Agri-processing – Why invest in Alberta

Competitive tax system

Alberta offers investors one of North America’s most competitive business tax systems. Alberta has:

• no provincial sales tax
• no provincial capital taxes
• no payroll taxes
• Alberta’s tax advantage is an estimate of the total additional provincial taxes individuals and businesses would pay if Alberta had the same tax system as other provinces.
• Alberta’s tax advantage is $19.7 billion in 2023-24.
• Albertans and Alberta businesses continue to pay the lowest overall taxes compared to other provinces

Figure 1. Alberta's tax advantage (2023-24) in comparison to other provincial tax systems (in billions)

Lowest Corporate Tax Rates in Canada

Alberta has the lowest corporate tax rate in Canada at 8%. Alberta has one of the lowest combined federal and provincial corporate tax rates in North America at 23%.

For more information on Alberta’s competitive tax system, visit investalberta.ca.

Figure 2. Comparison of corporate tax rates across North America

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Global connectivity

Canada is home to reliable and efficient transportation systems, including road, air, rail, and sea. This gives Canadian businesses effective participation in global supply chains. In addition, Alberta has excellent access to and from Pacific ports and acts as a distribution hub in Western Canada.

Alberta’s Logistics and Accessibility Advantages

Alberta offers competitive access to the Port of Prince Rupert and Port of Vancouver. The Port of Prince Rupert is North America’s closest port to key Asian markets by up to three days. This enables Alberta’s businesses to share in the benefits of the global supply chain.

Export Trade Agreements

Canada has 15 Free Trade Agreements that allow Alberta access to 51 foreign countries and 1.5 billion potential consumers.

These trade agreements include:

• Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement
• Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership
• Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA)

     For more information on Alberta’s global connectivity, visit investalberta.ca.

Large talent pool

Alberta boasts a diverse, young, highly-educated and growing workforce. Two of the top 10 universities in Canada are in Alberta – the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary. These 2, plus the numerous other excellent post-secondary institutions that call Alberta home, attract thousands of students from around the globe every year. As a result, Alberta has one of the most highly educated workforces among other jurisdictions in Canada, with half its population aged 25 to 64 having attained post-secondary education.

For more information on Alberta’s large talent pool, visit investalberta.ca

Research and Development

As of March 2023, Alberta has over 22 research and innovation facilities that cover areas such as plant based-food development and formulation, crops, cereals, agronomy, biomaterials, and food safety. Some of the research and innovation facilities are:

• Agrivalue Processing Business Incubator – a multi-tenant facility that provides the infrastructure and services to support the establishment and growth of new companies and new business ventures in Alberta. The Incubator meets federal food-regulation requirements, enabling resident companies to market their products nationally and internationally.
• Alberta Innovates – ignites technology through over $200 million of annual investment into 72 technology programs.
• Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute – Canada’s premier centre for bridging world-leading artificial intelligence for adoption in the industry.
• Bio Processing Innovation Centre – provides essential development and scale-up support for bio-industrial processors. This centre has a suite of facilities, lab – and pilot-scale production equipment, and expertise to help companies succeed.
• Food Processing Development Centre – offers expertise, knowledge, and facility space as companies strive to develop and introduce new value-added products to the market. InnoTech Alberta - a foremost bio-industrial technology facility with an agricultural research farmland-controlled environment centre.
• Olds College Smart Farm – commercial-scale applied research venue to accelerate agtech and agri-food development farming operations aimed at improving productivity and sustainability.
• Result Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR) – enables Alberta producers to determine and lead agriculture research. RDAR collaborates with scientists and researchers to tap into talents and fund ideas generated by innovators to push the boundaries of Alberta’s potent.

Strong agriculture industry

Alberta’s abundance of arable land, well-established primary production industry, in addition to a business-friendly environment and an exceptional workforce, has positioned its agriculture and agri-food sector as one of the strongest in North America. Alberta’s major exports include wheat, beef, canola seed, live cattle, crude canola oil, and pork. In 2021, Alberta produced 22.0 million metric tonnes (MT) of different crops and forage.

Figure 3. Alberta Top Crop Production – Million Tonnes (2021)

Alberta has an international reputation as a reliable source of agriculture and food products. Alberta’s native prairie grasslands provide excellent water sources, a favourable climate, and efficient production systems for livestock production. Alberta is the largest cattle-producing province in Canada – with approximately 4.4 million head of cattle as of January 1, 2022. Alberta also has 1.6 million hogs and 148,000 head of sheep and lambs.

Irrigation infrastructure

Alberta has the largest irrigated area in Canada with nearly 680,000 hectares of irrigated land. More than 80% of this area is located in 13 irrigation districts. Within Alberta's irrigation districts, there are more than 55 reservoirs and approximately 8,000 km of conveyance works, including canals and pipeline which carry nearly 2 billion m3 of water per year.

Contact

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