A Strathcona County project will be the first to receive a grant through the Alberta Petrochemical Incentive Program (APIP), and as similar projects continue to materialize, that means jobs for Morinville and St. Albert residents, says Morinville-St. Albert MLA Dale Nally.
On April 5, the provincial government announced it would be giving a $408-million grant to Inter Pipeline’s $3.9-billion Heartland Petrochemical Complex located in Strathcona County.
“This project has been an absolute lifeline for people in the industry – not just the workers, but small- and medium-sized business owners ... In fact, we've seen other projects in the petchem industry cancelled because of COVID, and this project has kept moving forward,” said Nally, who is also the associate minister for natural gas and electricity.
The Heartland Petrochemical Complex is currently under construction and is expected to employ 16,000 people directly and indirectly during its construction phase. The complex will permanently employ over 300 people after construction is completed.
“The economic stimulus of this project is an absolute benefit for all residents of Alberta, including Morinville and St. Albert. I believe they're going to continue to see more projects like this, not just for Alberta but for the Industrial Heartland, and it's going to mean even more jobs for the residents of Morinville and St. Albert,” said Nally.
The $408 million will be spread over a period of three years once the complex becomes operational in 2022. Grants from the APIP program are only given to companies after a project becomes operational
“The biggest risk of grants is that it puts the taxpayer at risk. That company receives the grant, and we don't see the jobs and the economic stimulus from it,” explained Nally. “So that's why we designed it with the grants being paid over three years after the company is operational.”
This, Nally stated, makes the program essentially self-funded.
“When you look at the jobs during peak construction, the income tax paid on those jobs, plus the royalty that is paid on the natural gas that is the feedstock, it is actually a self-funded program,” he said.
APIP was launched in October 2020 with the goal to attract global investment to Alberta as a part of Alberta’s Recovery Plan.
“This is the cost of entry into the petchem industry. If you want to attract these facilities, you have to have an incentive program, other jurisdictions like Louisiana and Texas are very competitive,” he said.
Nally sat down with people from the Industrial heartland to create the APIP program so it would out-compete other jurisdictions. He said his team did not disappoint.
“In total, we received six applications so far and there are other companies that have not applied but they're definitely kicking the tires, and they're looking at Alberta as a destination for their facilities,” he stated.
A press release said the Alberta Industrial Heartland Association estimates that there is an opportunity to grow the sector by more than $30 billion by 2030.
