Rocky View County welcomes major company to its growing warehouse hub

Another major company is increasing its footprint in Western Canada with a step into Alberta.

Keurig Dr. Pepper Canada’s multi-million expansion is through a partnership a XTL Group’s new 475,000 square foot warehouse in Balzac, north of Calgary.

“We’re close to major retailers, distributions centers. So, from a food and beverage perspective from a consumer packaging perspective, the product is easier to distribute,” said Luc Francouer in a tour of the facility to CTV News on Wednesday. “The population growth is giving the opportunity for organizations to look at their distribution network and expand to be closer to market.”

Rocky View County has long been an attractive distribution hub but momentum has picked up in recent years.

According to the provincial government, there have been 25 new distribution centers in Rocky View County since 2021 which makes up nine million square feet of warehousing space.

Rona opened a massive 1.2 million square foot warehouse in 2021, representing a $120 million investment.

Meanwhile, Walmart and Amazon each added a third facility in the area in 2023, just to name a few.

“The overall economic impact is very, very substantial. For example, in the 2023 tax year we added around $1.3 billion in assessment value just in that year alone of new industrial development,” said Aaron Latimer, the manager of economic development with Rocky View County.

Warehousing capital? Calgary's getting closer

The county and Calgary region is certainly not the warehousing capital of Canada yet but it’s getting closer.

It has the space, surrounds Calgary -- Alberta’s largest population centre -- has access to highways, rail, and air transportation, and offers lower land values and competitive taxes.

Rocky View County not only has no business tax but does not require a business license to operate and taxes for these type of developments are generally lower than in Calgary.

“Particularly post-COVID, companies are trying to save money,” explains Dr. Bob Schulz with the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary. “A niche in Western Canada makes sense because the Vancouver real estate is too expensive both for the companies and the employees. Calgary is better for the company and the employees and it’s a lot better than Toronto too.”

It’s not just Rocky View seeing a boost in industrial development, however, but the whole region.

For example, in May Amazon opened a 2.8 million square foot robotics distribution centre in Calgary which is the company’s largest by volume facility in the country.

“What’s unique about Calgary and the Alberta region is the fact we have very competitive cost of doing business. We have the lowest corporate income tax in the country, no provincial sales tax, no machine and equipment tax. That’s really supportive as a place to come in and do your business,” said Megan Zimmerman with Calgary Economic Development. “The investment into the ecosystem demonstrates the quality of companies and technology being developed here.”

Keurig Dr Pepper’s expansion will create 50 new jobs and according to the Minister of Jobs, Economy, and Trade, Matt Jones, it reflects Alberta’s reputation as a hub for business growth and innovation.

“It doesn’t hurt that Alberta has had record population growth so I think these businesses want to go where the people want to go,” he said. “How are we maintaining that advantage? We’re investing in education and training so we continue to have the youngest most educated and most productive workforce. We’re also a pro-business government and we’ve made of strides in increasing regulatory speed while decreasing regulatory burden.”

According to Statistics Canada, Calgary’s transportation and warehousing sector is the second fasted growing sector in the city over the last year, behind only food services and accommodation.

As of June 2024, the sector employed more than 64, 5000 people which is a 12 per cent increase, or 7,000 job increase, from last June.