Your Weekly Tune Up
New energy pricing plans for utility customers start January 1
The City of Medicine Hat introduced new energy pricing plans for electricity and natural gas that take effect Jan. 1, 2023.
For residential, farm, and small and medium commercial customers, the new offerings for both electricity and natural gas include a Regulated Rate Offering (RRO), which is also referred to as the “default rate,” and two contract options: fixed and variable.
Detailed information can be located through the City's recent news release. We are still working to better understand how this impacts our business community, so if you have insights or feedback, please email us at industry@medicinehatchamber.com.
Squatters Rights and the Property Rights Statutes Amendment Act, 2022
The Property Rights Statutes Amendment Act, 2022, would abolish the ability of squatters to make a claim and give private landowners the same protections once only reserved for government. The proposed bill amends the Law of Property Act, the Land Titles Act and the Limitations Act. For more than a decade, advocates have been asking governments to abolish adverse possession. In 2021, Alberta’s government formed the Select Special Committee on Property Rights to conduct research and hear from Albertans on this topic. The committee tabled its final report in June 2022, recommending adverse possession be abolished. View this announcement online
Planning for east-central irrigation expansion
Irrigation infrastructure plays a transformative role in Alberta’s rural economy, creating new opportunities for producers by providing increased water storage, stability through periods of drought and long-term economic growth. The province, the Municipal District of Acadia, the Special Areas Board and the Canada Infrastructure Bank are investing about $7 million to continue the planning of a large-scale irrigation project to be located in east-central Alberta. Planning for the irrigation project will include preliminary engineering design, environmental and regulatory considerations and potential financing options. It is expected to take up to 24 months to complete and will inform the next steps in the irrigation project. Read more.
Supporting affordable housing projects
The new Affordable Housing Partnership Program is open for applications to help public, non-profit and private sectors work together to build and deliver affordable housing for seniors, families, individuals with low incomes, developmental disabilities, physical challenges, victims of violence, and others. Proposals for developments with an affordable, social housing or specialized housing component will be accepted until Jan. 11, 2023. Projects can include additions, renovations, conversions, redevelopments or new construction.
Housing providers can request provincial support of up to one-third of the total project cost in the form of a capital grant, land or building contribution, and/or transfer or long-term lease of a government-owned asset.
The proposals will be assessed based on the local community needs, ability to achieve outcomes for Albertans with low incomes and the value for taxpayer dollars.
Details on eligibility and the application process can be found online at alberta.ca/affordable-housing-partnership-program.aspx.
Making life more affordable for Albertans
The legislative changes included in the Inflation Relief Statutes Amendment Act, 2022 would enable the government to deliver cost-of-living supports and inflation relief to Albertans. If passed, the legislation and supporting regulations will enable the expansion of utility rebates, electricity price protection over the winter, personal income tax indexation retroactive to the 2022 tax year, full suspension of the provincial fuel tax, and delivery of upcoming targeted relief payments to families, seniors and vulnerable Albertans. Find out more.
Advocacy in Action
Medicine Hat Regional Airport (YXH) Air Service Development Survey
Medicine Hat Regional Airport (YXH) is an important link between the City, Canada and the world. YXH wants to ensure it is meeting the air transportation needs of the community and region. Your input to this important survey will help provide vital direction regarding the future air service development of the Airport. Rest assured that your responses will be kept confidential and the resulting report will only present information in the aggregate. If you have travelled in the past 12 months, we encourage you to complete this survey. The survey will take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete. If you do not have exact figures for some questions, a best estimate is better than leaving the question blank. A few questions are marked with an asterisk (*) and are mandatory to answer. To make corrections to any of your answers, please click on the ‘Previous’ button. DO NOT USE the ‘Back’ button on your internet browser. Please provide only one survey response for your organization. Responses are requested by December 23.
Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YXHAIR
Provincial Hiring Intentions Survey is open!
The Alberta Chambers of Commerce network has partnered with industry leaders and the Government of Alberta to identify hiring challenges employers may be facing.
- Is Alberta’s labour market well positioned to respond?
- Do businesses have access to the appropriate skills and talent?
- What challenges do employers face when hiring workers?
This survey will take 4 minutes to complete and closes Tuesday, December 20 at 5:00 pm. Take the survey here
Next Level Events
2023 State of the City
The annual State of the City event is where you can learn about the City's progress over the past year and get informed about what's in store for the community in 2023. Join us as we reflect on the accomplishments of our community during a tumultuous 2022, and be the first to hear what the City of Medicine Hat has in store for the coming year including exciting new projects, opportunities for development, and vision for the future. This event will be held at the Medicine Hat Lodge Janurary 24th 2023. Doors will open at 11:00am followed by lunch and the event from 12:00-1:30 pm. Tickets for this event are $64 + gst which includes your meal and registration. If you are a Chamber Member please remember to log in during registration to take advantage of your discount! Register Here
Upcoming Employment Standards live webinars
Webinars, including live Q&As, are scheduled for the following topics:
- Employment Standards in Alberta – Vacation Pay and General Holiday Pay: Thursday, December 8, 2022 at 1:30 p.m.
- Employment Standards in Alberta – Averaging Arrangements: Wednesday, January 11, 2023 at 1:30 p.m.
- Overview of Employment Standards in Alberta: Tuesday, January 24, 2023 at 1:30 p.m.
Click here for more information, or to register for one of the sessions
Enriching Your Business
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Fuelling the Business Community
Food and Beverage Expo
The Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce its major sponsorship for the 2023 Alberta Food & Beverage Expo. The highly anticipated Food & Beverage Expo is set to return on February 25th, 2023. Read the full press release.
The Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce is offering member businesses the opportunity to be promoted at the event and will be creating a Local First advertising book that will be handed out to attendees free of charge. These ad spots will allow any type of business to offer deals, coupons, or general promotions at the event. Interested members of the Chamber can reach out to communications@medicinehatchamber.com for information on pricing and details.
Our Home & Leisure Tradeshow is back! March 3rd, 4th, & 5th of 2023
Booth registration is officially open for our 2023 Home & Leisure Show! We will be running a FULL SHOW meaning we will be utilizing all 3 areas of the Cypress Centre as well as returning to our original date of the first weekend of March. Our tradeshow booths are always a high demand so please consider registering sooner rather than later to get the best spaces available as they fill quickly!
Chamber members receive -10% off their booth registration! Register Here. This year we have included amazing package add-ons for your booths like on site PSA Announcements, Social Media Packages, and even custom Drone videos of your booth to be used as promo for the weekend!
Looking to get involved in a different way? Perhaps sponsorship is the way to go!
In addition to exhibitors, we are looking for several sponsors. We have a lot of amazing sponsorship opportunities as it takes a big team to put on such a large-scale and well attended event. We would like to extend these offers out to our membership first, then to the public. By sponsoring you can receive amazing benefits such as, logo recognition on event marketing, at the event, ads in our show guides, complimentary show tickets, and the opportunity to hang your own banners in the show, and in our exclusive Exhibitor Lounge. View Sponsorship Opportunities!
Fill Up On Funding
Inventures 2023 Startup Pitch Event
Inventures Startup Pitch finalists will have the opportunity to pitch your product or service to our audience of venture capitalists, angel investors, entrepreneurs, early adopters, business educators and service providers. When you are not busy pitching, you will have demo space provided for you dispersed throughout the hallways of Inventures, where you will be able to network one-on-one with our audience members. Startup Pitch finalists will also receive free registration to all Inventures programming, access to professional coaching and on-site mentoring opportunities, and a chance to win $10,000 in funding. It's FREE to apply!
Other News
Spending less, connecting more: 2022 holiday retail outlook
Proposed amendments to Bill 1 Alberta Sovereignty with a United Canada Act
Other Events
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