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ALBERTA ENTERPRISE GROUP THE WEEKLY BRIEF What's moving in government, and what it means for your business. Issue 1 · Week of September 14, 2026 01 — PRESIDENT'S UPDATE Remembering Cal Nichols, 1942–2026 It is with great sadness that we share the news of Cal Nichols' passing on Saturday, September 12. Cal was our founding Chairman and remained our Chairman Emeritus, and it would be hard to overstate what he meant to this organization, to Edmonton and to Alberta. Our Board Vice Chair, Tim Shipton, worked alongside Cal from AEG's earliest days and has written about him with far more grace than a newsletter allows. An excerpt is below — the full tribute is on our website. On behalf of all AEG members and friends of Cal Nichols, we extend our heartfelt condolences to the Nichols family on the sad news of Cal's passing. I had the privilege of working alongside Cal when Alberta Enterprise Group was founded, with Cal serving as our first Chairman and remaining our Chairman Emeritus to this day. Cal believed deeply in AEG from the beginning and in what we were trying to build — a strong voice for Alberta business and a group of leaders committed to making the province better. Cal was a builder in every sense of the word. He built successful businesses, gave generously of his time to organizations and causes he believed in, and rallied people around issues that mattered. Whether it was helping keep the Oilers in Edmonton, giving back to his community or championing Alberta, Cal stepped forward and made things happen. Cal often spoke about reciprocity as a core value — the idea that when you have benefited from the support of others and your community, you have a responsibility to give back. — Tim Shipton, Vice Chair, Alberta Enterprise Group Read Tim's full tribute to Cal: Honouring Cal Nichols Link: Cal's contribution to the community FROM AEG Please complete your member survey before it closes on Monday, September 21. Your feedback shapes our strategic plan and how we build the value of your membership — it takes a few minutes and it genuinely changes what we prioritize. Check your junk folder if you haven't seen it. If you are a former member, you will have received one too, and we want your input just as much. The listening tour continues. I am working through our membership one conversation at a time, to represent your voices accurately and to find where AEG can sharpen its influence in putting business first. If we have not yet spoken, reach out and we will book a time. Catch me on CTV. I am on Vassy Kapelos' Power Play Front Bench on Wednesday, between 3 and 4 p.m. MST. Last week the panel covered the trade war; each week it takes on the public affairs and policy questions landing on Canadians. Link: Power Play — full episodes — Erika Barootes, President
02 — GOVERNMENT ACTIONS 1. Ottawa introduces the Productivity Mega Deduction What happened: On Tuesday, Prime Minister Carney announced the Productivity Mega Deduction at the first Canada Investment Summit. It expands the share of assets eligible for immediate write-off from roughly 15% to more than 65%, and makes immediate expensing permanent. Finance Minister Champagne called it one of the most significant changes to Canada's business tax system in half a century. What it means for your business: The newly covered categories read like an Alberta asset list: oil and gas pipelines, mining property, rail track, roads and bridges, software, R&D, computer equipment, vehicles and aircraft. Canada's marginal effective tax rate on new business investment falls from about 13% to 6.4% — less than half the U.S. rate. If you have a capital project you have been deferring, the after-tax arithmetic on it changed this week. What AEG is doing: We are working through the detail on how the expanded classes apply to member capital plans, and will report back with specifics rather than headlines. Link: Prime Minister's announcement 2. The tariff support program has expanded — and the bar to qualify is lower than most people assume What happened: The Regional Tariff Response Initiative, delivered in this province by PrairiesCan, has been expanded by $1.5 billion. It now covers liquidity assistance on top of the existing support for capital investment and business pivots — up to $3 million in non-repayable contributions per business, combining up to $2 million in liquidity assistance and up to $1 million for a pivot project. Intake runs to December 31, 2028, or until the funding is gone. What it means for your business: You need to be incorporated, operating in the Prairies, with at least $1 million in annual revenue in one of your last two fiscal years, and viable before the tariffs hit. Then you need to show you have been affected — and there are three separate ways to do that, any one of which is enough. ▸ You operate in a sector hit by Section 232 or Section 338 tariffs. Indirect exposure counts: if you are a supply chain partner to an affected exporter, you qualify on this test. ▸ At least 25% of your revenue comes from goods ultimately exported to the United States. ▸ You can demonstrate significant input cost increases, supply chain disruption, or lost revenue or customers. The sectors most likely to see themselves here are manufacturing, petrochemical and chemical, agrifood, and lumber and forestry. There is also a food security stream for value-added production. Not-for-profits that support tariff-impacted businesses are eligible in their own right. What AEG is doing: PrairiesCan briefed the business community on the changes, including a meeting with our President. If you are feeling the impact — directly or indirectly — or you think you might fit, contact PrairiesCan at 1-888-338-9378. So might your customers: this is worth forwarding to the businesses that depend on you. Link: Regional Tariff Response Initiative — eligibility and how to apply 3. Where the tariff file actually stands What happened: Canada's counter-tariffs took effect on September 8, covering $27.6 billion of U.S. imports at rates of 15%, 25% and 50% — steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, electronics. On the same day the U.S. issued five proclamations under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930. Those tariff modifications took effect Tuesday. The accompanying import prohibitions take effect September 29. What it means for your business: The list changed this week and changes again in two weeks, so a compliance answer from August may no longer be right. Some goods stay duty-free into the U.S. if they meet CUSMA rules of origin, and it is worth confirming rather than assuming — the federal Trade Commissioner support line for CUSMA compliance is 1-800-760-1167. What AEG is doing: Tracking the schedule and raising member-specific exposure directly with both governments. Link: Alberta's tariff resource hub — current U.S. and Canadian measures 4. Alberta opens a portal for business input on tariffs What happened: The Government of Alberta has launched a channel for businesses to submit tariff impacts directly, asking for product-specific detail including HS codes, the type of tariff, and the direct effect on the business. What it means for your business: This is the rare consultation where specificity pays. A submission naming your HS code and your actual cost increase is worth more than a general statement of concern, and the province has said it may follow up for more information on impacts identified. Ten minutes here puts your file in front of the people building Alberta's response. What AEG is doing: We encourage every affected member to file — and to copy us, so we can carry the same evidence into our own advocacy. Link: Share your input with the Government of Alberta 5. Alberta students rank among the world's best — and that is a workforce story What happened: The 2025 PISA results, released September 8, put Alberta first among Canadian provinces in science and reading and second in mathematics behind Quebec, above both the Canadian and international averages in all three subjects. Alberta scored 520 in science against an OECD average of 482, 499 in reading against 461, and 489 in mathematics against 463. Several results were statistically tied with Singapore, Japan, Korea and Estonia. What it means for your business: This is the front end of your future workforce. Every conversation members have with us about labour shortages eventually arrives at the same place — whether the people coming through the system have the foundation to do the work. These results say the foundation is strong. The open question is whether what is taught next lines up with where Alberta's labour demand is actually heading. What AEG is doing: We continue to work with Education and with Advanced Education to share what our members are seeing on labour demand, so that curriculum and program decisions are made with a clear picture of where the jobs are going. Results like these are the foundation that work is built on. Link: Alberta students rank among world's best CLOSING THE LOOP What we heard from members: Tariff exposure has been the dominant theme of the listening tour — both from members hit directly and from those whose customers are. Running close behind it: red tape, and the government getting in the way of business. Permitting timelines, duplicated reporting, and approvals that stall projects already financed and ready to go. Members are not asking for special treatment. They are asking to be allowed to get on with it. What we asked for: Clearer, faster guidance on what federal support exists and who actually qualifies, rather than members having to work it out from program pages. What came back: PrairiesCan delivered a briefing to the business community, including a meeting with our President, walking through their programs, what has changed in light of the counter-tariff announcements, and how the support applies. The eligibility tests in item 2 above came out of that briefing. If members tell us the guidance is still not landing, we will go back. AND ON YOUR MEMBERSHIP You have also been telling us what you want membership itself to be. We are refining the member value proposition to reflect both what we heard and our vision for this next chapter of AEG: more exclusivity, more influence, more intimate conversations, and direct communication about how decisions land on your bottom line — whether that is policy or any other obstacle in your way. And we will keep finding ways to put your message in front of the people who decide. The survey is the last input before that work is finalized, which is why it matters that you complete it.
03 — NEWS YOU CAN USE ▸ There is a federal tool that tells you which supports you qualify for The Canada Strong business support finder works as a calculator: answer a few questions about your business and it returns the programs you are eligible for, rather than leaving you to read every program page yourself. It covers the federal supports members ask about most — BDC financing, EDC trade support, and Service Canada's Work-Sharing program, which lets you reduce hours across a team instead of laying people off while EI tops up the difference. Why it's useful: Ten minutes, and it is the fastest way to find out whether you are leaving money on the table. Link: Find support for your business ▸ Check your own tariff exposure before someone tells you what it is The Canada Tariff Finder gives current tariff schedules and trade barrier detail by market and product. With the U.S. list having changed on Tuesday and changing again on September 29, it is worth confirming your own position rather than relying on a summary. Why it's useful: You will need your HS codes for the Alberta submission in any case. This is where you find them. Link: Canada Tariff Finder ▸ A new Alberta centre for logistics strategy, technology and talent The Alberta Logistics Centre of Excellence launched this year, powered by Mount Royal University and funded by the Government of Alberta, PrairiesCan and the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund — Mount Royal received $1.5 million in federal money in February as part of the trade response. It works across four areas: skills and workforce development, technology adoption, trade and tariff strategy, and thought leadership. Its stated aim is to help operators evaluate technology without vendor bias and plan for trade disruption rather than react to it. Three programs are running this fall: the Intelligent Warehouse Program in Edmonton on October 5 and 6 and in Calgary on October 19 and 20, both two-day intensives for warehouse leaders making capital and modernization decisions, and Operator-to-CEO, an executive development program for Alberta trucking owners looking to scale beyond founder dependency. Why it's useful: If you move goods, or your customers do, the trade and tariff strategy work overlaps directly with what is in section 02 of this brief. Worth a look even if logistics is not your core business. Link: Alberta Logistics Centre of Excellence
04 — MEMBER NEWS Short items only this issue — no featured member. Add one before issue 2; the profile is the sponsorship slot and it should not sit empty two weeks running. ALSO THIS WEEK ▸ Thank you, Cam Milliken Our thanks to Cam Milliken for stepping into the interim President's role, and for his September column in Business in Edmonton asking whether Alberta business will recover from the uncertainty around the referendum question. He points to a Calgary Chamber survey in which 51% of businesses said the separation discourse was affecting the provincial economy, and 93% of those described the effect as negative — then argues that business leaders should not sit and wait for October 19. Keep investing where the fundamentals hold, keep building relationships across Canada and internationally, and keep reminding governments that business needs stability and access to markets. His monthly column continues. Link: Read the column ▸ An opportunity for members, from a member CPHR Alberta runs an Executive Program built for senior decision makers — and it is open to business community executives, not only HR professionals. CHROs, CEOs, CFOs, Presidents, Executive Directors and VPs are all in scope. It is a year of curated sessions and peer conversation, with one rule that makes it worth the time: no sales, no business pitches. Two Lunch with Leaders sessions run this fall, in Calgary on October 15 on leadership during economic uncertainty, and in Edmonton on October 20. Invitations go to Executive Program members, so join first if you want in. Link: CPHR Alberta Executive Program ▸ Erika Barootes speaking at We Unify: Reclaiming Alberta Our President will speak on the future of business in Alberta at the We Unify: Reclaiming Alberta conference, October 3 and 4 in Calgary. Link: Learn more about the conference Have news we should carry? Send it to me and it goes in the next issue — a promotion, an award, an expansion, a community project, or a member quoted in the press. This section is only as good as what you send us.
05 — ON THE CALENDAR Sep 16 Erika Barootes on CTV's Power Play Front Bench with Vassy Kapelos, 3–4 p.m. MST. Link: Watch or catch up on past episodes Sep 21 Member survey closes. Current and former members have both received one — check your junk folder or email info@albertaenterprisegroup.com for new link. Sep 29 U.S. import prohibitions under the September 8 Section 338 proclamations take effect. If you ship affected goods, confirm your position before this date. Link: Current measures Oct 3–4 Erika Barootes speaks on the future of business in Alberta at We Unify: Reclaiming Alberta, Calgary. Link: Event details Oct 5–6 Intelligent Warehouse Program, Edmonton — two-day intensive for warehouse leaders making capital and modernization decisions. Calgary runs October 19–20. Link: Programs and events Oct 15 CPHR Alberta Lunch with Leaders, Calgary — leadership during economic uncertainty. Edmonton follows on October 20. Open to Executive Program members. Link: Executive Program Ongoing Alberta's tariff input portal is open now. Product-specific submissions with HS codes carry the most weight. Link: Share your input To Dec 31, 2028 RTRI intake is open, or until the funding is fully committed — which is the more likely constraint. Apply early rather than late. Link: Application process
STAY CONNECTED Have news, an event, or a policy issue we should be watching? Send it to me — this brief is better when it comes from you. And if you know a business that should be in the room, forward this along. Erika Barootes · President, Alberta Enterprise Group  |
