Alberta
Alberta 2023 budget plows ahead with twinning highway 11 from Sylvan Lake to Rocky Mountain House
Building Alberta’s economic corridor network
Budget 2023 includes strategic investments in Alberta’s highway network to build economic corridors, creating jobs, improving safety and supporting economic development.
Budget 2023 includes $8 billion for the Ministry of Transportation and Economic Corridors’ three-year capital plan, a $718-million increase compared with Budget 2022.
“Budget 2023 is focused on securing Alberta’s future by growing the economy. Our investments will enhance economic corridors that provide vital links to markets in and out of Alberta, helping our industries expand and succeed. These projects will increase the safety and efficiency of our provincial highway network, improving travel for Albertans and commercial carriers in key industries.”
The total capital investment is $2 billion for planning, design and construction of major highway and bridge projects. This work focuses on improving traffic flow and supporting investments in the province’s major trade corridors. Examples of projects across the province that are receiving funding include the Calgary and Edmonton ring roads, Highway 3 twinning, Highway 11 twinning, and replacing the Highway 2 and Highway 556 interchange at Balzac. This capital investment funding also includes $75.5 million over three years for 23 engineering or planning projects to address known future needs.
“Budget 2023 is investing in Alberta drivers through improvements to Highway 60 through Acheson. These improvements will help families save time on their commute while improving the efficient movement of goods across the province. Budget 2023 also responds to safety concerns from the community with a new intersection at Highway 16A and Range Road 20 in Parkland County. The new intersection will not only help area residents get to and from home safely but will also improve traffic flow along this major economic corridor.”
“Highway 63, north of Fort McMurray, is a critical link in northern Alberta for oversize and overweight vehicles transporting goods for the energy sector. Twinning this highway will improve efficiency and safety for both commercial drivers and commuters. It also enables oilsands workers to more easily commute from Fort McMurray, which we know provides a healthier lifestyle for them and their families as opposed to flying from out of province and living in a camp. The workers who decide to make this move will see the benefits of living in such an amazing province like Alberta.”
“Alberta’s Industrial Heartland Association is pleased that the 55-year-old Vinca Bridge replacement is included in the Government of Alberta’s 2023 budget. As a vital component of Alberta’s high-load corridor and a strategic connector in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland, the bridge services a thriving industrial zone with over $45 billion in total capital investment and billions more expected in the coming years. Replacing Vinca Bridge will shorten travel times, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance the competitiveness of both the Industrial Heartland and the manufacturing supply chain that contributes to its success.”
“We have been advocating hard for twinning and rail grade separation for Highway 60, and we are pleased to see this commitment from the Government of Alberta. Acheson is not only the beating, industrial heart of Parkland County, it is one of the largest industrial areas in Western Canada. Completing this work in a timely matter will improve access and movement along Highway 60 and allow for further development in Acheson, which will contribute to economic growth and job creation throughout Parkland County and the Edmonton region.”
“Representing hundreds of businesses in the Acheson area, the Acheson Business Association is thrilled with and would like to thank the Government of Alberta for this latest announcement for the twinning and rail grade separation for Highway 60. Highway 60 is an important connector of arterial highways, allowing products to move all directions through the metro Edmonton area, and the twinning and overpass will create a safer route for employees, travellers and business owners who are passing through this stretch of road every day. This will also enable the region to continue to attract more investors and businesses by reducing delays and eliminating congestion along this major trade corridor.”
Budget 2023 also includes $1.7 billion over three years for capital maintenance and renewal, which extends the life of the province’s existing road and bridge network and helps industry create and maintain jobs. These investments will allow the province to maintain existing roads and bridges to support safe and efficient travel to benefit Albertans and the economy.
Transportation and Economic Corridors will also be providing $3.9 billion for capital grants to municipalities over the next three years. This includes maintaining the funding commitment to Calgary and Edmonton for their LRT projects and continuing to provide funding for the Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program to help municipalities improve critical local transportation infrastructure. Ongoing investments in water and wastewater infrastructure programs will also ensure all Albertans have reliable access to clean drinking water and effective wastewater services.
Additionally, Budget 2023 will provide nearly $400 million to support building and repairing water management infrastructure that provides irrigation for the agriculture sector and flood mitigation for Alberta communities such as the Springbank Off-stream Reservoir.
Budget 2023 secures Alberta’s future by transforming the health-care system to meet people’s needs, supporting Albertans with the high cost of living, keeping our communities safe and driving the economy with more jobs, quality education and continued diversification.
“If Ottawa had it’s way Albertans would be left to freeze in the dark”
The ineffective federal net-zero electricity regulations will not reduce emissions or benefit Albertans but will increase costs and lead to supply shortages.
The risk of power outages during a hot summer or the depths of harsh winter cold snaps, are not unrealistic outcomes if these regulations are implemented. According to the Alberta Electric System Operator’s analysis, the regulations in question would make Alberta’s electricity system more than 100 times less reliable than the province’s supply adequacy standard. Albertans expect their electricity to remain affordable and reliable, but implementation of these regulations could increase costs by a staggering 35 per cent.
Canada’s constitution is clear. Provinces have exclusive jurisdiction over the development, conservation and management of sites and facilities in the province for the generation and production of electrical energy. That is why Alberta’s government is referring the constitutionality of the federal government’s recent net-zero electricity regulations to the Court of Appeal of Alberta.
“The federal government refused to work collaboratively or listen to Canadians while developing these regulations. The results are ineffective, unachievable and irresponsible, and place Albertans’ livelihoods – and more importantly, lives – at significant risk. Our government will not accept unconstitutional net-zero regulations that leave Albertans vulnerable to blackouts in the middle of summer and winter when they need electricity the most.”
“The introduction of the Clean Electricity Regulations in Alberta by the federal government is another example of dangerous federal overreach. These regulations will create unpredictable power outages in the months when Albertans need reliable energy the most. They will also cause power prices to soar in Alberta, which will hit our vulnerable the hardest.”
Finalized in December 2024, the federal electricity regulations impose strict carbon limits on fossil fuel power, in an attempt to force a net-zero grid, an unachievable target given current technology and infrastructure. The reliance on unproven technologies makes it almost impossible to operate natural gas plants without costly upgrades, threatening investment, grid reliability, and Alberta’s energy security.
“Ottawa’s electricity regulations will leave Albertans in the dark. They aren’t about reducing emissions – they are unconstitutional, ideological activist policies based on standards that can’t be met and technology that doesn’t exist. It will drive away investment and punish businesses, provinces and families for using natural gas for reliable, dispatchable power. We will not put families at risk from safety and affordability impacts – rationing power during the coldest days of the year – and we will continue to stand up for Albertans.”
“Albertans depend on electricity to provide for their families, power their businesses and pursue their dreams. The federal government’s Clean Electricity Regulations threaten both the affordability and reliability of our power grid, and we will not stand by as these regulations put the well-being of Albertans at risk.”
Related information
- Conference Board of Canada socio-economic Impacts of Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan – (April 2025)
- Alberta Electric System Operator’s position on Canadian Energy Regulations
Oh, Canada
We find it endlessly fascinating that most Canadians believe they live in a representative democracy, where aspiring candidates engage in authentic politicking to earn their place in office. So accustomed are Canada’s power brokers to getting their way, they rarely bother to cover their tracks. A careful reading of the notoriously pliant Canadian press makes anticipating future events in the country surprisingly straightforward.
Back in December, when Pierre Poilievre was given better than 90% odds of replacing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau—and Mark Carney was still just an uncharismatic banker few had heard of—we engaged in some not-so-speculative dot-connecting and correctly predicted Carney’s rise to the top spot. Our interest was driven by the notoriously rocky relationship between Ottawa and the Province of Alberta, home to one of the world’s largest hydrocarbon reserves, and how Carney’s rise might be a catalyst for resetting Canada’s energy trajectory. In a follow-up article titled “The Fix Is In,” we laid out a few more predictions:
“Here’s how the play is likely to unfold in the weeks and months ahead: Carney will be elected Prime Minister on April 28 by a comfortable margin; [Alberta Premier Danielle] Smith will trigger a constitutional crisis, providing cover for Carney to strike a grand bargain that finally resolves longstanding tensions between the provinces and Ottawa; and large infrastructure permitting reform will fall into place. Protests against these developments will be surprisingly muted, and those who do take to the streets will be largely ignored by the media. The entire effort will be wrapped in a thicket of patriotism, with Trump portrayed as a threat even greater than climate change itself. References to carbon emissions will slowly fade…
In parallel, we expect Trump and Carney to swiftly strike a favorable deal on tariffs, padding the latter’s bona fides just as his political capital will be most needed.”
The votes have barely been counted, yet the next moves are already unfolding…
“Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she’ll make it easier for citizens to initiate a referendum on the province’s future in Canada, after warning that a Liberal win in Monday’s election could spur a groundswell of support for Alberta separatism. Smith said on Tuesday that a newly tabled elections bill will give everyday Albertans a bigger say in the province’s affairs.
‘(We’re giving) Albertans more ways to be directly involved in democracy, and to have their say on issues that matter to them,’ Smith told reporters in Edmonton.
If passed, the new law would dramatically lower the number of signatures needed to put a citizen-proposed constitutional referendum question on the ballot, setting a new threshold of 10 per cent of general election turnout — or just over 175,000, based on Alberta’s last provincial election in 2023.”
“US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is looking to make a trade deal and will visit the White House within the next week. Trump said he congratulated Carney on his election victory when the Canadian leader called on Tuesday.
‘He called me up yesterday – he said let’s make a deal,’ Trump told reporters at the White House after a televised Cabinet meeting.”
Remember where you read it first.
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