“The United Conservatives believe that government has an important role in fostering innovation, particularly through ensuring Albertans receive proper training. A United Conservative government will streamline programs and use a smarter approach to innovation to modernize our economy and get Albertans back to work.”
A United Conservative Government Will Foster Innovation By:
- Creating the best business environment in Canada and the most attractive place to expand in North America.
- Simplifying the way start-ups and growth companies secure public – and private – funding. We will reduce duplication by coordinating across the many investment agencies in the province. Investments of public money will have a clear “return on investment” criteria.
- Apply technology and process improvements to the government in order to lead by example. The government will actively engage in pilot projects to test global “best practices” that can help deliver public services faster, more securely, and at lower cost.
- Make Alberta a destination for global entrepreneurs through the creation of streams within the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program.
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Under the NDP, Alberta has received a D- grade from the Conference Board of Canada’s most recent innovation report card in research and development outcomes. In comparing Alberta to other provinces and 15 other countries, Alberta also received an overall grade of D in early stage R&D support, patents, and venture capital investment.
Alberta gets these failing grades while the NDP continues to announce hundreds of millions of dollars in deficit-financed spending grants to companies they barely understand without a clear definition of success.
Meanwhile, our province is not preparing a workforce suited to the challenges of the 21st century. 67% of employers in Alberta say the lack of access to digitally- skilled talent is the biggest obstacle to growth. Companies are forced to move out of the province, or country, to fill these needs.
Finally, entrepreneurs and businesses looking at different potential jurisdictions to set up a new business find the Alberta government extremely hard to navigate. Under the NDP, innovation initiatives involve multiple government agencies with funding and advisory platforms that don’t communicate or share information effectively. Sometimes they even inadvertently compete with each other.