South East Alberta Chamber hosts air service meeting

By BRENDAN MILLER on July 17, 2026.

NEWS FILE PHOTO The Southeast Chamber of Commerce held a special advisory meeting with stakeholders and an external advisory organization as efforts are underway to find a replacement air passenger service after WestJet taxied out of the Hat for the final time last month leaving the region without air service.

bmiller@medicinehatnews.com

City officials and stakeholders in the region are actively seeking to find a replacement air passenger service following WestJet’s departure in late June.

Members of the Development and Infrastructure Committee heard on Thursday, the Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce held a development advisory meeting that was attended by several stakeholders who are seeking to find a replacement service.

Full details on the meeting have not been made public as of the time of publication, however Pat Bohan, managing director of development and infrastructure, told the committee the city has begun working with outside advocacy groups.

“We had an external advocacy organization join us and we are looking forward to working really closely with the local Chamber of commerce, supporting the initiative to regain air service in the community,” he said.

Last week the chamber issued a media release affirming its commitment to the city’s Strategic Plan after it was adopted by council, which includes economic growth and fiscal responsibility, and says it will continue to advocate to attract new investments that will accelerate development opportunities in energy, aerospace, defence and emerging industries.

WestJet’s final flight from Medicine Hat to Calgary took off on June 24 after it called for the discontinuation of service in southern Alberta as a cost-saving measure earlier this year.

City officials say they have submitted more than 20 expressions of interest to other passenger airline providers, however no replacement service has been found.

The Medicine Hat Regional Airport contributes approximately $16 million annually to the city’s GDP and supports 135 jobs.

Last year the regional airport experienced a 30 per cent year-over-year increase to 37,000 total air traffic movements, including private flights.

WestJet officially began service almost exactly eight years ago on June 22, 2018, and launched its Saab 340B aircraft between YYC and YXH.

Off-site levy bylaw delayed

Changes to a bylaw that is designed as a mechanism to cover some of the costs for infrastructure including roads, water and sewer for new developers is expected to be delayed by more than a year.

Administration say they require more time to update and review the current off-site levy bylaws methodology, framework and rates and expect to have a report available for council by Q3 of 2027, more than one year later than staff originally planned to deliver findings to council by Q2 of this year.

Administration was clear the city currently has a bylaw in effect, but are continuing to seek feedback from the community and stakeholders as changes to the bylaw are expected to be extensive.

“We’re calling this an infrastructure funding initiative because it’s one tool that could possibly be used, or in a combination with other ways to pay for the offset infrastructure,” said John Popoff, director of planning and development services.

Committee members heard an advisory committee has been created to help guide the changes to the bylaw aimed at attracting future development to the city and say they will be meeting again in October before seeking another round of feedback from residents and businesses.

“We’ve done a very deep dive with our very highly competent finance staff to determine where that money is and we’ve gotten that clarity so at this point, we started updating senior leadership to make sure everyone’s on the same page,” said Popoff, who spoke about progress made by city staff on examining the city’s previous inflationary increases.

“There had been a lot of questions, perhaps some confusion, in terms of how that accounting was done over the past six months.”

Administration also say delays to the bylaw changes come from ensuring enough consultation takes place as it is an obligation under the Municipal Government Act.

“But we first want to make these touch bases first, we had indicated we would be thorough, we would work with all stakeholders and it’s part of that process,” added Popoff.

The off-site levy bylaw was a key issue heading into the 2025 municipal election as several candidates offered opinions on how off-site levies could be leveraged to attract more development.