Petrochemical facility bringing thousands of jobs to the Heartland

A final decision has been made to move forward with the petrochemical upgrading facility in Sturgeon County.

It is official, Canada Kuwait Petrochemical Corporation (CKPC), which includes Pembina Pipeline Corp., a Calgary based company has made a final investment decision to move ahead with the project. The announcement came on Monday, February 4.

This will bring more than 3,000 of jobs to the Heartland area at the peak of construction and provide more than 200 full-time operations and head officer jobs when it is complete.

“Led by thousands of Alberta workers and a Calgary-based company, this project is truly Made-in-Alberta. By adding value to resources owned by all Albertans, we’re putting economic diversification first and seizing opportunities to upgrade more resources right here in this province,” said Premier Rachel Notley.

Construction on the Sturgeon County facility should begin in 2019 and be fully operational by mid 2023.

As part of the Made-in-Alberta energy strategy, two projects, CKPC and Inter Pipeline were selected in round one of the program, announced in 2016, with a combined $8 million in private investment. The second round of support for petrochemical upgrading came in 2018 with the total support at $2.1 billion, which unlocks roughly $20 billion in private sector investment.

This could create more than 15,000 jobs across Alberta during the construction of multiple petrochemical facilities.

“This announcement is the culmination of many years of hard work with our partner to develop a project that is well-positioned to capitalize on Alberta’s abundant supply of propane and undertake value-added processing that benefits all Albertans. We want to thank the Government of Alberta for providing the incentive and vision that has helped make this investment a reality and we want to particularly thank the selection panel for their hard work and the consideration of Pembina’s application,” said Pembina Pipeline Corp. president and CEO, Mick Dilger.

Inter Pipeline’s $3.5 billion Petrochemical facility near Fort Saskatchewan is already under construction. This project will employee roughly 2,300 people during construction and provide 180 full time jobs when it is complete.