Fall 2021 Alberta Legislative Lookahead

By Bronte Valk, CCI Manager of Government Affairs in Alberta

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The past few months have been difficult for the Alberta government as the province grappled with the deadly fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Next week, with the Alberta legislature returning for the fall session, Premier Jason Kenney will be looking to rebuild public trust and refocus his government’s agenda. CCI is hopeful that supporting Alberta’s innovation ecosystem is front and centre in that plan.

Three things Alberta’s homegrown tech sector can expect movement on this fall are: privacy regulation, a tech-specific provincial nominee program, and the fruition of recommendations from Alberta’s 2030 strategy.

Privacy Regulation

Over the summer, Alberta followed Ontario’s lead with a public engagement process on protections related to the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). The government requested feedback on identifying opportunities to strengthen privacy protections, improve government services, and ensure Albertans get the most possible value from data. In response, CCI submitted a document with principles to guide the development of new privacy legislation. You can review our submission here.

CCI will be following the development of this legislation closely to ensure that Alberta’s innovators are not stifled by a fragmented and confusing policy framework.

Tech Provincial Nominee Program

Access to skilled talent continues to be the most significant challenge for CCI’s members, and over the past year, CCI’s Alberta CEOs have engaged with the government on ways to improve immigration programs. CCI has called for the Labour Ministry to develop a provincial nominee program for technology companies to provide a permanent, fast-track immigration pathway for foreign tech workers. Similar successful programs exist in British Columbia and Ontario.

Minister Tyler Shandro took the helm of the Labour Ministry in September and is now responsible for implementing the Alberta Advantage Immigration Strategy. This fall, we are hopeful Minister Shandro heeds the calls from tech leaders and his Ministry endeavours to launch a new provincial nominee pilot for tech workers to help address Alberta’s talent crunch.

Alberta 2030 Strategy

After consultation with universities, students, and the private sector in early Spring, the government launched the Alberta 2030 Strategy, a ten-year strategy for post-secondary institutions to improve their ability to meet the labour market demands of today and tomorrow, increase innovation and commercialization outputs, and strengthen system governance.

This fall, the government will be putting to life the recommendations outlined in the strategy, and CCI will be watching closely how the Intellectual Property Framework is fleshed out. CCI submitted a Guiding Principles for Developing an IP Strategy to the government in the spring and we’re hoping to see these principles reflected in the strategy.

In politics, a lot can change in a short period of time. Four months ago, at the end of the last legislative session, Albertans were promised the “best summer ever.” Four months later, the legislature is set to resume amidst the fourth wave of the pandemic. Premier Kenney and his government are facing many competing priorities with difficult decisions lying ahead.

To keep the focus on Alberta’s economic recovery driven by innovation and job creation, CCI and our Alberta CEOs look forward to working constructively with Alberta’s Ministry of Jobs, Economy and Innovation to ensure the priorities above are advanced this fall session so our province can rebound quickly when case counts decline.

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