Coun. Andy McGrogan gestures while calling for a review of how the city's power distribution department considers requests for upgrading local transformers, during Tuesday night's city council meeting.--News Photo Collin Gallant
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Medicine Hat will pause its part in a program to bring skilled immigrants to the city and region due to slow processing times, changing sentiment and lowered national immigration targets.
Two years ago, Medicine Hat joined with Cypress County, Redcliff and the Town of Bow Island in the “rural renewal program,” hoping to lure skilled workers who wished to immigrate to Canada by linking employers in the area with candidates.
On Tuesday, Medicine Hat Economic Development director Selena McLean-Moore said that with one year left, current applications likely outnumber spaces allotted across the province.
Therefore, no new applications should be received, she said.
“It provides employers access to the program, but recent changes have significantly altered the chances (of acceptance),” said McLean-Moore during a presentation.
“Basically it means the opportunity for an employer to access the program, and for candidates to be chosen, would be very, very little … To maintain it would create a false expectation that employers would be able to (successfully) access the program, so we’re recommending pause until January 2026.”
The program – which sees employers submit an expression of interest to hire a candidate – was initiated in early 2023 for a three-year term. Set to expire in early 2026, it could be renewed for an additional two years.
As of this month, the Southeast Alberta Municipal Immigration project had issued 92 endorsement letters in conjunction with employers, with 21 formally submitted and just three receiving provincial approval.
For 2025, Ottawa has cut Alberta’s allocation from more than half – from more than 10,000 to about 4,900 for eight different immigration streams. Currently, the backlog stands at 46,000, for only 300 spaces available for new candidates across the province this year.
Coun. Shila Sharps said the city led the program, but that it’s ultimately controlled by other levels of government. She said city staff should flag the problem for businesses that are already involved.
Others wondered if the move might leave the southeast region on the outside looking in.
“Unless they pause as well, (larger communities) will vacuum up that space with their applications,” said Coun. Robert Dumanowski.
Of the 36 registered communities taking part in the rural application stream, 11 are now paused, including the Town of Taber, said McLean-Moore.
“Because it’s on pause, nothing changes for (candidates and companies) that are already in the queue,” she said. “There’s an intention to review its status in 2026.”
200-amp issue sent back to staff
City staff will review how and who would pay what when power customers request an increase to higher capacity electrical service.
Coun. Andy McGrogan requested the review in a notice of motion that was endorsed unanimously by council on Tuesday night, about two months after $500,000 for financing upgrades was a late cut in the city budget.
“The issue still persists, and I’m not saying put it back in the budget, but is there a blueprint out there which would work,” said McGrogan. His request asks that local administrators compare other municipal power suppliers’ policy on transformer replacements.
Currently, if a local power customer wants an upgrade to 200-amp service, but no room exists on the street-level transformer, they could be asked to cover the entire cost of the upgrade. That is usually between $10,000 and $20,000, but as high as $40,000, a committee heard in 2023.
After the upgrade, others on the same circuit could upgrade without additional charge.
“It should be clear to customers, here’s what the procedure is, here’s what it will cost and here’s how it will affect the rate base (the entire pool of customers),” said McGrogan. “I trust that admin will come up with something that is reasonable and fair for everyone.”
