Alberta has seen some significant growth during the past year, and Alberta Municipalities has taken a minute to look back at some of the successes, and challenges they’ve faced throughout 2024.
AB Munis Board Member and Grande Prairie City Councillor Dylan Bressey says the organization has been responsible for some serious changes in municipalities across the province, including the Province resuming low-interest loans from municipalities that are taking on big projects.
“It’s been an absolute privilege getting to serve not just my own community, but also councils and cities, towns and villages across the province and what was challenging here for municipalities,” he says. “We saw some real positive movement forward on a few files.”
Growth and its many byproducts continue to be top of mind for the councillor and AB Munis, and Bressey says his organization is excited to continue its advocacy to the Provincial Government on behalf of dozens of communities throughout the province.
“It was a challenging year as municipalities continue to struggle with decreased infrastructure funding, even while costs are escalating,” he says. “We are tremendously excited that more and more people are seeing Alberta as a place where they can call home and where they can invest in their businesses.”
“That being said, we keep on asking the province- what is the plan to support this growth?”
Bressey says with new growth, comes new pressure on municipal infrastructure, but he assures residents that AB Munis is “ready to be partners” in addressing Alberta’s growth.
“We really do need a plan for the province of- how are we going to make sure there’s enough infrastructure to properly welcome new businesses and new people into our province,” he says. “We’ve got amazing advocacy staff who work with councils across the province to gather great data about what’s going on and propose tangible solutions about where we see there’s some gaps, and how those gaps could be filled.”
The councillor maintains that AB Munis is “constantly” in discussions with provincial officials surrounding how municipalities can foster growth in the local economy.
“There need to be good jobs, there need to be sustainable communities that have not just the recreation and culture that residents need, but also they have wastewater, they have potable water, they have police, they have fire, all these things that we need to live and do business are what municipalities are delivering so that we can create and sustain Alberta jobs,” he says.
Ultimately, Bressey says AB Munis will continue their advocacy in the new year, challenging the Province of Alberta to remain thoughtful of how their decisions can impact communities across the province.
