Alberta should turn its attention to the south
By Lethbridge Herald on June 21, 2025.
Blaine Hyggen
Lethbridge Mayor
For decades now, Alberta’s economic development has been focused on the north, with the Fort McMurray and Cold Lake oilsands and the Duvernay and Montney formations driving public and private investment.
It worked out very well for our province. But as the global economic and political order shifts, it is time for everyone, from investors to politicians, to expand our focus. It’s time to look at southern Alberta.
Shifting needs aren’t caused by decisions south of the border alone. In recent years, we saw a global pandemic and floods that undermined our supply chains. For Lethbridge, this highlighted the critical role we play as a transportation hub.
Sitting at the centre of multiple international highways and rail lines, Lethbridge is globally connected and motivated to ensure Alberta has greater flexibility and accessibility for exports. Our role will protect our supply chains, ensure redundancy, and guarantee that whatever Alberta makes, the world can buy.
Recent history has also shown us that we need to make more goods closer to home, not just to export but for ourselves, and our region is leading the way. The Lethbridge-Medicine Hat Economic Region’s manufacturing industry is one of the largest in the province. Over 68 per cent of our exports are manufactured goods. Almost 12 per cent of our workforce works in manufacturing, a much higher percentage than either Edmonton (six per cent) or Calgary (five per cent).
The region’s manufacturing industry is driven by our farmers. Southern Alberta’s agrifood products are in demand globally, and Lethbridge is at the very centre of Canada’s Premier Food Corridor. Here, 4,470 farms and over 11,000 businesses grow or add value to over 65 specialty crops that produce more than $7 billion in GDP.
Like a seed destined to flourish, that number holds the promise of growth – but it must be nourished through water. With targeted investments in critical infrastructure like water and wastewater, we can grow our regional economy by an additional $5.9 billion by 2040, according to an economic impact analysis conducted by Ernst & Young. Provincially, the impact would be even greater, with downstream economic activities generating a total of $8.9 billion in new GDP.
Like Alberta’s oil and gas industry, we can only take advantage of our natural abundance if we have people trained to do the work and are prepared to dream big and take risks. This is where Alberta shines!
Thankfully, we are home to two leading post-secondary institutions that can equip Albertans with the necessary knowledge and skills. The University of Lethbridge and Lethbridge Polytechnic drive economic growth and attract thousands of students to southern Alberta annually.
These institutions work collaboratively to position Lethbridge for success through responsive and impactful teaching focused on workforce needs and research and community outreach activities. Together, they’ve made our city a powerful hub for innovation, talent, and opportunity.
Lethbridge sits at a crossroads of commerce, innovation, and community. Our natural advantages—like abundant farmland, hard-working and educated people, and access to global markets to our west, east, and south—have catalyzed investments.
These investments embrace growth in agriculture, agrifood, logistics, post-secondary research and education, and support services essential to our economy, like aerospace and rail maintenance.
Success doesn’t happen by accident. We’ve been focused on cooperation, strategic investments, and leveraging the brilliant ideas of the great people who call our region home.
What we need now is the same investment and attention that Edmonton and Ottawa gave Northern Alberta as the oilsands developed.
For Southern Alberta to truly thrive and stand shoulder to shoulder with the nation’s leading economic regions, the provincial government must champion our cause in Ottawa—not just for pipelines, but with equal urgency for water and transportation infrastructure. The opportunity is real, the potential is vast—but without decisive action, it will remain just that: potential.
17-16
Crikey! An opinion piece from our Mayor, in the paper, and it’s not about hockey or sports.
That’s good to see. If it was addressed to the Alberta power brokers it could perhaps reach an ear.