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Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. (rdnewsNOW file photo)
Red Deer Projects Noted

Alberta government highlights infrastructure work to boost the economy and supports jobs

Dec 22, 2022 | 12:52 PM

Alberta’s government says it has invested in planning, design and construction work on schools, health care and other public facilities in 2022.

Over the past year, provincial officials say the government has made significant progress on Alberta’s infrastructure needs. Each project that was continued or completed was said to be essential in helping strengthen and grow the economy by creating good-paying jobs and attracting further investment to the province. Officials say ongoing work will continue to support Albertans by delivering world-class projects that provide the best value for taxpayers.

“Throughout 2022, Infrastructure played a major role in proactively rebuilding our economy,” says Nathan Neudorf, Deputy Premier and Minister of Infrastructure. “Many infrastructure projects around the province provided thousands of construction and related jobs in local communities. We have worked on accelerating priority projects and cutting red tape in order to get shovels in the ground faster at sites across Alberta.”

“Moving forward into 2023,” he continues. “We will continue to work with the rest of government to ensure our province is focused on the priority infrastructure needs of Albertans.”

2022 highlights

  • The Alberta government says construction was completed on:
    • Nineteen school projects, creating more than 7,300 new and 3,800 modernized student spaces throughout the province. An additional 43 school projects are underway in the planning, design or construction phase.
    • Four health projects, including the $1.4-billion 186,000 square metre Calgary Cancer Centre. Last summer, at the peak of construction, more than 1,650 trades and construction workers were on site.
    • Red Deer recovery community facility. Another five facilities located in Lethbridge, Gunn, Calgary, Edmonton and the Blood Tribe First Nation are currently in the planning, design or construction phase.
  • Progress was made on:
    • Phase I of the new more than $400-million Gene Zwozdesky Centre at Norwood. Currently 350 construction workers are on site daily.
    • Redevelopment of the Misericordia Community Hospital Emergency Department. This $85-million project is supporting about 476 construction and related jobs and is anticipated to be complete in March 2023.
    • Planning for the expansion and redevelopment of the Red Deer Regional Hospital. Design work is anticipated to begin in early 2023 and more information will be shared soon.

In 2022, provincial officials say Alberta’s government continued to announce funding approvals through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) for projects in communities around Alberta. Through ICIP, Alberta says it has been allocated $3.66 billion by the federal government to invest in infrastructure projects that strengthen the economy and build resilient communities. To date, more than 200 projects and project bundles have been approved for ICIP funding in more than 30 Alberta constituencies, allocating about 99 per cent of the provided funding to date.

According to provincial officials, these federal-provincial-local cost-sharing ICIP projects mean the investment of about $9 billion worth of design and construction work into communities, creating thousands of good-paying jobs and directly stimulating the economy in local communities.