Heartland 101

Alberta’s Industrial Heartland region has seen some very cold weather in recent weeks, keeping even those who love wintertime bundled up and indoors. A drop into the deep freeze often restricts our activities, and it can also affect the quality of the outdoor air. 


An online tool to view calm wind regional noise outputs in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland was recently updated in 2018, allowing users to zoom in and out of specific locations.

There is nothing more important than safety. As leaders in safety culture, industry in our region has comprehensive systems aimed at keeping employees and worksites safe. 


Whether for work, for school, or for fun, our region sees thousands of people traveling in and through it daily. It’s typically business as usual, however in a region as risk-diverse as ours, there’s always potential for an emergency to occur. In any emergency, community safety is the priority. In the early stages of an emergency, being able to quickly and safely notify the community is a challenge for responders.


It is that time of year again when facilities in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland take advantage of warmer weather. For many companies, spring signals the start of turnaround season and the continuation of or start of construction projects.

Most facilities operating in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland need an approval to construct, operate and ultimately reclaim their site. This is required from the province of Alberta as one way to manage the environment. Once an approval is granted, a renewal is necessary every ten years.

All communities have a plan in place to respond to emergencies, whether it’s a transportation incident, fire, flood, weather event or loss of utilities. When an industry cluster is part of the community, it is critical that municipal and industry emergency response departments communicate, coordinate and collaborate on an ongoing basis to know one another and work together to keep our community safe.

The quality of the water we use is vitally important to all community members living in the Heartland region. Additionally, the availability and consumption of water—both by residents and industry—is equally concerning for all who live and work in the Capital Region and Industrial Heartland.

Every year, Clean Air Day is celebrated the first Wednesday of June as part of Environment Week in Alberta. The day is a reminder of the importance of clean air and that everyone has a role to play in keeping local air quality as healthy as possible.

Authorities call for evacuations only when there is a risk to resident safety. Evacuations can be complex endeavours and there are steps you can take to be prepared should it happen to you.