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Highlights on why LETHBRIDGE
- Located in southern Alberta, the City of Lethbridge is approximately 80 km north of the Canada/United States border, 209 km south of Calgary, Alberta and 140 km west of the Alberta/British Columbia boundary.
- A major economic hub for southern Alberta, Lethbridge has a trading area of about 275,000 people with an annual retail sales volume close to $1 billion.
- Over 77,000 residents live in Lethbridge, with up to 26,000 of these people residing in the West side of Lethbridge.
- Although known as a coal town in the early 1900s, the economy has shifted to the agricultural, agri-food, biotechnology, industrial and retail sectors.
- Lethbridge consistently experiences lower unemployment rates as compared to provincial and national averages.
- A Job Inventory Survey conducted by Economic Development Lethbridge in March 2006 found that 71 employers identified more than 9,300 jobs expected in the next three years, 4,022 of which are required in 2006.
- Single-family home construction is on the rise: from 1982-1996 building starts of residential dwellings averaged 375 units annually, from 1998-2005 an average of 680 units were constructed annually and a continued average growth of 500 single dwellings and 200 multi-family units is suggested for the future.
- Apartment vacancy rates in the Lethbridge area are on the decline with rates dropping from 3.4% to 2.7 % in 2005. There are currently a total of 3,049 rental units.
Major Development Projects 2004/2005
| Monsanto* |
Canola Research Station |
2.5 |
| Park Place Mall |
Galaxy Cinemas |
2.6 |
| Holy Spirit Catholic School District |
Elementary School |
3.1 |
| Downtown Sector Expansion |
Retail and Office Space |
3.2 |
| University of Lethbridge |
Amenity Building |
4.1 |
| Home Depot |
Hardware Store |
4.4 |
| Sun Life Financial |
Customer Service Centre |
4.7 |
| City of Lethbridge |
Galt Museum Expansion |
5.1 |
| Ric's Grill |
Water Tower Conversion to Restaurant |
5.3 |
| Casino Lethbridge |
Casino |
6.9 |
| VersaCold |
Plan Expansion |
8.0 |
| Pioneer Hybrid Production* |
Canola Treatment and Warehousing |
8.0 |
| Continuum Health Care Group* |
114 Suite Retirement Residence |
10.0 |
| Real Canadian Superstore |
Department Store |
12.9 |
| Medican Developments |
Condominium Phases 2-4 |
18.0 |
| Sunrise Poultry |
Poultry Processing Facility |
20.0 |
| Chinook Business Park |
Business Park Development |
25.0 |
| Sherring Industrial Park |
Business Park Development |
25.0 |
| University of Lethbridge |
Regional Health and Wellness Centre |
31.0 |
*Projects have been publicly announced but construction has not commenced.
This inventory lists projects in Lethbridge that have recently been completed, are under construction, or are proposed to start construction. Not all projects are listed due to reasons of confidentiality and/or due to information not being available at the time of printing. Project data is obtained from public information sources, where possible, this data has been verified with the project proponent/developer, users of the Inventory may wish to confirm project data with the proponent/developer.
Source: Lethbridge Economic Development, 2006.
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