Alberta businesses are eager to help Canada succeed. Across sectors, they are innovating, investing, and working to grow their industries — not just for regional gain, but to strengthen the entire country. Alongside British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, Alberta plays a critical role in driving key national industries like energy, agriculture, mining, and forestry. The province’s businesses help generate the wealth that supports federal programs and transfers far beyond Western borders. Our GDP per capita leads Canada by a large margin, while our country is falling far behind U.S. numbers. If you were running Canada, wouldn’t you want more of what Alberta delivers? Not less?
In fact, Alberta and B.C., along with Ontario, are net contributors to federal equalization and transfer programs — a major fiscal responsibility that Alberta businesses accept because they believe in a stronger, more unified Canada. But while the West continues to deliver on its economic promise, it too often faces barriers that limit its ability to contribute even more.
The very projects that generate economic strength — energy infrastructure, critical minerals, port expansions, and clean tech facilities — are frequently delayed by redundant federal regulations, slow approval processes, and policy frameworks that fail to account for local realities. According to the Canada West Foundation, almost all projects submitted under the Impact Assessment Act between 2019 and mid-2023 remain stalled in the first or second of four approval stages. Alberta businesses feel the consequences in lost investment, delayed innovation, and uncertainty that weakens Canada’s global competitiveness.
These delays don’t just hurt Alberta. They reduce the country’s overall productivity and diminish our standing as a reliable trade partner. In 2022 alone, Alberta, B.C., and Saskatchewan generated over $400 billion in GDP and supported hundreds of thousands of high-paying jobs across the country. These aren’t regional gains — they’re national assets. Yet that contribution is increasingly made in spite of, not because of, federal collaboration.
Alberta’s business community is not asking for handouts — it’s asking for partnership. Alberta is already leading on clean-energy innovation through advances in hydrogen, carbon capture, and petrochemical processing. These align with Canada’s broader climate and trade goals. But to maximize their potential, we need investment in trade corridors, smarter regulation, and earlier, more meaningful engagement in policy design.
Recent decisions show how far we still have to go. The federal government’s unilateral imposition of 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese EV imports came without consultation with Western producers — even though retaliation was predictable. China’s response, which included steep tariffs on Western-grown agricultural products like canola oil and peas, are now inflicting serious damage on Alberta farmers and agri-businesses. These avoidable consequences reflect a pattern of exclusion and top-down policymaking that undermines trust and hurts Canadian livelihoods.
Alberta’s businesses are ready to be a bigger part of the solution — to grow the national economy, boost trade, innovate in clean technologies, and enhance food and energy security. But they need a federal partner who values them not as a political challenge, but as a key element of Canada’s economic plan and future.
Western prosperity is national prosperity. If Canada is serious about unlocking its full economic potential, it must move beyond symbolic gestures and commit to real collaboration. That means streamlined project approvals, reformed fiscal stabilization tools, and a new approach to governance that treats provinces and their business communities as equal partners in the country’s future.
If the Prime Minister wants to unite the country and build a stronger Canada, he must start by working with the West — not just in words, but in action.
