Prairies Economic Development Canada, a federal agency dedicated to enhancing economic development across the Prairies, will operate a service location in Lethbridge.
according to the minister prairiescan, Dan Vandal’s office will be located inside the historic Downtown Post Office building at the corner of 7th St. and 4th Ave. S.
This is part of an expansion to seven new offices announced in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in 2021 for a more community-based approach.
“The whole idea is to get out there, talk to business, talk to nonprofits and make sure they understand and are aware of the supports that we can offer,” he said.
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Vandal visited the city Thursday to announce the location, which also included details of $11.2 million in funding for 18 projects in Lethbridge and the surrounding area.
It is estimated that this will generate around 230 jobs.
The money comes from four different funds: the Community Economic Development and Diversification (CEDD), the Regional Innovation Ecosystem Program (RIE), the Tourism Relief Program (TRF) and the Canada Community Revitalization Fund (CCRF).
For example, nearly $2 million is going toward an agricultural innovation center at Lethbridge College, which President and CEO Brad Donaldson said is one of the largest applied research grants the school has ever received.
“Having the center on campus to have access to applied research means that while students have access to leading technology, they are graduating with the knowledge and current leading practices,” Donaldson said.
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“It’s a great mix of helping the sector improve its capabilities to produce more products, new products, but also our graduates being able to see what that technology looks like.”
RIE funding is also supporting the Alberta Sugar Beet Growers’ Association, St. Mary’s River Irrigation District and the University of Lethbridge for two projects: an expertise center for health management and monitoring and an Indigenous youth integrated learning centre.
The recipient of the largest amount from TIR is the Lethbridge and District Exposition.
Mike Warkentin, CEO, said more than $3.5 million will help with network connectivity in the building, culinary services and audio-visual tools at the Agri-Food Hub & Trade Center, set to open later this year.
“It’s state-of-the-art, it’s digital wayfinding signage, digital art, digital screen,” Warkentin explained. “Everything about this building is connected.”
Tourism relief is also coming from the Alberta Birds of Prey Foundation in Coaldale, Little Gem Winery Ltd. in Noblesford and Tourism Lethbridge.
Several communities are receiving a boost from the CCRF, including Coaldale, Coalhurst, Picture Butte and Taber.
In each case, some sort of community improvement or beautification will be taking place.
The MLA for Cardston-Taber-Warner, Grant Hunter, said, “Every community needs to be vibrant, have people live there.”
“We raise our families there, and so we need to make sure they’re places families will enjoy, kids will enjoy, and that’s what the funding is going to do.”
Smaller projects will help groups like the Interfaith Food Bank expand their community garden, and the Galt Museum will create an outdoor audio-visual display.
The Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Separate School Division will build an outdoor basketball court in the school yard at St. Michael’s, while the Allied Arts Council of Lethbridge will increase shade over Rotary Square in downtown to increase capacity for summer programming.
Full breakdown of funding amounts and how it will be used for each project can be found on the website of the federal government.
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