Towards the end of the 20th century, however, Embrun recovered and began growing rapidly. The construction of Highway 417 in the 1970s cut down travel time to Ottawa significantly, and as a result Embrun residents increasingly began to commute to Ottawa for work, and Embrun was able to attract new residents. In the period from 1985 to 1995 Embrun's population doubled and an indoor shopping mall and business park opened. A second round of major growth occurred in the first few years of the 21st century. Between 2001 and 2006 Embrun was the fastest growing community in the 613 area code and the 8th fastest growing community in the entire province, having grown at a rate of 26.6%. Embrun's growth slowed somewhat in the later part of the 2000s decade, from 26.6% in 2001–2006 to 12.8% in 2006–2011, however, this growth rate is still much higher than the average Ontario growth rate which is 5.7%. As a result of this slowdown Embrun's growth ranking slipped to 6th fastest growth rate in the 613 area code and 25th fastest in Ontario.