The economy of Lethbridge is central to the commercial, distribution, financial and industrial sectors of the southern Alberta economy (although Medicine Hat plays a significant role in southeastern Alberta). Lethbridge has a trading area population of 250,000 (including parts of British Columbia and Montana). The city was founded in 1885 as a result of local coal mining and later was buoyed by local farming and ranching. Toward the end of the twentieth century, the local economy started diversifying by focusing more on service-based industries.
In 2004, the municipal government organised Economic Development Lethbridge, a body responsible for the promotion and development of the city's commercial interests. Also in that year, the city joined in a partnership with 24 other local communities to create an economic development alliance called SouthGrow, representing a population of over 140,000.
In 2006, Economic Development Lethbridge partnered with SouthGrow Regional Initiative and Alberta SouthWest Regional Alliance to create the Southern Alberta Alternative Energy Partnership . This partnership is responsible for the development and attraction of alternative energy business, including wind power, solar power and biofuel.
Lethbridge has been the home of several national companies over the years. From its founding in 1935, Canadian Freightways was based in Lethbridge until moving its operations to Calgary in 1948; its call centre remains in Lethbridge. Taco Time Canada was based in the city from 1978–1995 before moving to Calgary. Minute Muffler, which began in 1969, is based out of Lethbridge. International shipping company H & R Transport has been based in the city since 1955. Braman Furniture, which also has locations in Manitoba and Ontario, has been headquartered in Lethbridge since 1991. Lethbridge Iron Works has been in the city since 1898.
Traditionally, Lethbridge's economy has been agriculture based; however, as the city has grown in recent years, its economy has become more diversified. As shown below, half of the city's industry—at least in 2001—was in the health, education, retail and hospitality sectors and the top five employers were government based.
According to the 2001 federal census, [1] Lethbridge industry sectors make up the following shares of the economy:
Lethbridge is the headquarters for Lethbridge County, and the City of Lethbridge is the largest municipal government south of Calgary. In addition, several provincial government agencies are located in the city.
The local health region, Chinook Health, is based in Lethbridge and oversees the operation of 12 hospitals, 15 community health centres, and 5 continuing care facilities in 14 communities. It also employs more people in Lethbridge than any other single organization, including 3,500 staff and 200 physicians.
Two post-secondary institutions — University of Lethbridge and Lethbridge College — are located here and provide a combined workforce of roughly 3,000 persons. In addition, the Kainai-based Red Crow Community College also has a campus in the city.
Lethbridge's regional prominence as a service provider has resulted in the establishment of the city as a retail and hospitality centre. Three shopping malls provide 175 retail spaces. Combined with three power centres, they accommodate nearly 30 major national and international retailers. [2] In addition, 16 major hotel/motel facilities exist in Lethbridge and provide a total of over 1,346 rooms, which increase by nearly 1,000 during the summer when the university and college open their dorms for visitor occupancy. The city also has 145 restaurants, 67 fast food outlets, and 63 bars and lounges. [3]
Although the manufacturing sector makes up only 10% of the city's total economy, it accounts for more than $1.2 billion in sales annually and has a total payroll of over $185 million for roughly 4,800 employees. The more than 100 firms occupy over 380,902 m² (4.1 million square feet) of floor and office space in six industrial and business parks. Areas of manufacturing include the following: [4]
In 2017, the largest employers in Lethbridge were as follows: [5]
Employer | Business Activity | Number of Staff |
---|---|---|
Alberta Health Services | Health Care & Social Assistance | 3,368 |
University of Lethbridge | Educational Services | 2,431 |
Lethbridge School District Number 51 | Educational Services | 1,500 |
City of Lethbridge | Public Administration | 1,462 |
Lethbridge College | Educational Services | 955 |
Alberta Government | Public Administration | 900 |
Holy Spirit Catholic Schools Division #4 | Educational Services | 779 |
Sunrise Poultry | Food Manufacturing | 625 |
Covenant Health | Health Care & Social Assistance | 603 |
Palliser Regional Schools | Educational Services | 519 |
Lethbridge Research Centre | Professional, Scientific & Technical Services | 443 |
Maple Leaf Foods Inc. - Lethbridge Pork | Food Manufacturing | 425 |
PepsiCo Foods Canada | Food Manufacturing | 400 |
McDonalds | Accommodation & Food Services | 400 |
Lethbridge Family Services | Health Care & Social Assistance | 375 |
Green Acres Foundation | Health Care & Social Assistance | 341 |
Sobeys | Retail | 338 |
Triple M Housing | Manufacturing | 325 |
Costco | Retail | 285 |
Save-On Foods | Retail | 267 |
Charlton & Hill | Manufacturing | 180 |
Kawneer | Manufacturing | 257 |
CP Rail | Transportation & Warehousing | 250 |
Real Canadian Superstore | Retail | 225 |
Southern Alberta Community Living Association | Health Care & Social Assistance | 222 |
McCains | Food Manufacturing | 217 |
Shoppers Drug Mart | Retail | 212 |
Davis Auto Group | Retail | 211 |
Canadian Tire | Retail | 189 |
Cavendish Farms | Food Manufacturing | 185 |
Western Tractor | Retail | 163 |
Richardson Oilseed | Food Manufacturing | 160 |
Casino Lethbridge | Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | 155 |
ATB Financial | Finance & Insurance | 153 |
H&R Transport | Transportation & Warehousing | 143 |
Meridian Manufacturing | Manufacturing | 142 |
Pratt & Whitney | Manufacturing | 141 |
SRI Homes | Manufacturing | 139 |
Southland Trailer Corp | Manufacturing | 205 |
Lethbridge Iron Works | Manufacturing | 130 |
Haul-All Equipment | Manufacturing | 130 |
Home Depot | Retail | 125 |
Browns Social House | Accommodation & Food Services | 124 |
MNP | Professional, Scientific & Technical Services | 124 |
RBC | Finance & Insurance | 120 |
KB Heating & Air Conditioning | Construction | 109 |
Varsteel | Manufacturing | 105 |
Lethbridge County | Public Administration | 104 |
Firestore Restaurant & Bar | Accommodation & Food Services | 104 |
Lethbridge serves as a hub for commercial activity in the region, which includes several satellite communities. It provides many services and amenities for the region. Much of the region's transport needs are provided by or concentrated in or near the city including convergence of four provincial highways, rail service and an airport. Other than the Red Crow Community College, which has a campus in Lethbridge, the only post-secondary education south of Calgary and west of Medicine Hat is provided by Lethbridge and consists of the University of Lethbridge and Lethbridge College.
The city provides direct services to surrounding communities. In 2004, the police services of Lethbridge and Coaldale combined to form the Lethbridge Regional Police Service, since renamed to the Lethbridge Police Service. [6] The city provides municipal water to the nearby towns of Coaldale and Coalhurst and the hamlets of Diamond City, Iron Springs, Shaughnessy and Turin. [7] The city's Public Safety Communications Centre provides fire and ambulance dispatching services for the Lethbridge County and police dispatch for the Lethbridge Police Service. [8]
Lethbridge provides jobs for up to 80,000 people who commute to the city from a radius of 100 km. [9] It provides numerous processing facilities for nearby agricultural producers and a dozen trucking firms for commercial shipping needs. [10]
Alberta is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories (NWT) to the north, and the U.S. state of Montana to the south. It is one of the only two landlocked provinces in Canada. The eastern part of the province is occupied by the Great Plains, while the western part borders the Rocky Mountains. The province has a predominantly continental climate but experiences quick temperature changes due to air aridity. Seasonal temperature swings are less pronounced in western Alberta due to occasional chinook winds.
The economy of Alberta is the sum of all economic activity in Alberta, Canada's fourth largest province by population. Alberta's GDP in 2018 was CDN$338.2 billion.
The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors of the three-sector theory,. The others are the secondary sector, and the primary sector.
Lethbridge is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian Rocky Mountains contribute to the city's warm summers, mild winters, and windy climate. Lethbridge lies southeast of Calgary on the Oldman River.
The economy of England is the largest economy of the four countries of the United Kingdom. England's economy is one of the largest and most dynamic in the world, with an average GDP per capita of £28,100. Her Majesty's Treasury, led by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and economic policy. Government involvement is also primarily exercised by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Regarded as a mixed market economy, it has adopted many free market principles, yet maintains an advanced social welfare infrastructure.
Pacific Western Transportation provides a variety of bus services in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Yukon. Depending on the location, it offers scheduled and chartered school busing, municipal transit and handi-bus services, airport passenger services and local and long distance coach charters.
The economy of Northern Ireland is the smallest of the four constituents of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland previously had a traditionally industrial economy, most notably in shipbuilding, rope manufacture and textiles, but most heavy industry has since been replaced by services.
The economy of Scotland had an estimated nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of $205 billion in 2020 including oil and gas extraction in Scottish waters. Since the Acts of Union 1707, Scotland's economy has been closely aligned with the economy of the rest of the United Kingdom (UK), and England has historically been its main trading partner. Scotland still conducts the majority of its trade within the UK: in 2017, Scotland's exports totalled £81.4 billion, of which £48.9 billion (60%) was with constituent nations of the UK, £14.9 billion with the rest of the European Union (EU), and £17.6 billion with other parts of the world.
Bow Valley College is a public, board-governed college operating as a comprehensive community institution under the Post-Secondary Learning Act of Alberta. The branch campuses are: Airdrie, Banff, Canmore, Cochrane, High River, Okoktoks, and Strathmore. Bow Valley College is a member of the Alberta Rural Development Network and Colleges and Institutes Canada.
Chinook Regional Hospital is the main hospital for the City of Lethbridge and Southern Alberta, and offers many of the health care services for Alberta Health Services. The hospital services a population of over 150,000 and is supported by the Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation.
The modern history of Lethbridge extends to the mid-19th century, when the area was developed from drift mines opened by Nicholas Sheran in 1874, and the North Western Coal and Navigation Company in 1882. Prior to the development of drift mines in the area, Lethbridge, Alberta was known as Coal Banks, and was part of the territory of the Blackfoot Confederacy. The Confederacy was made up of the Kainai Nation, the Northern Peigan, the Southern Peigan (Blackfeet), and the Siksika Nation.
There are many forms of transport in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, including highways and public transit. Lethbridge's airport is Lethbridge Airport (YQL), which is south of the city boundary. Lethbridge also has an intricate cycling-and-pedestrian pathway that meets several destinations in the city, including the urban park system in the Oldman River valley.
Reeves College is a private for-profit post-secondary facility with five campuses in Alberta, Canada. The college specializes in training students for business, art and design, legal and health care related careers in under two years. Programs are developed in direct consultation with the business and health care communities to satisfy industry demands for certain skill sets. The college continuously accepts applications for enrollment in the next session of each certified career program.
Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. In 2004, the region's population was approximately 272,017. The primary cities are Lethbridge and Medicine Hat. The region is known mostly for agricultural production, but other sectors, such as alternative energy, film production and tourism, are emerging.
The City and County of Swansea is an urban centre with a largely rural hinterland in Gower; the city has been described as the regional centre for South West Wales. Swansea's Travel to Work Area, not coterminous with the local authority, also contained the Swansea Valley in 1991; the new 2001-based version merges the Swansea, Neath & Port Talbot, and Llanelli areas into a new Swansea Bay Travel to Work Area. Formerly an industrial centre, most employment in the city is now in the service sector.
The metropolitan area surrounding and including Detroit, Michigan, is a ten-county area with a population of over 5.9 million, a workforce of 2.6 million, and about 347,000 businesses. Detroit's six-county Metropolitan Statistical Area has a population of about 4.3 million, a workforce of about 2.1 million, and a gross metropolitan product of $200.9 billion. Detroit's urban area has a population of 3.9 million. A 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopers study estimated that Detroit's urban area had a gross domestic product of $203 billion.
Calgary is a city in the western Canadian province of Alberta. With a population of 1,239,220, Calgary is the most-populous city in Alberta, the third most populous city in Canada after Toronto and Montreal, and the most populous city in Western Canada. The Calgary Metropolitan Area had a population of roughly 1,581,000 in the beginning of 2021, making it the second most-populous in western Canada, and the fourth-largest census metropolitan area (CMA) in Canada.
The Canadian Council on Africa (CCAfrica) was created on May 27, 2002 and is currently located in Ottawa, Ontario, with the goal of becoming Canada's leading organization committed to the economic development of a modern competitive Africa. CCAfrica was founded as a result of the Kananaskis G8 Summit, where the agenda included the development of a self-help plan for Africa. Formed a year after The New Partnership for African Development, CCAfrica shares NEPAD's goal of African renewal.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) is the single health authority for the Canadian province of Alberta.
The Palliser Region is an area in the southeast corner of the province of Alberta, Canada that has been delineated and is serviced by the Palliser Economic Partnership. It borders the Canadian province of Saskatchewan to the east, and the US state of Montana to the south. It covers an area of 43,504 km2 (16,797 sq mi) The total population of the area stood at 112,314 in 2009. The city of Medicine Hat, with a population of 61,097, is the area’s largest urban centre.