Alberta’s construction innovators, get $3M injection from Feds

Federal government continue to play key role in Alberta’s construction restart

Alberta’s construction and engineering is a central part of its economy, supporting good jobs across the province. As the province recovers from the impact of COVID-19, innovation is essential for it to come back strong and support growth across Alberta.

Today, Mélanie Joly Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, and Minister responsible for Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD), announced federal funding of $3 million to help Alberta’s construction and engineering industry innovate and grow.

“Our shift towards green technologies is both the right thing to do for our environment and the smart thing to do for our economy. This investment from Western Economic Diversification Canada will support good, well-paying jobs in communities across Alberta while helping the province’s construction industry stay on the cutting edge. It will help many small and medium-sized businesses across the province innovate and grow while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and I’m excited to see the difference it will make.”– Mélanie Joly, MP for Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Minister of Economic Development

This investment from Western Economic Diversification Canada will help small and medium-sized businesses adopt new products and technologies that improve the energy efficiency of buildings and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

This funding will be directed towards an Alberta-based not-for-profit organization—the Smart Sustainable Resilient Infrastructure Association (SSRIA)—to establish a network of test buildings where firms can collaborate and test their products under different conditions. WD funding is complemented by an investment of more than $2.8 million from Alberta Innovates, in-kind support from industry and $165,000 from the SSRIA, bringing the total project funding to over $6.3 million.

Products and services expected to be commercialized through this initiative include:

• materials for walls, roofs and foundations;
• mechanical and electrical system improvements;
• sensors and lighting products that reduce energy consumption; and
• software for storing and analyzing building performance on energy efficiency and greenhouse gases.

In addition to benefiting from new products and services to meet their needs, Alberta’s broader architecture, engineering, and construction industry will also reap the benefits of this important initiative.

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