The Alberta Competitiveness council announced 18 moves this week it hopes will keep the provincial economy humming and bring more investment and jobs to the province.
The second report from the council, which Premier Ed Stelmach initiated last year, focuses on four economic sectors and lists moves the government is making or is about to embark upon to strengthen those industries.
The council recommended several actions for the financial services industry, agriculture and manufacturing all with an aim at making them more globally competitive.
Stelmach said Albertans have enjoyed a lot of economic success, but for that to continue the province has to adapt.
"The world is changing, it is changing more quickly than any of us have anticipated, and if Alberta wants to continue to prosper it must continue to change as well."
In the agriculture field, the council recommended the government continue to advocate for an end to the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly. It also called on government to attract farmers from overseas to fill expected labour shortages, develop pilot and incubator farms for new crops and technologies, and invest in research.
In the financial sector, the council emphasized branding the province's industry to better promote investment opportunities as well as attracting more talent.
On the petrochemical front, the council advocated for greater emphasis on the natural gas infrastructure in the province and changes to the province's ethane program.
Ethane is a byproduct of several manufacturing processes and can be used to make other chemicals.
In manufacturing, the government plans to move productivity away from being a government department to a not-for-profit enterprise and put more emphasis on training in the workplace.
The council also looked at some steps the government could take to enhance overall competiveness.
Those included looking at whether load limits should be raised for Alberta highways to allow heavier oilsands modules to use them.
The government has a study on this change under way to see how feasible it would be and what the costs might be to improve roads.
The council's co-chair Bob Brawn said if this works out it could save companies billions.
"This could reduce overall project cost by five per cent; in the context of multi-billion dollar projects this could be a significant savings."
Labour problem
The council put particular emphasis on labour shortages, which in the report it said could become the "new normal" in Alberta.
The government is pledging to work with the federal government to help make that happen, which Stelmach said should not be a major hurdle given recent election results.
Stelmach said the whole point of the competitiveness review was to make sure the province has much to offer Albertans.
"At the end of the day the purpose of it really is to make sure the next generation will have the same quality of life as we have enjoyed."
Brawn said he has been impressed with the government's long-term focus on the labour issue, which has to look both at new workers and the workers of the future.
"We are dealing with a labour force that will go on for many years, our oilsands are expected to go on for 100 years so it is about the whole spectrum of education."
Brawn said if international companies continue to see Alberta as a good place to work it would benefit the province in the long run.
"Staying competitive means keep high paying jobs here in Alberta and keeping our standard of life also very high."
