The economy of Lethbridge is central to the commercial, distribution, financial and industrial sectors of the southern

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

economy (although

Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in Southern Alberta, southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff, Alberta, R ...

plays a significant role in southeastern Alberta).

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 106,550 in the 2023 Alberta municipal censuses, 2023 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

has a trading area population of 250,000 (including parts of

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

and

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

). The city was founded in 1885 as a result of local

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

and later was buoyed by local

farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and

ranching A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often applied to li ...

. Toward the end of the twentieth century, the local economy started diversifying by focusing more on service-based industries.

Economic development

In 2004, the municipal government organised Economic Development Lethbridge, a body responsible for the promotion and development of the city's commercial interests. Also in that year, the city joined in a partnership with 24 other local communities to create an economic development alliance called ''SouthGrow'', representing a population of over 140,000. In 2006, Economic Development Lethbridge partnered with SouthGrow Regional Initiative and ''Alberta SouthWest Regional Alliance'' to create the '' Southern Alberta Alternative Energy Partnership''. This partnership is responsible for the development and attraction of alternative energy business, including

wind power Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity ge ...

solar power Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to c ...

and

biofuel Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from Biomass (energy), biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels such as oil. Biofuel can be produced from plants or from agricu ...

Head offices

Lethbridge has been the home of several national companies over the years. From its founding in 1935, Canadian Freightways was based in Lethbridge until moving its operations to

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

in 1948; its call centre remains in Lethbridge. Taco Time Canada was based in the city from 1978–1995 before moving to Calgary. Minute Muffler, which began in 1969, is based out of Lethbridge. International

shipping Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

company H & R Transport has been based in the city since 1955. Braman Furniture, which also has locations in

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

and

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, has been headquartered in Lethbridge since 1991. Lethbridge Iron Works has been in the city since 1898.

Industry sectors

Traditionally, Lethbridge's economy has been agriculture based; however, as the city has grown in recent years, its economy has become more diversified. As shown below, half of the city's industry—at least in 2001—was in the health, education, retail and hospitality sectors and the top five employers were government based. According to the 2001 federal census,Lethbridge Community Profile
, Statistics Canada. 2002. 2001 Community Profiles. Released 27 June 2002. Last modified: 2005-11-30. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 93F0053XIE Lethbridge industry sectors make up the following shares of the economy: * Health and education services: 21% * Wholesale and retail trade: 17% * Leisure, hospitality and food services: 13% * Primary and construction: 10% * Manufacturing: 10% * Professional and business services: 10% * Public administration: 5% * Transportation and warehousing: 5% * Finance and insurance: 3% * Other: 6%

Government

Lethbridge is the headquarters for

Lethbridge County Lethbridge County is a municipal district in southern Alberta, Canada. It is in Census Division No. 2 and part of the Lethbridge census agglomeration. It was known as the ''County of Lethbridge'' prior to December 4, 2013. Its name was chang ...

, and the City of Lethbridge is the largest municipal government south of Calgary. In addition, several

provincial government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, o ...

agencies are located in the city.

Health

The local health region,

Chinook Health Chinook Health is part of Alberta Health Services, the governing body for healthcare regulation in the Canadian province of Alberta. Chinook Health administers public health services in southwestern Alberta, Canada; the region it covers is bordered ...

, is based in Lethbridge and oversees the operation of 12 hospitals, 15 community health centres, and 5 continuing care facilities in 14 communities. It also employs more people in Lethbridge than any other single organization, including 3,500 staff and 200 physicians.

Education

Two post-secondary institutions —

University of Lethbridge The University of Lethbridge (also known as uLethbridge, uLeth, and U of L) is a public comprehensive and research university located in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, with a second campus in Calgary, Alberta. Founded in the liberal arts traditio ...

and

Lethbridge College Lethbridge Polytechnic (also known as LethPolytech), formerly Lethbridge College, is a public polytechnic institute located in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, with regional campuses in Claresholm, Vulcan, Pincher Creek, and the Crowsnest Pass. Le ...

— are located here and provide a combined workforce of roughly 3,000 persons. In addition, the

Kainai The Kainai Nation () (, or , romanized: ''Káínawa'', Blood Tribe) is a First Nations in Canada, First Nations band government in southern Alberta, Canada, with a population of 12,965 members in 2024, up from 11,791 in December 2013. tra ...

-based

Red Crow Community College Red Crow Community College is a college located on the Kainai Nation reserve in southern Alberta, Canada with a campus in Lethbridge. Partnerships Red Crow College is a member of the First Nations Adult and Higher Education Consortium, a non-p ...

also has a campus in the city.

Retail and hospitality

Lethbridge's regional prominence as a service provider has resulted in the establishment of the city as a retail and hospitality centre. Three shopping malls provide 175 retail spaces. Combined with three power centres, they accommodate nearly 30 major national and international retailers. In addition, 16 major hotel/motel facilities exist in Lethbridge and provide a total of over 1,346 rooms, which increase by nearly 1,000 during the summer when the university and college open their dorms for visitor occupancy. The city also has 145 restaurants, 67 fast food outlets, and 63 bars and lounges.

Manufacturing

Although the manufacturing sector makes up only 10% of the city's total economy, it accounts for more than $1.2 billion in sales annually and has a total payroll of over $185 million for roughly 4,800 employees. The more than 100 firms occupy over 380,902 m² (4.1 million square feet) of floor and office space in six industrial and business parks. Areas of manufacturing include the following: *Agricultural equipment *Animal feeds *Concrete products *Construction materials *Fabricated metal *Foods and beverages *Furniture *Machining *Manufactured housing *Non-metallic mineral products *Plastics *Heating and ventilation products *Transportation equipment

Largest employers in Lethbridge

In 2017, the largest employers in Lethbridge were as follows:

Regional services

Lethbridge serves as a hub for commercial activity in the region, which includes several satellite communities. It provides many services and amenities for the region. Much of the region's

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

needs are provided by or concentrated in or near the city including convergence of four provincial highways,

rail service Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

and an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

. Other than the

, which has a campus in Lethbridge, the only

post-secondary education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational school ...

south of Calgary and west of

is provided by Lethbridge and consists of the University of Lethbridge and Lethbridge College. The city provides direct services to surrounding communities. In 2004, the police services of Lethbridge and Coaldale combined to form the Lethbridge Regional Police Service, since renamed to the Lethbridge Police Service. The city provides municipal water to the nearby towns of Coaldale and Coalhurst and the hamlets of Diamond City, Iron Springs, Shaughnessy and

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. The city's Public Safety Communications Centre provides fire and ambulance dispatching services for the Lethbridge County and police dispatch for the Lethbridge Police Service. Lethbridge provides jobs for up to 80,000 people who commute to the city from a radius of 100 km. Business Investment Profile 2005/2006
, Economic Development Lethbridge. 2005. Accessed 7 November 2006. It provides numerous processing facilities for nearby agricultural producers and a dozen trucking firms for commercial shipping needs.Community Profile
, Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce. Accessed 24 December 2006.

Notes

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External links

Economic Development Lethbridge