Question Period Note: The Prairies Economic Development Canada Accomplishments

The Prairies Economic Development Canada Accomplishments

• PrairiesCan uses local expertise and strategic investments to deliver federal initiatives that support business, innovation, and community economic development unique to Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
• In 2023-24 PrairiesCan greatly surpassed its goals of numbers of jobs created, value of exports, revenue growth rate of firms supported by PrairiesCan programs, and number of PrairiesCan-assisted entities that are majority-led by underrepresented groups.
• By helping small- and medium-sized enterprises with tools to commercialize and adopt new technologies, 131 technologies were brought to market and $148.5 million in export value was achieved – a subset of $667.8 million in export growth from the region through PrairiesCan supported entities.
• PrairiesCan’s investments resulted in over 35,000 SMEs assisted.
• The department is also advancing local economies through eleven (11) service locations across the Prairies.

PrairiesCan Investments
• Since 2015, over 6,100 businesses, and organizations have benefited from more than $2.1B in PrairiesCan investments. The result contributed to creating and maintaining over 185,000 jobs.
• One specific program: Regional Growth through Innovation (REGI) has created over 36,000 jobs, assisted over 40,000 SMEs, and has driven $4.5B in business revenue growth and almost $2B in exports across the Prairies since 2019.

Manitoba Examples
• Recent examples of projects funded by PrairiesCan in Manitoba include:
o NFI Group Inc. received $10M to construct zero-emission bus, coach demonstration units and to modernize its manufacturing facilities. This will result in increased production capacity to serve the growing demand for zero-emission motorcoaches, while creating 88 new jobs.
o The C.L. Malach Company Ltd. manufactures sheet metal components for Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) agriculture and business manufacturers, as well as for other makers of specialty equipment and parts.
o With the $4.9M in federal investments received, they are improving the capability of their production line. This will generate [REDACTED] in incremental revenue growth, [REDACTED] of which is export revenue, while creating [REDACTED] new jobs.

Saskatchewan Examples
• Recent examples of projects funded by PrairiesCan in Saskatchewan include:
oThe Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) received $9.96M to establish a rare earth metal smelting facility. This will generate 25 jobs and commercialize two technologies to market. In addition, SRC received $9M to commercialize a bastnaesite (“bast-nah-site”) processing unit.
o Indigenous-owned Pro Metal Industries Ltd. (Pro Metal) received $3.5M to purchase and install heavy and precision equipment at its manufacturing facility. This investment will help to develop capacity to deliver on aerospace defense procurement contracts.

Alberta Examples
• Example of projects funded by PrairiesCan in Alberta include:
o Meticulon Consulting is a not-for-profit organization that supports employment solutions for people who are neurodiverse or living with disabilities. Meticulon received $2M to assist over 150 Alberta companies in sectors such as technology and healthcare to train and hire 200 neurodiverse youth.
o Alberta Innovates received $10M to launch a production and testing facility to support the commercialization of new technologies that help produce low-cost carbon fibre using bitumen.