Business Information - "The Alberta Advantage"

Why Alberta? Maybe the news has traveled already. The Alberta economy is booming so you may be approached by company executives who want to invest in projects or open business offices in the province. You may also help workers looking for new career challenges.

This brief article highlights some free online sources that provide information on Alberta's economy in general, corporate and personal taxes, corporate registration, employment and the cost of living. A few "Alberta peculiarities" are pointed out.

These sources along with many other electronic and print resources are included in the Alberta Business and Economics Research Guide. The guide was developed primarily to assist students in the School of Business with their course-related assignments; however, it also provides a great starting place to find some answers to some of your Alberta research questions.

Alberta's Economy & Business Climate

As with other provinces, the major source of economic and business statistics and information is the provincial government. The Government of Alberta hosts a web site that provides quick facts about the province and its government.
http://www.gov.ab.ca/

Alberta government departments were reconfigured following the last provincial elections. Alberta no longer has a Dept. of Economic Development. Economic, labour, demographic, industry and taxation information are now collected and dispersed primarily by 2 departments: Alberta Finance and Alberta Employment, Immigration and Industry. Both departments have very useful web sites.
http://www.finance.gov.ab.ca/ http://employment.alberta.ca/cps/rde/xchg/hre/hs.xsl/563.html

Alberta Finance produces several economic publications available on the Economic Information page available under Alberta Statistics. The Current Economic Indicators by Province enables interprovincial comparisons and is updated weekly. The weekly Economic Review provides statistics and economic commentary and the Economic Outlook is published annually with the provincial budget. Monthly labour force statistics and current demographic information are also available.
http://www.finance.gov.ab.ca/aboutalberta/economic_information.html

Three departments: Alberta Employment, Immigration and Industry; Tourism, Parks, Recreation and Culture; and, International, Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Relations produce the Alberta Canada - a Wealth of Opportunity web site. The web site provides information on the economy and immigration as well as industry sectors, investing in or locating a business in Alberta, exports and tourism.
http://www.alberta-canada.com/

Economic indicators can be found in The Monthly Economic Review. The review includes interprovincial comparisons and regional data within the province. A link is available from the "Statistics and Publications" page of the Alberta Canada - A Wealth of Opportunity website.
http://www.alberta-canada.com/statpub/economicHighlights/economicReviews.cfm

Of particular note is the Statistics and Publications page which has a wealth of information about doing business in the province including information on major construction projects, a list of top employers and provincial association directories.
http://www.alberta-canada.com/statpub/

The ATB Financial Business Sentiments Index is a quarterly survey of Alberta business confidence produced by the University of Alberta, School of Business, Western Centre for Economic Research and ATB Financial. It is based on responses to telephone surveys of business firms in key driving sectors of the Alberta economy. Survey questions cover change in firm's total employment numbers and business activity expectations.
http://www.bus.ualberta.ca/wcer/absentiments.htm

Alberta's Taxes

Alberta Finance posts information personal and corporate taxation. Alberta's "Tax Advantage" is enthusiastically promoted on multiple websites. Interprovincial comparisons of personal income tax are available. Also some provincial statistics and the "Heritage Fund" which is unique to Alberta are covered. http://www.finance.gov.ab.ca/business/tax_rebates/index.html
http://www.alberta-Canada.com/economy/positiveBusinessClimate/lowPersonalTaxes.cfm

Alberta's Labour Force & Working in Alberta

Some Alberta Labour Force Statistics are conveniently available from the Economics Information page.
http://www.finance.gov.ab.ca/aboutalberta/economic_information.html

Here is the rationale for readers intrigued by the combination of immigration with employment and industry. Alberta businesses are having a hard time finding employees and are increasing looking at foreign workers to fill their vacant positions. Alberta's unemployment rate is the lowest in the country at 3.6% with British Columbia's at 3.9%, Saskatchewan's at 3.8% and the country as a whole at 6.1% reported by Monthly Labour Force Statistics (2007 March). Immigration information focuses on businesses attracting foreign workers to the province. http://employment.alberta.ca/cps/rde/xchg/hre/hs.xsl/2599.html

The Alberta Employment, Immigration and Industry website provides the most comprehensive collection of Labour Market Information. It covers industry, labour profiles, occupational outlook, productivity, regional labour markets, wages and salaries, and of course, skill shortages.
http://employment.alberta.ca/cps/rde/xchg/hre/hs.xsl/64.html

Employment laws and labour relations information can be found on the Investing and Locating page of the Alberta Canada - A Wealth of Opportunity website. While employment standards and labour relations information is directed toward businesses, individuals can easily understand what the employment environment is like in Alberta. The standards cover the minimum wage, hours of work, general holidays and maternity/parental leaves among other issues. Occupational health and safety information is also readily available.
http://www.alberta-canada.com/investLocate/index.cfm

Alberta's Companies and Industries

The Alberta Venture magazine permits access to only selected articles on its website, however, numerous rankings can be found including the "Most Respected Corporations" and "Fastest Growing Companies" among other lists.
http://www.albertaventure.com/

Find businesses by industry or type by using websites such as Canadian Company Capabilities or Fraser's to identify businesses operating in Alberta.
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_coinf/ccc/engdoc/homepage.html
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_coinf/ccc/engdoc/cc_OtherDirectories.html

YellowPages.ca and Yellow.ca allow searching by category and location to find basic contact information.
http://www.yellowpages.ca/
http://yellow.ca/index.jsp

Alberta's Cost of Living

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate can be found in the previously mentioned Economic Outlook. The City of Edmonton surveys property tax and utility charges for average single-family houses in major Canadian cities and municipalities in the Edmonton region. Results are published in the Residential Property Tax and Utility Charges Survey.
http://www.edmonton.ca/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_284_220_0_43/http%3B/CMS
Server/COEWeb/infrastructure+planning+and+building/economic+information/Residential+Proper
ty+Tax+and+Utility+Charges+Survey.htm

Alberta Bound?

Service Alberta is an excellent orientation point for information about “Living in Alberta”. Everything from changing address to Alberta health care insurance forms is provided. http://www.services.gov.ab.ca/cps/rde/xchg/sa/hs.xsl/index.html

The Business in Alberta section includes critical corporate licencing and registration information and links to forms.
http://www.services.gov.ab.ca/cps/rde/xchg/sa/hs.xsl/indexb.html?topnav=business
* Note that in Alberta the majority of corporate registry services are performed by authorized service providers. These are private sector firms that have been authorized by the government to offer some or most corporate registry services. An authorized service provider can be from a registry agent office, law firm, accounting firm, or search house.

The Business Link, a member of the Canada Business Network, is a non-profit organization supported by the federal and provincial governments. It provides extensive information for small business such as start-up, financing, marketing, legal, taxation and import/export information.
http://www.cbsc.org/alberta/
http://www.cbsc.org/alberta/main.cfm

AlbertaFirst.Com is a provincial, municipal and industry partnership created to provide valuable information to businesses and individuals interested in starting a business or locating to Alberta. The web site provides Alberta community profiles, an online Alberta business directory, and information on municipal properties and businesses for sale.
http://www.albertafirst.com

The Alberta Municipalities web page is particularly useful for information on the history of specific municipalities and also provides local contact information, statistics, finance and tax rates. http://www.albertafirst.com/about/municipalities.asp

Maureen Beristain & Kathy West are Business Librarians at the Winspear Business Reference Library, University of Alberta Libraries.

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