established in September 1999 centred in Valemount and covering a three-kilometre radius area. ADSL service has been available since 2003, and cell phone service (only some providers) since July 2004. High-speed Internet services were available in rural areas by 2005. Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Valemount had