Realizing Alberta's Full Potential

Construction workers walking up stairs of an oil and gas plant

Mission

Provide leadership, advocacy and trusted information to ensure Alberta is the number one jurisdiction to invest in.

Vision

A prosperous Alberta realizing full value from our energy resources.

Our Members

Providing Value For Albertans

Diversification provides immense energy transition opportunities. Global demand for petrochemical products is expected to grow, and with the right policy framework, Alberta can capitalize on this growth.

$22B

of proposed projects

21K

total direct jobs

$31.6B

in tax revenues

$100.5B

boost to Alberta’s GDP

Read the Full Report

Challenges for Alberta

Alberta is competing with a global market to attract investment for petrochemical projects.

According to the Chemical Industry Association of Canada, more than $200B was invested in North American petrochemical projects from 2014 to 2019, but Canada’s share was less than 5%. Recent investment friendly policies in the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act will further hinder Alberta’s ability to attract investment into the value-added sector and Alberta’s ability to diversify our economy.

The over $22B of future investments are entirely within the Alberta government's control. Alberta has a natural competitive advantage through its access to low-cost feedstock and carbon sequestration geology, as well as the jurisdiction to move petrochemical projects forward as they do not require federal approval and are not on the C-69 project list.

However, new projects will not be built in Alberta without an emphasis on decarbonization and adequate workforce development. Solutions to these policy challenges are possible through the collaboration of government, and industry, post-secondary, and labour. Incremental improvements to the Alberta Petrochemical Incentive Program (APIP) will also increase Alberta's ability to continue to attract capital.

With the right policy environment that addresses decarbonization and workforce development, Alberta is well-positioned to be North America’s backbone for energy security and supply chain resiliency for hydrogen, liquid natural gas (LNG), carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS), plastics, and more.

Our Priorities

We are dedicated to realizing the full potential of Alberta’s abundant natural resources by expanding and diversifying Alberta’s resource manufacturing industries. Through our unique partnership of industry, post-secondary, and labour, we work with government to develop policies that attract investment while protecting the taxpayer and diversifying our economy to provide well-paying jobs to Albertans.

Decarbonization

New petrochemical projects will not be built without an emphasis on the energy transition. Our members support the expansion of the Alberta Petrochemical Incentive Program (APIP) to include CCUS projects. In a highly competitive global market, an expansion of APIP to include CCUS projects would help ensure Alberta is the number one jurisdiction for our members to invest in.

Workforce development

Should the over $22 billion of our projects be built, Alberta needs skilled labour available for the 20,250 of construction and 658 of operational employment opportunities. While industry, post-secondary, and labour groups have a role to play in developing our workforce, we need the government to take additional actions to enhance overall labour availability and training.

Expanding Equipment Eligibility

Previously eligible critical equipment for our projects, such as rail terminals, were not carried over to the current Alberta Petrochemicals Incentive Program (APIP) from its predecessor Petrochemical Diversification Program. The restoration and expansion of equipment eligibility would continue to improve Alberta's ability to attract new projects.

Advancing Investment Support Timelines

Currently, projects are eligible to receive investment support over a period of three years following one year of full operations. As projects are already cash-positive for the government under the Alberta Petrochemicals Incentive Program (APIP) before projects begin their operations, our members would like to see investment supports begin once projects become cash-positive for the Alberta government over a condensed funding period of two years. This advancing of investment supports would boost Alberta's competitive advantage while continuing to protect the taxpayer.