CGC officially breaks ground on wallboard manufacturing plant

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The CGC hosted the official groundbreaking, May 23, on the site designated for the construction of their wallboard manufacturing plant in Wheatland County.

“We had (our groundbreaking), then we had an event with some of our community partners and customers at the fire hall in Carseland; then … we (had) a large event where we had customers from all over the country coming in to celebrate with us,” said Chris Griffin, president and CEO of the USG Corporation. 

The USG Corporation is the parent company of the CGC. 

“We have been talking about a wallboard plant somewhere in western Canada my entire career,” he said. “This is many decades in the making, but really in earnest about four years.”

The CGC announced in 2022 the intent to invest $210 million into the wallboard manufacturing plant planned for construction in Wheatland County. 

Griffin added the Wheatland County facility will be the most sustainable of its kind anywhere in North America. 

In addition to the manufacturing plant, CGC will be establishing a solar farm localized to the facility.

“We have been servicing customers here for decades – we have got a great group of customers right across western Canada, and they have been telling us for a long time that to better serve them so that they could have easier access to our industry-leading products, that we needed to have local manufacturing,” said Griffin. “Alberta is growing and we see long-term sustainable growth for both residential and commercial construction, so it just makes sense for us to be here. We are investing in Canada; we are investing in local manufacturing.”

A facility local to western Canada will provide easier and faster access to materials, as well as to meet the CGC’s goal of creating a more sustainable supply chain of their products. 

Over the course of the facility’s construction, it is estimated that approximately 200 local jobs will be created within Wheatland County. Upon its completion, the facility will host approximately 100 full-time positions across a variety of disciplines.

Griffin added USG and CGC hope to see the facility completed and operational by early 2026. 

“Probably the next six to eight weeks is moving ground and getting things ready. Wheatland is also bringing utilities to the site. Our equipment is all on order and starts to arrive,” said Griffin. 

“Obviously, we have to build the building. It is a large building; it is a 220,000 square foot manufacturing facility, so there will be a lot of activity over the next 12 to 18 months.”

More information regarding the facility is available via the CGC website.