The Alberta advantage

By Chantelle de Jonge Chestermere-Strathmore MLA

Alberta is booming, leading Canada in job creation and capital investments, and our government is laser-focused on maintaining Alberta’s competitive advantage, to ensure businesses and industry are able to thrive, innovate, and create jobs for generations to come.

Our hard work is paying off. Recent data from Statistics Canada shows that, just last month alone, Alberta created 46,400 full-time jobs. Our economy is diversifying as well, with job numbers up across a variety of sectors, including construction, natural resources, health care, social assistance, and education. These new, full-time jobs are more than just numbers on paper. They represent regular paycheques families can rely on to pay their bills and save for the future.

Additionally, new projections from the Conference Board of Canada show that over the next five years Alberta will continue to generate more jobs than any other province in the country. While a number of other provinces battle for second place, Alberta is indisputably the biggest job creator in Canada and will continue to be for years to come.  We recently announced that we are hosting a national summit on productivity to find ways to increase productivity, which will lead to higher wages and lower inflation.

This past week, we also learned that Alberta has hit a significant economic landmark, passing British Columbia in venture capital investment for the first time ever. The latest data from the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association highlights Alberta as a powerhouse in venture capital investment, raising $95 million more than our neighbours to the west. Alberta’s technology and innovation sector has been building momentum for a while, but in the past five years, we have seen exponential growth. In total, Alberta companies raised an impressive $383 million across 41 deals in the first half of this year. The continued growth of venture capital investments is great news for Alberta because with this new investment comes new, high-paying jobs. While we have further to go, Alberta is on a great path and our best days are still ahead.

As always, please feel free to reach out to my office with your feedback and questions (Chestermere.Strathmore@assembly.ab.ca).

(Chantelle de Jonge is the MLA for Chestermere-Strathmore and the Parliamentary Secretary for Affordability and Utilities)