Two Canadian economic powerhouses can be found beside each other in Western Canada: Saskatchewan and Alberta. Last year, Saskatchewan’s GDP reached an all-time high of $80.5 billion, while Alberta’s was $353 billion. That put Alberta’s growth among the highest in Canada, with only Saskatchewan exceeding Alberta’s 2.7 per cent growth rate with 3.4 per cent.
Saskatchewan and Alberta have been tied together economically for decades. Both provinces share several similarities when it comes to the products they produce. Mining, oil and gas, forestry and agriculture are common industries that help each province thrive.Therefore, it is common sense for Saskatchewan and Alberta to establish avenues of transportation and trade that benefit both.
In 2005, both provinces celebrated their respective centennial. In the spirit of partnership, then Saskatchewan Premier Lorne and then Alberta Premier Ralph Klein signed an agreement to build an all-season road connecting the northern parts of the two provinces.
Highway 956, also known as the La Loche connector, is a 65-kilometre road connecting the northern Saskatchewan community of La Loche to Alberta’s Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo region. Movement of goods between provinces usually takes a north-to-south route before continuing east to west or vice versa. Having a northern link like Highway 956 opens up a new world of opportunities for each province to move goods back and forth. It will provide resource-based industries with a better path to move goods, as well as bring new economic opportunities to local economies.
Although La Loche is landlocked, it is, in many ways, an island. Access for La Loche residents is not easy, and the isolation has had a significant toll on the community’s economic and social conditions. The connector would serve as a means to bring new opportunities to a community in need of change.
As it stands today, Saskatchewan has completed work on its side of Highway 956, but Alberta has yet to commence any construction on a permanent road. The Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways completed Saskatchewan’s portion of the La Loche to Fort McMurray all-weather road during the 2024 construction season, after investing about $13.7 million. Construction on the final segment began in August 2023, with a cost of roughly $9 million and was completed in the fall of 2024.
In a recent interview with Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen, he stated the La Loche route is “a priority project for the province.” His hope is that construction on the Alberta side will begin in 2026.
Since the United States began discussing tariffs that would impact Canada, first ministers started to explore ways to reduce their reliance on trade with the U.S. One of the proposed solutions was to develop economic corridors spanning the country. The completion of Highway 956 would help accelerate this proposal by opening up a new corridor, allowing resources to flow between Alberta and Saskatchewan more efficiently. Completion of the highway would foster growth for that area of the province by creating more opportunities through mining, forestry and tourism.
Fort McMurray sits within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB). According to the 2021 census, Fort McMurray has a population of just over 76,000 residents, and when considering the surrounding RMWB area, it is home to over 106,000 residents. In comparison, La Loche has a current population of just over 2,600 residents. La Loche, with the completion of the road, would have access to a market that is 40 times its size.
Growth within industries and trade between the two communities will also have a multiplier effect, with increased demand for local services such as accommodations, retail stores, restaurants and professional services. La Loche has the potential to experience a building boom once the connector is finally completed.
Northern Saskatchewan is the gateway to many of the world’s sought-after products. While it has the means to produce those products, Saskatchewan is still hampered in getting its goods to market due to a lack of critical infrastructure. Roads connect people to opportunities, and the opportunities presented in the completion of Highway 956 are vast: greater trade, growth of industries and building up a community in need of change.
Sometimes, the road to success is simply a road.
Martin Charlton Communications is the largest public relations company in Saskatchewan and one of the largest in western Canada.