More than $39 million to help Alberta communities attract investments, create jobs and transition to a sustainable green economy

July 3, 2024 – Wabamun, Alberta – PrairiesCan

Canada and the world are shifting away from coal-fired power, to protect our climate, and create a more sustainable and robust economy. The Government of Canada is investing in communities, workers and people impacted by the coal transition, and we are making sure that they are at the centre of our work.

Today, the Honourable Dan Vandal, Minister for PrairiesCan, announced $39,432,507 for 10 projects – through the Canada Coal Transition Initiative (CCTI) and Canada Coal Transition Initiative-Infrastructure Fund (CCTI-IF) – to support sustainable economic growth in coal affected communities across Alberta. This funding, through PrairiesCan, is supporting the building of new infrastructure to attract new investments, help business grow, and create strong and resilient communities with more well-paying jobs.

Examples of projects receiving support include:

• Parkland County is receiving $17,500,000 to upgrade the Wabamun wastewater facility, develop a water feature and redevelop the existing public waterfront park in the Hamlet of Wabamun.
• Paul First Nation is receiving $850,000 for a transition, training, and employment centre for entrepreneurship training and business support.
• The Town of Castor is receiving $891,000 to reconstruct and convert a campground area into a year-round multipurpose venue.
• The Town of Coronation is receiving $891,000 to renovate and retrofit two buildings into business incubator and accelerator centres that offer business supports and programming to foster commercial growth.
• The Village of Forestburg is receiving $313,000 to develop land and underground utilities for the proposed Jeanne Lougheed Historic Park and to the Flagstaff County border to support a proposed joint industrial park.

Projects receiving funding will support more than 680 jobs and help Alberta communities take advantage of economic opportunities reflective of the increasingly diversified Prairie economy.

In line with the principles of the Government of Canada’s Framework to Build a Green Prairie Economy, these investments are about working together on common interests, to make a sustainable and prosperous net-zero economy achievable by enhancing capacity and skills development in these communities and providing support to grow their businesses.