Candidates running in Calgary’s municipal election have spent the last few months making their pitch for the future of the city, and industry experts have identified several issues that many hope will be a priority once a new mayor and council are elected.
Calgary has long been known as the energy capital of Canada for its wealth of oil and gas expertise, and now other modes of energy production have sprouted from that sector as traditional oil and gas companies explore alternative energy options.
BluEarth has been headquartered in downtown Calgary for the past 11 years. The company of 130 people builds and operates wind, hydro and solar facilities across North America.
The company has even partnered with oil and gas giant Shell to build a wind energy production facility near Drumheller, northeast of Calgary.
“There are a lot of players that are partially meeting those goals of net-zero or reduced carbon by working with groups like BluEarth to generate clean power,” the company’s president and CEO Grant Arnold said. “Alberta is seeing tremendous growth in this sector, especially over the last two years.”
4:33 Calgary election: How can a new council prepare the city for a prosperous future
Calgary election: How can a new council prepare the city for a prosperous future
It’s stories like these that Calgary Economic Development said it wants to tell about the economic growth underway in the city as it works toward local economic diversification.
The organization focuses on attracting, retaining, and expanding capital companies and talent to the city through its ‘Calgary in the New Economy’ strategy.
“Calgary will always be the energy capital of Canada, it may look a little different, they may have a little bit of a different face, but at the end of the day energy will always be the core of what we do,” the organization’s interim CEO Brad Parry said. “It’s just a matter of rebalancing the portfolio a little bit now and letting some of these other sectors start to get some light and grow.”
Parry said the city has seen growth in several sectors, including agri-food, tech, life sciences, and financial technology.
According to Parry, there are currently more than 2,000 job opportunities in Calgary’s tech sector following several large corporations, like Infosys and Thrive by SVG Ventures, announcing the expansion of Canadian operations in the city.
“This helps to change that perception that we’re a one trick pony,” Parry said. “By having these big corporates here, allows us to attract these smaller companies. It’s almost like a hive effect, you can see this growth continue to happen.”
However, there is concern about young people leaving the province for work elsewhere, which has been characterized as a “brain drain.”
In the 12 months prior to June, Alberta saw it’s weakest population growth since the 1980’s, according to provincial data.
That provincial data also showed that, for the first time since 1971, Alberta no longer had the youngest median age among the provinces. Alberta’s median age is now 37.9 years, slightly older than Manitoba’s 37.8 years.
“We’re not attracting people in the first place, and a lot of the people who aren’t coming are youth. That is really going to have an effect on our workforce for the next generation,” Janet Lane, director of human capital at the Canada West Foundation, said. “That is a problem for employers, and especially at a time when we are trying to attract new employers and new investment to the province.”
Lane is currently working on a report studying the trend of young people leaving Alberta, and what can be done to attract and retain that young talent.
According to lane, Alberta’s population growth projections are largely due to immigration and new births in the province, and there is potential a gap in the workforce could be created as more Albertans grow older than 65.
“We’re losing talented young people to opportunities outside of this province. That is something that we would like to nip in the bud,” Lane said. “Now that we know that we’ve got a problem, we can start to figure out why and then how to reverse it.”
Alkarim Devani, the co-founder of local development firm RndSqr, said 90 per cent of new development in the city is in new outer communities, while only 10 per cent is in established neighbourhoods.
“These things need to exist in parallel. They both need to happen, but the question is at what pace and rate,” Devani told Global News.
RndSqr recently opened a new inner-city development in Marda Loop with 63 residential units above business spaces, which sits on the property of 3 former homes. Davani said the biggest challenges facing redevelopment in established areas is getting onside with those communities as well as the polarization around the density debate.
According to Davani, attracting and retaining talent and investment is intertwined with development in the city.
“When we struggle to bring density, the most sustainable type of development within our established neighbourhoods, that makes it very difficult when we’re having conversations about attracting folks and young people to come to our city, to choose to stay in our city, but we can’t find ways to provide housing for them in established neighbourhoods.” Davani said.
“Everyone is concerned about their property taxes and their business taxes, and we still have a hole in downtown. How are we going to fill that hole to make that burden easier, and how are we going to build these communities and a thriving downtown so developers come back and say ‘we want to invest in that city.’”
Calgarians will have their say when they head to the ballot box on October 18.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VICTORIA – British Columbia is forecasting a record budget deficit and a rising debt of almost $129 billion less than two weeks before the start of a provincial election campaign where economic stability and future progress are expected to be major issues.
Finance Minister Katrine Conroy, who has announced her retirement and will not seek re-election in the Oct. 19 vote, said Tuesday her final budget update as minister predicts a deficit of $8.9 billion, up $1.1 billion from a forecast she made earlier this year.
Conroy said she acknowledges “challenges” facing B.C., including three consecutive deficit budgets, but expected improved economic growth where the province will start to “turn a corner.”
The $8.9 billion deficit forecast for 2024-2025 is followed by annual deficit projections of $6.7 billion and $6.1 billion in 2026-2027, Conroy said at a news conference outlining the government’s first quarterly financial update.
Conroy said lower corporate income tax and natural resource revenues and the increased cost of fighting wildfires have had some of the largest impacts on the budget.
“I want to acknowledge the economic uncertainties,” she said. “While global inflation is showing signs of easing and we’ve seen cuts to the Bank of Canada interest rates, we know that the challenges are not over.”
Conroy said wildfire response costs are expected to total $886 million this year, more than $650 million higher than originally forecast.
Corporate income tax revenue is forecast to be $638 million lower as a result of federal government updates and natural resource revenues are down $299 million due to lower prices for natural gas, lumber and electricity, she said.
Debt-servicing costs are also forecast to be $344 million higher due to the larger debt balance, the current interest rate and accelerated borrowing to ensure services and capital projects are maintained through the province’s election period, said Conroy.
B.C.’s economic growth is expected to strengthen over the next three years, but the timing of a return to a balanced budget will fall to another minister, said Conroy, who was addressing what likely would be her last news conference as Minister of Finance.
The election is expected to be called on Sept. 21, with the vote set for Oct. 19.
“While we are a strong province, people are facing challenges,” she said. “We have never shied away from taking those challenges head on, because we want to keep British Columbians secure and help them build good lives now and for the long term. With the investments we’re making and the actions we’re taking to support people and build a stronger economy, we’ve started to turn a corner.”
Premier David Eby said before the fiscal forecast was released Tuesday that the New Democrat government remains committed to providing services and supports for people in British Columbia and cuts are not on his agenda.
Eby said people have been hurt by high interest costs and the province is facing budget pressures connected to low resource prices, high wildfire costs and struggling global economies.
The premier said that now is not the time to reduce supports and services for people.
Last month’s year-end report for the 2023-2024 budget saw the province post a budget deficit of $5.035 billion, down from the previous forecast of $5.9 billion.
Eby said he expects government financial priorities to become a major issue during the upcoming election, with the NDP pledging to continue to fund services and the B.C. Conservatives looking to make cuts.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said the debt would be going up to more than $129 billion. In fact, it will be almost $129 billion.
NANAIMO, B.C. – Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says he’ll be advising the Liberal party to flip some the challenges posed by an increasingly divided and dangerous world into an economic opportunity for Canada.
But he won’t say what his specific advice will be on economic issues that are politically divisive in Canada, like the carbon tax.
He presented his vision for the Liberals’ economic policy at the party’s caucus retreat in Nanaimo, B.C. today, after he agreed to help the party prepare for the next election as chair of a Liberal task force on economic growth.
Carney has been touted as a possible leadership contender to replace Justin Trudeau, who has said he has tried to coax Carney into politics for years.
Carney says if the prime minister asks him to do something he will do it to the best of his ability, but won’t elaborate on whether the new adviser role could lead to him adding his name to a ballot in the next election.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says she has been taking advice from Carney for years, and that his new position won’t infringe on her role.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
