Alberta to create new investment agency in hopes of attracting new revenue for province
As the Alberta government reboots its sputtering economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it will create a new investment corporation to attract business and promote the province in financial markets such as New York City.
Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism Tanya Fir said the new arms-length agency will be called the Invest Alberta Corporation, and will “help promote Alberta as a prime investment location.”
Alberta already has a wing of the economic development ministry called Invest Alberta, which runs offices in a dozen cities around the world. This new agency, an “arms-length” crown corporation, will direct the activities of the international offices and expand the province’s presence in markets, such as New York.
“We must redouble our efforts to generate new sources of revenue to keep our economy moving,” said Fir. The province will spend $6 million per year for three years on the new corporation.
“Alberta’s economic recovery will count heavily on new private capital investment,” Fir added.
Fir also announced that Dave Rodney would take over the new Alberta trade office in Houston. Rodney, a long-time Progressive Conservative member of the legislature, gave up his seat in 2017 so that Jason Kenney could run in a byelection after becoming leader of the United Conservatives.
Attracting much-needed investment has been a key goal of Premier Jason Kenney’s government. In the year or so since the UCP assumed power, the province has seen the collapse of oil prices, pipeline struggles, the coronavirus, culminating in the worst employment and economic prospects since the Great Depression.
· Former PM Stephen Harper joins Alberta's new 12-member economic recovery council
· Don Braid: Federal parties promise to end oilsands, but offer no transition plan for Alberta
· Alberta in 'uncharted territory' as it braces for oil price crash and global downturn: Kenney
The province has already begun cutting corporate taxes to stimulate investment, dropping the rate from 12 per cent to eight per cent on July 1. The rate cut was supposed to decline gradually until 2022.
As well, the government has announced billions of dollars in infrastructure spending, which Kenney has called the “largest infrastructure build in Alberta history.” He predicted this would create 50,000 jobs.
A board will oversee the work of the Invest Alberta Corporation. In 2018-19, Invest Alberta brought in $5 billion in capital investment, such as the new Amazon warehouse operations and Flair Air’s headquarters.
Alberta has several other bodies that do work similar to what Fir’s proposing: Travel Alberta is a crown corporation that promotes tourism; Alberta Innovates promotes research; and the Canadian Energy Centre (commonly called the “war room”) which is supposed to fight criticism of Alberta’s oil and gas sector.
“We won’t be duplicating efforts,” Fir said. She stressed the “fierce competition” for investment in the post-COVID-19 world makes such an agency necessary.
“We need to be able to aggressively, proactively, eyeball to eyeball, be communicating that message to investors around the world.” Fir said.
• Email: tdawson@postmedia.com | Twitter: tylerrdawson