Alberta has always been a province where people roll up their sleeves and turn ambition into action. That spirit is showing up in progress on a new pipeline, new aircraft manufacturing, and new defence innovation. Our government is helping move a northwest coast pipeline to Asian markets closer to reality, welcoming the largest private aviation investment in provincial history, and backing Alberta companies and researchers so they can excel in Canada’s growing defence sector.
For years, our government has been working on getting more of Alberta’s energy to global markets. Now, that goal is moving to a clear timeline. Alberta and Canada have finalized key parts of the Alberta-Canada energy agreement – creating a pathway for design and construction of a new northwest coast oil pipeline to begin as early as September 2027. The proposed Indigenous co-owned pipeline will move more than one million barrels of oil per day to Asian markets, helping Alberta reach new customers and reduce dependence on a single export market. This project will unlock value from the resources Alberta already produces responsibly, and will make sure that well-paying careers, investment, and long-term benefits are growing here at home.
In Wheatland County, De Havilland Field, a 1,500-acre aircraft manufacturing hub, is now under construction and is expected to support up to 3,000 permanent jobs once fully built. The site will include aircraft assembly, parts manufacturing, distribution, maintenance, repair, and overhaul operations, creating a major new centre for aviation and aerospace in Alberta. This site in our constituency will also be home to the production of aircraft like the DHC-515 water bomber, the same made-in-Canada aircraft Alberta is purchasing to strengthen wildfire response. This investment shows that Alberta’s aerospace sector is growing and gaining traction.
Our province is also stepping into a larger role in Canada’s defence future. Through a $21-million investment in the DEFENDS initiative, our government is helping connect Alberta companies, universities, researchers, and the Canadian Armed Forces so new technologies can be tested, certified, and brought to market faster. Many Alberta businesses already create advanced products for energy, construction, environmental monitoring, aerospace, and manufacturing. DEFENDS helps open the door for those same technologies to serve defence needs, creating new markets and keeping more intellectual property, jobs, and economic value in Alberta. With the University of Alberta anchoring the initiative and partners across the province involved, this is a Team Alberta approach to building capability, strengthening sovereignty, and creating opportunity in one of the world’s fastest-growing sectors.
Alberta has never been a province satisfied with watching from the sidelines, and these recent actions reflect that, opening new routes to global markets, bringing aircraft manufacturing back to Canadian soil, and giving Alberta innovators a stronger path into defence and aerospace opportunities. Our government continues to focus on turning Alberta’s strengths into long-term prosperity, so the next chapter of our economy is built here, by Albertans, for the future.
As always, please free to reach out to my office with your feedback and questions at Chestermere.Strathmore@assembly.ab.ca.
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