Thank you, Mayor Jefferies. Thank you for welcoming Premier Smith, myself, ministers, MLAs, and the media to hear the amazing things that are happening here in Red Deer.
Just before I start, I want to say a big shoutout to the women and men who are building this incredible Capstone development.
This is remarkable craftsmanship. It’s on budget, on time – it’s allowing couples to move in and move forward with their lives.
It’s a testament to what can be done with real purpose and energy. Full credit to the team here, and to Greg, for leading them.
It’s great to be back in Alberta. This is my 10th time in Alberta since that short period of time – which feels like a long period of time – since we formed government.
In part, because it’s always good to be home. But even more so, it reflects how much Premier Smith and I, and our governments, are doing together – because we have shared ambitions and a shared sense of purpose and urgency to get things done.
Now, I’m going to come back to that in a moment, but I want to acknowledge the wildfire season that we’re facing across Canada. It’s another challenging season.
On behalf of everyone here and all Canadians, I want to recognise the heroism of our firefighters, our emergency crews, and members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) when they are called into action.
They’re all working relentlessly across this country to battle wildfires and keep Canadians safe – including the Albertans who are battling flames here in this province, and who are helping their neighbours in British Columbia as we meet today.
In moments like these, Canadians show who we are. Who we are is a people who look after each other. Because we know that we’re stronger together.
It’s the same spirit of being stronger together that brought Canada’s First Ministers together on Prince Edward Island last week.
Together, we are focused on creating one Canadian economy, building our strength at home, and diversifying our trade partnerships abroad.
With respect to the first, on one Canadian economy, the federal government has implemented legislation to remove all federal barriers to internal trade, making it easier for Canadian workers, businesses, and products to move across this country.
It’s a legitimate question why there were any federal barriers to internal trade in Canada, but they’re gone now.
During our meeting last week, the premiers made new commitments.
Commitments to double our electricity grid – I’m sure Alberta will lead the way on that.
Commitments to have more direct-to-consumer alcohol sales across the country – Alberta already does lead the way on that.
And commitments to enable greater labour mobility so Canadians can work where they want.
By working together, we’re also advancing major infrastructure projects across Canada.
In less than a year, more than 25 nation-building initiatives have been submitted to the Major Projects Office, whose job it is to fast-track them. That represents $200 billion in investments to help Canada build bigger, move faster, and export more.
We’re also creating a trading network that’s the envy of the world. Canada already enjoys preferential access to 1.5 billion consumers in economies that represent two-thirds of global GDP.
We just concluded a new agreement with the United Arab Emirates that was negotiated in a record 47 days. By the end of this year, we intend to double our market access to three billion consumers by concluding new agreements with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), India, Thailand, and the Philippines.
The people of Red Deer know the importance of good trade relationships.
To give an example, in agriculture, Alberta produces almost a third of Canada’s canola. This region is at the heart of that production. That was top of mind a few months ago in January when we went to Beijing to secure a new deal with China that unlocked $3 billion in export opportunities for Canada’s canola farmers.
We are building our strength at home and diversifying our partnerships abroad. We are building Canada stronger than ever before.
We’re accelerating the implementation of major projects that will transform our economy and strengthening the local infrastructure that Canadians rely on every day.
Local communities are the heartbeat of Canada. To build Canada strong, we need to build Lethbridge strong. Medicine Hat strong. Fort McMurray strong. And Red Deer strong.
Strong communities start right here – they start with housing.
Of course, a home needs more than four walls and a roof or triple glazing and stone tops – it also needs clean drinking water and reliable sewage systems.
For example, once completed, the new wastewater pipeline in Airdrie, not far from here, will unlock the construction of 45,000 new homes.
We need that because Albertans and Canadians cannot afford the delays. Because there were decades when across the country, we didn’t build enough housing. And so the average Canadian household spends more than half their income on mortgage payments.
That’s only going to change if we move big and fast on community infrastructure.
That’s why, today, the Premier and I are proud to announce the new Canada-Alberta Housing Infrastructure Fund Agreement.
It means that over the next eight years, the Canadian government will invest more than $510 million through the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund to help communities across Alberta build and, when necessary, upgrade the essential drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, and solid waste infrastructure – all of which is needed to build more homes in this province, faster.
Consider Red Deer.
As this group knows, this city powers Central Alberta. It’s an anchor for many industries from oil and gas to agriculture. It’s a region that helps Alberta produce what the world wants. People come here from all over for education, for care, for services, and for opportunity.
Red Deer is growing – it’s tripled in size since I first came here for the Alberta Summer Games.
Today’s announcement is going to help deliver the infrastructure that Red Deer needs to support that growth.
On top of the $510 million federal investment, Alberta will contribute at least one-third of the eligible costs for projects led by municipal governments across this province.
That’s not all. The Premier and I are also working to complete a new Alberta-Canada agreement through Build Canada Homes to scale up affordable homebuilding. And through the Build Communities Strong Fund – a new fund that will build the broader infrastructure that growing communities across Alberta need: roads, public transit, community centres, hospitals, and clinics.
We know that it's not just about what we build. It's how we build. Building in solidarity with workers. This agreement alone will support more than 750 skilled trades jobs every year, including engineers, pipefitters, electricians, and plumbers.
We’ll build inclusively with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis. Today’s agreement will allocate at least $100 million to projects that will benefit rural and Indigenous communities.
We’ll build sustainably. This agreement requires Alberta to ensure, to the greatest extent possible, that projects are built using products or technologies that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
It’s innovative. It’s focused on very different technological solutions to reduce emissions, not prescribing certain approaches.
We will build Canadian, with Canadian steel, Canadian lumber, and Canadian workers.
The federal government is on a mission to supercharge affordable housing construction across Canada, led by a new agency, Build Canada Homes, which has already committed, through 16 partnerships, to 15,000 units, with more than 1,900 homes already under construction.
And that’s within its first few months of existence.
We eliminated the GST on new homes up to $1 million for first-time homebuyers – saving Canadians up to $50,000.
There is a lot more work to do, but the early signs are encouraging.
By the end of 2025, housing affordability in Canada had improved for two years straight – the longest streak ever recorded.
The percentage of income Canadians are spending on mortgage payments has fallen to its lowest level in nearly four years.
Asking rents are down to a near two-year low, and the asking rent-to-income ratio has fallen to its lowest level in more than six years.
Affordability is improving because we’re building.
So, overall, we have the right plan – from major projects to affordable housing – to build Canada strong. We’re on track.
But the scale of the transformation is so large that it means some of the biggest payoffs are going to take some time. That’s why we’re also focused on giving Canadians a boost today and a bridge to tomorrow.
That’s why we’ve cut taxes on income, on housing, on gas, and on investment.
It’s why we’ve introduced the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit. Up to $1,890 per family to help more than 1.3 million Albertans get ahead.
And that’s why we will continue with a relentless focus on affordability. Whether it’s competition in broadband or building affordable electricity.
In an increasingly divided and dangerous world, our unity is our greatest strength.
Governments are working together, in the spirit of cooperative federalism, to make this country stronger, fairer, and more prosperous.
That’s how the Government of Canada is working with the Government of Alberta to advance a new oil pipeline to the West Coast. This will unlock new markets and support lasting prosperity in Alberta and beyond.
The associated Pathways carbon capture initiative will make Alberta’s oil some of the lowest-carbon-intensity oil in the world, while creating an entirely new industry built, once again, on Albertan drive and ingenuity. Just as Albertans did with the oil sands when I was growing up here.
Combined, these projects will catalyse over $200 billion in direct investments and create over 175,000 new jobs across this country. That’s above and beyond my earlier reference to the major projects at the start.
More generally, the Premier and I are working to give investors and builders the greater certainty they need, through our new agreement that delivers One Project, One Review.
We rely on Alberta’s leadership there. Such cooperation is essential to building out Alberta’s electricity grid, its housing supply, and its critical infrastructure.
In Alberta and across Canada, we are strongest together – united, focused, and working toward the same goals: making better lives for all our citizens.
That’s the approach Canada’s new government has taken from the start, working with every province and territory to build our strength at home and to diversify those partnerships abroad.
As a consequence of that, even though we’ve got a lot more to do, we’re in a stronger position today than when the trade war began.
We are now creating jobs at twice the rate of the United States.
Canada’s non-U.S. exports are up sharply – they’re on track to double over the next decade.
Foreign direct investment in Canada is at its highest level in two decades, running at twice the rate of our nearest G7 competitor.
Canada now ranks as the most attractive country in the world for infrastructure investment.
And we are just getting started.
Building Red Deer Strong. Building Alberta Strong. Canada Strong for all.
Thank you very much.