Calgary Economic Development (CED) said local businesses should look beyond the United States when expanding their businesses, highlighting a significant shift in Alberta’s trade landscape in its annual Report to the Community on Wednesday. Statistics Canada data reveals exports to the U.S. fell to their lowest non-pandemic levels last year, while exports to the rest of the globe surged by more than 17 per cent. “In 2026, Calgary is at the centre of the case for Canada,” said Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas in a news release. “Our quality of life and economic strength depend on standing together within Canada. When we allow ourselves to be divided, we all lose.” CED says many Alberta businesses are bypassing the U.S. market for places like Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Last year marked the lowest number of trade deals with the U.S. on record for Calgary-based firms supported by CED programming. “Capital follows the path of least resistance — and in a volatile global environment, it will simply go elsewhere,” said CED president and CEO Brad Parry. “We need to remain outward-looking, maintain a global perspective and build new trade relationships.” The CED says it created or retained nearly 8,000 jobs last year while supporting $1 billion in investment. Its trade accelerator program allowed $60 million in international trade revenue for local businesses through 45 trade deals — the highest in the organization’s history. In its strategic approach, CED Research shows that 73 per cent of Canadian and U.S. business leaders would consider moving to Calgary, a sharp increase from 54 per cent the previous year. Sergio Llerena, director of Casa Bonita Foods, a Canadian company selling authentic Mexican food, says it is selling its food products supermarkets across the country, including Calgary Co-Op. Llerena says the uncertainty around trade with the U.S. over the last 18 months has been a challenge but also opened the door to more diverse markets. “We started selling a little bit into the States, but we realized that to be our biggest opportunity was Asia,” he said. “With a lot of work, we eventually ended up in Costco Japan, sending our first containers a few weeks ago.” Llerena says with the market in Canada being so strong, the eventual next step was to expand into the U.S. But as Canada-U.S. relations soured, he started looking elsewhere to expand his business. “Things started getting less friendly. We started looking elsewhere, and we realized that everybody else was looking for an option rather than the States. Canada was right there, and we were right there. So, it was the right moment for us, at the right place.” But amidst the global uncertainty, there is still uncertainty at home in Alberta. Farkas says the threat of Alberta separatism has some prospective business opportunities holding out on laying roots in Calgary. “What we’re seeing is that the rising rhetoric is actually damaging our prospects to attract industry,” Farkas said. “It’s practically every day now that I speak with potential investors (or) entrepreneurs who are thinking about Calgary but otherwise, putting their plans on hold until we see a resolution of the whole debate around separatism.” Farks said even the debate around separation has caused a “tremendous amount of damage.” Parry says he has had those same conversations with industry, but that doesn’t necessarily mean business owners have stopped flocking to Calgary altogether. “Have we seen decisions being paused? Absolutely. Have we seen them be stopped? No,” he said. “Our point of view is simply that we still have the best business environment in Canada, if not North America.”
