Tonight Dianelle smith speaks directly to Albertans on key investments we are making to shape the future of our province.
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My fellow Alberta's , Alberta's economy is entering yet another period of major economic growth as all of us, wellknown provinces long enjoy the significant employment cost of living and income tax advantage over all other provinces, and most of us state that Alberta's advantages are acting as a significant cattle
As for the infusion of tens of billions of new investment dollars into the Alberta economy for new energy, agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing technology, and other large-scale projects and new business ventures, this means tens of thousands of new job openings in Alberta each month, which means thousands of new
people and their families moving here to help fill those new job positions.
Last year alone and all time records of over two hundred thousand people moved to Alberta as like adding to new red deer-sized cities, and just one year now, Alberta has always welcomed newcomers who possess or share values, and we will continue to do so, welcoming those who believe in working hard and protecting our freedoms, contributing to.
I would following the rule of law and who have a deep respect for other cultures and faiths different from their own have long been a strength of our provincial culture and history, equally as important, though Canada's previous immigration policies under leaders like prime minister Stephen Harper as an example focused on ensuring that immigration levels matched.
-Our nation's economic means and was commensurate with their ability to build enough houses and infrastructure to keep up with that growth; however, the Trudeau governments unrestrained open border policies, permitting well over a million newcomers each year, and Canada is causing significant challenges and is breaking this delicate balance.
These are directly high immigration levels, especially as it relates to those with temporary visas, exacerbating shortages and housing job opportunities for young people, as well as health education and other social services infrastructure in a manner that is a severe challenge for all provinces to keep up with, including our own.
Drives up the cost of living and strains public services for everyone knew Albert Burton's lifelong l Albertsons and everyone in between, so I am joining with other premier's across our country and calling on the current federal government to immediately reintroduce sensible, unrestrained immigration policies similar to levels we saw under Stephen Harper so that all problems
-says we have some time and resources to sustainably catch up with growth and to ensure those coming here are closely aligned with our country's economic needs and our core values.
And if the current federal government won't make these changes, the government will certainly support a new one that will in the meantime, people from all over Canada and around the world are still coming to our province by the tens of thousands each month, and we have to do what we can to keep up. Not only that, we have to do so while continuing to balance the provincial budget and delivering on our promised income tax cut in the next budget, which will help although burdens also.
The loss of income and space from the federal carbon tax and other inflation-driving policies from Ottawa
What are the most critical growth shortages we're experiencing in our K–12 education system? After several years of very modest student enrollment growth from around twenty-five through the Coven years, the Alberta student population is now surging in an unprecedented fashion; we estimate that it is increasing about thirty-three thousand students per year, which is the equivalent of roughly thirty-five new schools each year.
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And although budget twenty-four allocated a record two point one billion for new school construction and modernizations over the next three years to add about thirty-three thousand new spaces, this is simply not enough for the growth we are experiencing. Fortunately, our province enjoyed a provincial surplus this past year and price.
Specs for another modest surplus this year are looking good. That strong financial position gives us the flexibility we need to make a large one-time capital investment into our K–12 school system to manage this massive growth without having to go into deficit.
That is exactly what our government is going to do.
I am announcing today that our cabinet and Treasury Board have approved a new school construction accelerator program to help keep up with our provinces exploding student enrollment growth. Here is how the new program will work: we will be increasing our K–12 capital budget for new school spaces and modernizations to approximately eight point six billion dollars over the next three years. This will allow us to complete actual construction on approximately fifty thousand new student spaces over the next three years and to complete an open one hundred and fifty thousand new spaces over the next four years. This is quite literally the fastest and largest build or pro evans can manage given available construction work capacity and the time it takes to permit, prepare, and service available school sites. Although most of these school construction funds will be used to build new schools, we will need to implement a stopgap solution as we ramp up to full construction capacity.
That is why this new program will also a fun the purchase of new specialized modular classrooms to provide over twenty thousand new student spaces over the next four years. As our government is wholly committed to the principle of providing school choice for parents, we will be using a portion of this new funding to pilot a charter school accelerator program designed to add twelve thousand and five hundred new charter school student spaces over the next four years, and finally, we are also developing a school capital pilot program for nonprofit private schools to incentivize investment in the creation of thousands of new independent school student spaces at a reduced per student cost to taxpayers, there is no time to lose and getting our school construction accelerator program off the ground right now to accelerate school construction immediately.
Our cabinet is just approved for construction funding for new school projects, but we need all hands on deck to begin construction on many more schools before the end of this school year.
Often times the only thing holding back construction of a new school is a school board or municipality not having the site prepared or permitted for construction. That is why I'm asking all school boards to work with their respective municipalities and the ministry of education on an expedited basis to get priority school sites permitted to be serviced and otherwise prepared for immediate construction work. If you can prepare the site, the province will have the dollar set aside to get shovels in the ground. The same goes for a charter school. Bring us proposals and permits for new shovel-ready projects and renovations that will result in new student spaces, and we will work with you on making an appropriate level of funding available depending on the project and municipalities. We ask that you make this a top priority in your communities, especially in our high-growth areas such as Calgary, Edmonton, Rocky View, and other growing midsize cities. Cut the red tape permit and service the sites to our public Catholic charter and private schools. We must all and ourselves to this effort together.
Obviously, provincial growth will necessitate expansion and investment in other areas in addition to education, health, and transportation infrastructure, most especially, and that is also being worked on daily, but this school construction accelerator program is ready to commence now, so let's work together to build the schools.
-the spaces and higher the teachers we need so our children have what they need to flourish, grow, and build their lives with because providing the next generation of Albert and with unprecedented opportunity here at home is what the Alberta advantage is really all about. Our province has become a beacon of freedom, opportunity, quality of life, and prosperity for millions across our country and around the world, and with that incredible success comes very real growth challenges, but we are Albert, and there has never been nor will there ever be any challenge too large for us to overcome and conquer together. May our province forever remain strong and free. Thank you and good night.
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Watch:
https://youtu.be/uKTacBQBlXs?si=rcps9Sdw8BS1rWv7
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