Alberta confident and spending $5 billion a year on infrastructure

In its Throne Speech delivered March 3, the Alberta Government announced it would continue to invest in cities and pursue the Building Alberta Canada Plan.

The speech, delivered by the Hon. Donald S. Ethell, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta. outlined the broad goals and directions for the province for the second session of the 28th legislature.

He said Alberta is “the most open, unabashedly confident and forward-looking province in Canada,” and that it is “asserting itself proudly on the world stage.”

Among the achievements he named were construction projects, such as the promise to build 50 new schools and modernize 70 more over the next three years.

The speech also cited the agreement last fall with the Tsuu T’ina Nation to complete Calgary’s ring road, and the recent completion of Edmonton’s ring road three years ahead of schedule. The province is also fast-tracking the twinning of Highway 63 from Grassland to Fort McMurray by 2016.

He said Alberta will renew its long-term funding to the Municipal Sustainability Initiative. And in the wake of the 2013 floods, it is committing to building community flood mitigation projects and will undertake new flood hazard mapping, starting in southern Alberta watersheds.

The province spent over $5 billion on infrastructure projects this year, and it will stay on track, investing $15 billion over the next three years. A 50-year transportation plan is in the works. During January and February the government held public discussions in local communities for the “big-picture vision,” and in phase two during April and May it will invite the public to participate in an online survey related to a draft Transportation Strategy.

The province’s latest Inventory of Major Projects summarizes projects of more than $5 million and in every sector and phase from proposed to completed. Oilsands projects dwarfed the list, with 68 projects worth a total of $126,584.6 Million.

There were 171 infrastructure projects at a total value of $13,534.5 million, 111 institutional projects at a value of $6,626 million, and 70 commercial/retail projects at a value of $8,096.1 million. Residential projects numbered 99, at a value of $2,569 million.

For the full text of the Throne Speech, click here.