The day concluded with a keynote from Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute CEO Cam Linke, who echoed Raybould and other speakers. "The challenges we have on both sides of the border around the large land mass, being big economic drivers of the country in the critical mineral areas and energy areas — we're hitting the same problems," he said. "We have this ability to work together to really build an incredible unified West." The barriers, though, are many. Speakers touched on the need for harmonized regulation and incentives for trade, especially within energy. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump escalated his opposition to renewal of the Canada-United States-Mexico trade agreement and threatened 50% tariffs on some Canadian exports, though not oil.
Indeed, U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra kicked off the summit on July 20 by saying that Alberta and Saskatchewan make the "most compelling" case for meeting U.S. oil needs. He said he believes a Canada-U.S. trade deal will eventually be reached and suggested the two countries could partner on critical minerals. The same day, Premier Danielle Smith spoke to domestic energy project developments with export potential, saying she projects the new West Coast pipeline to be shovel-ready by September 2027. Also on the pipeline front, Montana Renewables CEO Bruce Fleming outlined his hopes for a pipeline between his state and Calgary for sustainable aviation fuel during a panel with the Edmonton International Airport's Marion Chivot-Legris and others.
Rachel Curran, the head of public policy for Meta, told Sturgeon County council that the company will provide yearly updates on water and energy used by its proposed $13-billion data centre. Despite opposition, demand is creating a need for such a facility, she said. "As a society, we're having to build larger and larger data centres to handle all of this traffic," Curran said. "That is now attracting attention from the communities in which data centres are located." Meanwhile, Amnesty International has expressed its opposition to the project, Canada's National Observer noted that the data centre will draw power from Alberta's natural-gas-dominated grid for years, and law professor Robert Diab argued in The Globe and Mail that data centre proponents may have vastly overestimated the capacity needed for future AI.
The provincial regulator approved construction of the $2.9-billion Yellowhead Pipeline, proposed by Canadian Utilities Ltd., an ATCO subsidiary. The 235-kilometre natural gas pipeline will run from the Peers area in west-central Alberta to the Fort Saskatchewan region and is expected to create about 2,000 direct construction jobs.
Startups and SMBs
Zero Point Cryogenics is expanding into the United States, opening its first international innovation and service hub at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park in Chicago. The Edmonton company, one of just six in the world manufacturing this type of cryogenic system, must create 21 jobs at the hub by 2030. Zero Point intends to build more hubs around the world, but plans to keep the majority of its manufacturing and development in Canada.
Zyra Premium Vodka founder Courtney Remekie has used his tech-marketing knowledge to get his vodka brand into such venues as Fan Park and the Edmonton Convention Centre within a year of launching. "The biggest thing is if you can find the decision-maker," he told Taproot.
Greg Sweeney's HOM Street Food is running the menu at Bibo Strathcona this summer. Sweeney has run pop-ups, built a line of retails products, and offered meal kits since leaving his job as machinist to pursue Southeast Asian cooking in 2018. His partnership with Bibo lasts until around the end of September, at which point he'll figure out his next iteration."The whole idea behind this is that the cost to start a restaurant, as everybody knows, is astronomical these days," he told Taproot. "If they do move on, I'll go back to doing some meal kits, pop-ups, and then try to grow back into my own space."
Sea Change Brewing Co. has opened the Skelly Club in downtown Calgary. The location is a taproom, brewery, and food service hybrid, offering Flat Boy Burgers alongside its beers and Shiddy's products. This is the fourth location from the Sea Change/Shiddy's owners and the first outside the Edmonton region.
AltaML has received an investment of about $6.1 million from Toronto-based VerticalScope, deepening an existing relationship in which the applied AI company has deployed agentic workflows and automation across VerticalScope's platform. The investment takes the form of an 18-month secured promissory note, with a five-year warrant giving VerticalScope the option to acquire preferred shares.
Edmonton-born DealCloser has launched Cloe, an AI assistant embedded directly in its legal transaction management platform, designed to automate administrative tasks such as extracting signature pages and assigning owners so lawyers can focus on strategy.
Real estate
Gather Co. has acquired the historic Paramount Theatre and adjacent Jasper Avenue properties — together known as the Paramount Block — through a court-ordered sale for less than $9.1 million. The 1952-vintage theatre at 10233 Jasper Avenue NW had been in receivership since September after ONE Properties defaulted on its mortgage. Gather Co. also owns the Mercer Warehouse, Stovel Block, and Jasper 104.
The former Chinatown location of the Italian Bakery at 10644 97 Street NW is on the auction block with a minimum opening bid of $990,000, down from a previous listing of $2.3 million. The mixed-use building, which replaced the original after a 2016 arson fire, includes retail, office, and residential space.
The City of Edmonton is investigating a Grovenor infill property that was being used as an Airbnb rental, Postmedia reported, despite receiving Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation financing for affordable rental housing. Mayor Andrew Knack said properties built under affordable housing agreements must comply with funding rules, while critics called for stronger oversight of short-term rentals.
NiGiNan Housing Ventures has broken ground on Ambrose Place II, a 60-unit Indigenous-led supportive housing development near the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital that will provide permanent housing for people with complex medical and social needs. The culturally appropriate, trauma-informed facility will have 24/7 access to nurses and other care professionals.
The federal government announced $30 million through the Affordable Housing Fund to build 70 townhomes on a surplus school site at 909 Ogilvie Boulevard NW in west Edmonton. The City of Edmonton provided the land plus $4.75 million, and HomeEd contributed $6.3 million.
June data from the Realtors Association of Edmonton shows Edmonton home sales rose 7.5% month-over-month, though they remain down 4.1% from a year earlier. The average price across all property types climbed 4.0% year over year to $483,600.
Edmonton's apartment vacancy rate was among the highest in Canada at 5.8% in the second quarter of this year, according to the Canadian National Multifamily Report.
More headlines
Amazon is opening its first Canadian disaster relief hub in Edmonton, with full operations to begin in October 2026. One of 12 worldwide and one of two specializing in wildfire relief, the hub will stock up to 180,000 items to donate to organizations such as the Canadian Red Cross in response to wildfires and other disasters.
Alberta's productivity challenge is a skills-alignment problem, not just a labour shortage, wrote Agatha Ojimelukwe, dean of the School of Energy and Natural Resources at NAIT. "Employers cannot consistently find workers with the right skills in the places where the work needs to happen," she said, estimating that the mismatch has cost Canada $49 billion in foregone economic output over two decades.
Jobber's 2026 Blue Collar Report found that attitudes are shifting towards careers in the trades, with 52% of parents of Gen Alpha believing skilled trades offer a better return on investment than a college degree, compared to 18% who favour a degree.
Severe weather across the Edmonton area since May has caused about $230 million in insured damage, with claims still being tallied, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada. The losses are adding pressure to Alberta's auto insurance rate mechanism ahead of the Care-First no-fault insurance system taking effect in January 2027.
Taproot is taking a summer break! The Business Roundup will return on Aug. 14.
This roundup was sponsored by CPA Alberta.
CPA Alberta is the professional organization for more than 30,000 Chartered Professional Accountants (CPAs) across the province. CPAs are known for the experience, expertise, and business acumen they bring to organizations everywhere. CPAs are leaders, entrepreneurs, business advisors, personal financial advisors, management consultants, financial analysts, and so much more!
