Tangible Action on Industrial Growth

Ward Anirniq is home to 16 industrial areas and so many wonderful local businesses. Ensuring that businesses thrive and the city supports a robust economy is one of my top priorities.

In this blog, I’m going to focus on how the city is focused on growing our business and industrial areas.  

What is the current challenge? 

The non-residential tax base proportionally pays more in taxes than the residential tax-base and is crucial because it helps provide services to everyone. The reality is that Edmonton’s non-residential tax base has been slowly declining since 2008. The decline over the past 15+ years has meant that Edmonton has fewer non-residential taxpayers to divide the tax-levy among, and therefore non-residential AND residential taxpayers are paying more. 

 

Taking Tangible Action

While Edmonton is proud to work with neighbouring communities and serve as a major hub for the region, we need to consider the impacts of economic development within our City. 

We’ve made some good steps already.  To Support Businesses, the City has been streamlining permitting, licensing, and more - making Edmonton now recognized nationally for this successful work. The proper infrastructure for industry is also essential. In our ward, there are several projects that are supporting industrial growth including interchange ramps at the intersection of 137 Ave / Anthony Henday and The Yellowhead Trail Freeway Conversion Program both support better goods movement in and out of the City. The City also has a robust Edmonton’s Economic Action Plan - a roadmap to building a vibrant, inclusive and sustainable economy through strategic investments in growing industries, funding opportunities, and more.

That being said, more still needs to be done. One way is to course-correct the non-residential tax base with the updated 2024 “Industrial Investment Action Plan” (IIAP). The IIAP outlines 9 tangible actions to achieve our goal of supporting business and growing Edmonton’s non-residential tax base.  This work in 2024 includes further streamlining approval processes for industrial investments, getting more industrial lands “shovel ready” for attracting investment, and tailored incentives for targeted sectors (eg; Advanced Manufacturing). These are just a few examples of how the City can take tangible action to attract and retain industrial investments.   

Are you a current or prospective business owner in Ward Anirniq? I’d love to hear ideas and thoughts on how we can support your business to thrive!