Today at the Big City Mayor’s Caucus meeting, I worked with my colleagues to address the significant impacts of the tariff war with the United States on Canada’s major cities. In a unified response, we outlined three key principles to guide our strategies and mitigate the economic challenges ahead:
- Protecting jobs and pay cheques is critical for the residents of our cities
- Increasing local production of goods is key to well-paying jobs and supply chain security
- The role of Canadian cities in driving the national economy must be recognized through a certain and predictable stream of infrastructure funding from the federal government
As mayor of Calgary, I have been committed to these three basic principles and have taken action to ensure that our city and its people can experience prosperity. One of the most significant opportunities for growth in jobs is the creation of an industrial and manufacturing hub in Calgary, one that ties into existing rail lines that serve the Canada-US-Mexico corridor, as well as enable greater east-to-west trade across Canada.
This important opportunity is coming to life as a project called Prairie Economic Gateway. This project will come to Council for decision on February 25, 2025. We have partnered with Rocky View County to create more jobs in Calgary and the surrounding region, as well as increasing our contributions to GDP as a port city that can move goods across Canada and North America.
If we wish to remain viable as a nation, it is critical to understand that cities are the economic engines of the country. Investments in municipal infrastructure are about jobs and the economy. Investments in water and wastewater systems, transit, roads and housing are investments in the productivity of our workforce.
As cities, we must be allowed to benefit from the economy that we drive. While it is clearly understood that cities are responsible for the delivery of core essential services, this is meant to be in partnership with other orders of government who should be funding infrastructure.
If Canada wants more industrial growth, more manufacturing, more jobs, and more competitive wages, it all starts with cities. We can deliver improved productivity and prosperity, but we cannot do it alone.
Today while advocating to the federal government, I summarized my perspective through the following question:
If cities are demonstrating that we have clear plans to strengthen the economy and trade corridors locally and internationally – essentially creating more local products and jobs for supply chain stability – can we count on the federal government to institute a certain and predictable funding stream for the infrastructure investments that will be needed?
Canada’s largest cities came together today to address important issues, from tariffs to core funding to ensuring we get our fair share. We need to do the work to protect jobs and pay cheques while ensuring supply chain stability.