Issue

Economic activity within Southeast Alberta continues to improve yet remains below the provincial average annual population growth rate. With ongoing competition for industry and talent from municipalities across Alberta and Western Canada, coordinated regional action is required to accelerate investment attraction, support business retention and expansion, and strengthen investment readiness to increase economic opportunity and sustain our high quality of life indicators.

Background

After several years of flat population growth, the region is now experiencing moderate positive trends. However, to remain competitive with other Alberta municipalities actively pursuing investment, a proactive and coordinated regional strategy is essential.

Population growth, while no longer stagnant, remains modest. In 2025, Medicine Hat reached 68,714 residents, a gain of +0.86% year-over-year with a 5 year growth of 5.08%. Redcliff reached 5,916 residents a year over year decline of 0.29% with a 1.75% growth over 5 years. Cypress County reached 7,855 residents, a +0.47 increase over 2024 with a 0.32% increase over 5 years. In contrast, Brooks had a population of 17,537 in 2025 with a population increase of 3.40% year-over-year, and 15.5% in the last five years. 

Historically, Medicine Hat was able to attract and retain major industry along with skilled labour to our region with the availability of natural gas, abundant land and water, and low utility rates. However, competitive incentive plans and expediency of development approvals in other regions now add to the complexity and competitiveness of investment attraction. Factors that companies base site selection plans and priorities for locating a new facility include labour cost, quality-of-life, availability of skilled labour, energy availability, construction costs, ICT/broadband, tax rates, energy costs, environmental and development regulations, and available land.

Medicine Hat maintains one of Alberta’s strongest affordability positions with the lowest living wage in the province in 2025 at $18.15 per hour, well below major centers including Calgary ($26.20) and Lethbridge ($22.30) . Short commute times and accessible transportation further reinforce the region’s high quality of life, with the majority of residents commuting by private vehicle and very low congestion levels. 

Housing starts increased sharply in 2025, with 317 new starts in Medicine Hat (+64% over 2024), demonstrating increasing investor confidence and future capacity for population growth. 

Additionally, Provincial legislative changes in recent years have strengthened municipal authority to support economic development and incentives including Bill 7 (2019): Municipal Government (Property Tax Incentives) Amendment Act, allowing municipalities to provide multi-year property tax exemptions or deferrals for non-residential development. 

Additionally, Bill 21 (2016), the Modernized Municipal Government Act) updated the MGA and enabled the creation of non residential subclasses .

With greater flexibility within the MGA, a growing interest in Southeast Alberta, available labour, land and opportunity, timing is right for our region to create a strong and diverse local economy. However, we also need to ensure our region is competitive and take a more targeted review of incentives that will consider the type of industries the region is trying to attract; the type of employment positions created (skilled, semi-skilled); investments in plant, land, and/or leasehold improvements; stable investment projects with long term viability in the region.

The Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce supports strengthened regional cooperation and municipal action to enhance investment readiness, diversify the economic base, and improve the region’s competitive advantages.

To achieve growth and investment objectives, the Chamber recommends implementation of an approach that has measurable targets, modernized investment attraction tools, consistent business-support frameworks, and a proactive effort to market Southeast Alberta’s unique advantages to national and global investors.

Recommendations

1. Create a community readiness plan, including a comprehensive asset inventory and sector-focused investment prospectus.
2. Develop and Implement Investment Readiness Action Plans that will target a 2.5-3% annual growth rate. 
3. Implement a “one-window” investment intake and concierge model for business investment and expansion opportunities to assist business and development navigate and connect with multiple departments.
4. Implement standardized service-level agreements, including response times, in addition to permit timeline standards.
5. Ensure business continuity planning is part of short and long term planning when the City implements infrastructure renewal, emergency response and asset management planning.
6. Revise the Non-Residential Tax Incentive Bylaw, in consultation with business and industry associations including the Chamber of Commerce, to implement more flexible and scalable incentives that will stimulate investment attraction, and strengthen Business Retention & Expansion (BR&E).
7. Conduct a cost competitiveness review focused on utilities rates, property taxes and development fees and charges that provide a comparison against competitor municipalities with a view to amend rates for jurisdictional competitiveness in order to assist with business retention, expansion and investment attraction objectives. 
8. Create and implement a Regional Investment Attraction Marketing Strategy with a focus on a regional brand, quality of life indicators, and investment opportunity profiles.
9. Through the Public Participation Framework, ensure ongoing business engagement to mitigate unintended consequences of development decisions.
10. Create a reporting structure that will highlight key metrics and success including, but not limited to:

• Number of active client files considering both expansion and/or new investment,
• Yearly inquiries, applications, and completed investments,
• Conversion rates between inquiries and investments,
• Timeline from initial inquiry to investment realization,
• Jobs created,
• Capital investment,
• Land developed,
• Tax revenue.

Resources

1. Alberta regional dashboard: https://regionaldashboard.alberta.ca/region/customregion/12352/#/ 

2. Alberta Living Wage: https://mhchs.ca/2025-alberta-living-wage/   

3. Bill 7: https://docs.assembly.ab.ca/LADDAR_files/docs/bills/bill/legislature_30/session_1/20190521_bill-007.pdf  

4. Bill 21: https://docs.assembly.ab.ca/LADDAR_files/docs/bills/bill/legislature_29/session_2/20160308_bill-021.pdf 

Date Drafted: June 10, 2014
Date Amended: August 19, 2014
Date Updated: July 16, 2019
Date Reviewed: September 11, 2019
Date Approved: September 11, 2019
Date Reviewed: January 11, 2023
Date Renewed: May 2023
Date updated and approved: June 17, 2026