Policy, Provincial

By Doug Griffiths, President and CEO, Edmonton Chamber of Commerce 

I believe maintaining a positive outlook is important — especially during uncertain times. And right now, many in the business community are facing uncertainty around rising costs, labour shortages, regulatory changes, and shifting market conditions. But optimism matters. It helps us stay focused, open to new ideas, and ready to respond when opportunity emerges. That’s why it was encouraging to hear Premier Danielle Smith speak clearly and confidently about Edmonton, our business community, and the road ahead during her State of the Province address. 

“The number of active businesses in Edmonton is on the rise, and you also have the second highest growth rate of any Canadian metro area,” a confident Smith told the sold-out audience. “The employment in the Edmonton region has increased by almost six percent as well, year over year. Investors are choosing Edmonton, and the government is doing our part to encourage them.” 

The premier pointed to a number of expanded businesses in the city thanks to the provincial government’s investment and growth fund including a $51-million investment by Crust Craft to expand its artisan bread plant, a $20-million investment by PolyKar to double its production of eco-friendly packaging, and what she called her personal favourite, Alberta's first Scandinavian spa location, “where tourists are going to come to relax by the city's iconic River Valley.”  

Smith’s vision for the future includes innovative ideas to promote growth between provinces. One I found especially intriguing is a three-way provincial partnership with Ontario and Quebec to increase the manufacturing of steel products for pipelines in Canada. This would be a collaboration not only with the premiers of Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, but also the major chambers of commerce from each province, including Edmonton. 

She said the idea came out of her recent trade mission to Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa, where the question was raised: why doesn’t Central Canada manufacture this 42-inch pipe? 

The premier said her goal “is to have a three-way chamber discussion, because we were hosted by the Montreal chamber with the three premiers identifying the ways that we can do more trade with each other. I now have a pretty good idea of the things that we don't source in Canada, but we should source in Canada. And if we can get Ontario and Quebec to retool some of their manufacturing in order to be able to feed us the things that we need. I think that will be a perfect partnership.” 

And I told her directly: we’re in. The Edmonton Chamber will go to bat for our business community and this province to break down interprovincial trade barriers. And we’re not just talking — we’ve already started following up. Because if there’s an opportunity to strengthen Canadian supply chains, open new domestic markets, and reduce cross-border friction for Alberta businesses, we’re going to lead the charge. 

During the fireside chat hosted by Ryan Jespersen, Host of Real Talk, the premier and I agreed on the need to keep tearing down interprovincial trade barriers to open up more east-west commerce. But as I explained to the premier, the Chamber wants to take that one step further: 

“In the spirit of reducing trade barriers, we [at the Chamber] are going to be driving the agenda with the city and with the region to restrict or reduce the amount of inter-municipal trade barriers. We have 14 municipalities with different permitting processes. We need one cooperative concierge business service so that when a business calls and says, ‘I'm looking to locate in the Edmonton region,’ the process is streamlined, it's efficient, it's fast, and it's not competitive. It is meant to attract more business to the Edmonton region.” 

The premier in turn pointed to a government-run business-locator portal that uses commercial real estate data to identify the best places to place a business. And she added, “we do have the Alberta export expansion program, and you got me thinking, Doug. It is designed to be outward facing, but I wonder if we should make sure that we have that available for those who want to try to get greater export markets in Canada.”  

And then there was the issue that is close to my heart that Premier Smith brought up during our onstage chat: “Port Edmonton.” She said Alberta has an “immense opportunity” to use the transnational CPKC rail line to increase trade with Mexico. 

 “There's a lot of businesses here that are potentially going to feed into that supply chain as well, but the galvanizing idea I remember from years ago was this ‘Port Edmonton’ concept,” said Smith. “And I can tell you, we're probably closer than we've ever been to turning something like that into a reality.” 

That is music to my ears. 

“Port Edmonton” is the logical next step for our city where we can become a conduit not only to the North but to all of North America. We have the largest airport in Canada, with the greatest capacity for growth. We have two major rail lines and with our infrastructure and our workforce there is so much that Edmonton has to offer. 

As I explained to some curious reporters after the event, Edmonton would become an inland port where containers docking at the Port of Prince Rupert or cargo landing at Vancouver International Airport would remain sealed and be moved by truck or rail to Edmonton which is a natural hub for distribution. The system would also work in reverse with containers being sealed in Edmonton and moved out for shipping. As the premier explained, Edmonton has much more real estate to set up this kind of hub than does Prince Rupert. 

The “Port Edmonton” idea has been around for a while, but now we have the technology, the initiative and the support of the Alberta government to make it a reality. It’s the kind of thing we will no doubt be discussing next July at the Pacific Northwest Region’s Annual Summit where more than 500 key government and business leaders from across Canada and the United States will meet right here in Edmonton. 

As Premier Smith declared during her State of the Province address, Edmonton is indeed on the rise.