On February 1, the Alberta Government announced a new Petrochemicals Diversification Program. The program will encourage companies to invest in the development of new Alberta petrochemical facilities by providing up to $500 million in incentives through royalty credits.

 

The program is expected to support the construction of several petrochemical facilities that use propane or methane to produce the materials for products that include plastics, detergents and textiles. It is expected these new facilities could create up to 3,000 new jobs during construction, as well as more than 1,000 jobs once operation begins, and attract between $3 billion and $5 billion worth of investment.