Category: Business/Finance

  • Alberta’s Coal Communities Deserve Better

    Alberta’s Coal Communities Deserve Better

    By Wildrose Shadow Electricity and Renewables Minister Don MacIntyre Late last year, the NDP provincial government announced a plan to phase out all coal-fired electricity generation in Alberta by 2030. It is an abrupt change of policy in a province that has been supported by coal for more than 100 years. Coal currently accounts for…

  • Ikea To Use Mushroom-Based Packaging That Will Decompose In A Garden Within Weeks

    Ikea To Use Mushroom-Based Packaging That Will Decompose In A Garden Within Weeks

    The furniture retailer is looking at using biodegradable mycelium “fungi packaging” as part of its efforts to reduce waste and increase recycling. It’s no secret polystyrene is devastating to the environment. But, do you know how exactly that is so? According to a fact-sheet provided by Harvard, polystyrene – which is made from petroleum, a…

  • Banked sick days costing Government of Alberta millions

    Banked sick days costing Government of Alberta millions

    Bulk of the liability-$96 million- lies with Alberta Health Services (AHS)  Calgary – The practice of government employees “banking” sick days left the Alberta government with a $114 million liability in 2013-2014, according to the latest research from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). Banking means that if an employee doesn’t use all their allotted…

  • Significant investment in Alberta roads and bridges will create jobs, improve traffic flow and build a more resilient economy

    Significant investment in Alberta roads and bridges will create jobs, improve traffic flow and build a more resilient economy

    Major improvements to one of Alberta’s busiest travel corridors are part of more than $7 billion in investment in roads and bridges over five years under the Alberta Jobs Plan.   The $100 million investment in the Queen Elizabeth II Highway interchange with Gaetz Avenue in Red Deer will improve traffic flow and safety for…

  • Government Increases Funding to Fight Organized and Serious Crime

    Government Increases Funding to Fight Organized and Serious Crime

      Budget 2016 includes a $2.6 million increase for Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) to continue fighting crime across Alberta. The increase means ALERT will be able to maintain all its policing positions. ALERT will receive a total of $29.1 million in provincial funding. “This government knows the valuable work ALERT does to help…

  • Between Narrow and Wide-Body: Is There an Aircraft for the Niche Midsize Market?

    Between Narrow and Wide-Body: Is There an Aircraft for the Niche Midsize Market?

    In late January 2016, Delta Airlines reported having already started scheduling its upcoming Airbus A321s within the route network. The first liner out of 45 Airbus A321s ordered by Delta back in 2014 is set to be delivered later in February. In total, throughout 2015 carriers from all over the world placed orders for 294…

  • NDP Misleading Albertans on Full Cost of Carbon Tax: Wildrose

    NDP Misleading Albertans on Full Cost of Carbon Tax: Wildrose

    EDMONTON, AB: The NDP government is being dishonest with families and businesses about the full cost of the new carbon tax that will hit families with at least $1,000 in extra costs when fully implemented, the Wildrose Official Opposition said (Monday). The NDP rebate program is only designed to cover average increases on natural gas and…

  • Amber Ruddy: Alberta’s Small Business Tax Cut First Step on a Long To-Do List

    Amber Ruddy: Alberta’s Small Business Tax Cut First Step on a Long To-Do List

      For years Alberta’s governments have rested on their laurels and the province’s reputation as the best place in Canada to own and operate a business. Taking this status for granted left policy-makers complacent and the Alberta Advantage slowly languished. The tabling of the 2016-17 provincial budget, the Alberta Jobs Plan, placed a refreshing and renewed focus…

  • New Investor Tax Credit Supports Jobs and Economic Diversification

    New Investor Tax Credit Supports Jobs and Economic Diversification

    The new Alberta Investor Tax Credit (AITC) will encourage investment in small and medium sized businesses in non-traditional sectors, diversifying Alberta’s economy and creating new jobs. The AITC will offer a 30 per cent tax credit to investors who provide capital to Alberta companies in the information technology, clean technology, health technology, interactive digital media…

  • Alberta Business Owners Still Worrying About Labour: ATB poll

    Alberta Business Owners Still Worrying About Labour: ATB poll

      Calgary – Just as it was one year ago, Alberta small and mid-sized enterprise owners and operators (SMEs) are worried about labour and workforce issues. But the reasons they worry about employee-related issues has changed. That’s the key finding from the latest edition of the ATB Business Beat survey. In each survey, ATB asks SMEs…

  • Reviewing your GIC Investing

    Reviewing your GIC Investing

    By Kim Inglis Cash reserves held by Canadians have risen significantly since the global financial crisis.  Earlier this year, CIBC World Markets reported that Canadians currently hold $75 billion in cash. That’s almost 10 per cent of the total value of overall personal liquid assets in Canada.  CIBC also noted that, in the past year…

  • Credit Rating Downgraded due to Dangerous NDP Budget

    Credit Rating Downgraded due to Dangerous NDP Budget

    EDMONTON, AB: Credit rating agencies are already downgrading Alberta’s credit rating because of a dangerous NDP budget that will mean $58 billion in debt, higher interest payments, higher taxes and less money for hospitals, schools, teachers and nurses, the Wildrose Official Opposition said today. DBRS officially dissolved Alberta’s AAA credit rating after the NDP budget…

  • Province Not Paying Grants in Lieu of Taxes for Senior Housing in Black Diamond

    Province Not Paying Grants in Lieu of Taxes for Senior Housing in Black Diamond

    In 2015, the Province declined to pay the Grants in Lieu of Taxes on properties owned by the province. In the Town of Black Diamond, that resulted in a decrease of revenue that had to be passed on to the taxpayers. At the 2015 Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) Convention, the Town of Black Diamond…

  • Tax Cut to Support Alberta’s Small Businesses

    Tax Cut to Support Alberta’s Small Businesses

    Cutting the small business tax rate by one third reinforces Alberta businesses’ overall tax advantage compared to other provinces in Canada. As part of Alberta’s Climate Leadership Plan, government is reducing the small business tax rate from three per cent to two per cent, effective January 1, 2017. This measure will help Alberta small businesses…

  • Heartland Site Chosen for Future Propane Processing Facility

    Heartland Site Chosen for Future Propane Processing Facility

      Pembina and Petrochemical Industries Company Announce Plans for Propane Processing Project  Alberta’s Industrial Heartland – A new propane processing facility in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland could be operational by 2020. Alberta’s abundance of cost-advantaged propane and the opportunity to add value to this resource has attracted investment interest by two major corporations. Pembina Pipeline Corporation…