An NDP government will bring billions of dollars in new investment and job creation in agriculture and agri-food to rural Alberta with a new strategy.
Raising crops and livestock is foundational to our economy and the food we grow here is exported all over the world. The demand for that food is going to increase by as much as 50 per cent in the next 25 years.
If we are prepared, the growth in global food demand represents billions of dollars’ worth of new jobs and new investment landing largely in rural Alberta. That is the opportunity we must seize — thousands of new jobs, billions in new investment in rural Alberta.
A broad consultation process identified major roadblocks that are holding back the development of value-add agricultural industries in Alberta, namely a lack of capacity in regulatory agencies that leaves projects waiting for years instead of months for an answer, a lack of access to capital both for industry to build facilities and for their municipal partners to build the infrastructure that serve them, a lack of robust rural broadband internet, and lastly, a lack of political leadership in government to champion the sector.
An Alberta NDP government will take eight specific actions:
- Create an Alberta Value-Add Incentive Program that provides financial incentives to build or expand an agricultural value-add facility in Alberta. The exact form of the incentive – loan guarantees, grants, or tax credits – would be steered by a task force.
- Create a Local Food Incentive program, which is geared towards smaller projects that serve local needs.
- Bring on more staff to speed up the processing of agricultural and agri-food proposals.
- Provide navigation services to guide entrepreneurs and innovators through the various approvals from all the relevant departments.
- Lower the cost of capital borrowing for municipalities, bringing it back down to the rate the province gets after the UCP jacked it up, and ensuring that provincial infrastructure priorities align with local plans.
- Make sure that AgTech is embedded in Alberta’s tech strategy.
- Connect rural Alberta to reliable, affordable, broadband Internet.
- Undo the damage caused by the UCP and strengthen post-secondary schools.