There are nearly 200 industrial construction projects worth about $96 billion currently underway or nearing construction in the Edmonton Region.
Much of the boom is attributed to a nearly $9-billion expansion of Dow‘s 2,500-acre Fort Saskatchewan site, where the company is building a net-zero ethylene cracker and derivatives complex. Dow will need up to 7,000 workers for 18 months starting in the summer of 2025.
Photo: Dow
Dow’s presence in the Edmonton Region has led to several other large-scale projects. Linde will supply Dow with hydrogen through a new $2-billion plant, Cando Rail & Terminals is doubling the size of its Sturgeon Terminal with Dow as an anchor tenant, and ATCO is building a $2-billion, 200-kilometre natural gas pipeline along the Yellowhead Highway to support the Dow project.
Photo: Linde
Most recently, Louisiana-based Bartlett Group has chosen Strathcona County for its Canadian headquarters thanks to the economic snowball effect that Dow’s project is creating. The new Bartlett facility will create 25 temporary construction jobs and 100 permanent jobs, and is expected to be completed in late 2024.
Photo credit: Strathcona County on Linkedin
“(Bartlett is) heavily rooted in a lot of the advanced manufacturing and energy projects that are happening in this area, which I think made this area very attractive for them, with all the announcements that have happened in that petrochemical and hydrocarbon space,” Sean McRitchie, director of economic development and tourism for Strathcona County, said.
With the boom in construction projects, the need for skilled tradespeople has skyrocketed. The Building Trades of Alberta, an organization representing trade unions, is creating a strategy to train a new generation of apprentices as the industrial construction boom sweeps across the Edmonton Region. The strategy focuses on recruiting and training workers from underrepresented groups, including women, Indigenous people, young people, and new skilled immigrants.
It’s a chance for Alberta’s skilled workforce to shine, Terry Parker, BTA’s executive director said . “If any province has the expertise, it is our province. We have been doing this for 60 years and our members are trained to the highest standard and are sought after across the world.”
