Southern Alberta welcomes Premier Danielle Smith to NewCold facility

Calgary, AB, July 31 2024 – The Honorable Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta, recently visited the NewCold facility under construction in Coaldale. Representatives from the Town of Coaldale, Fisher Construction Group, and NewCold were present to welcome the Premier as she met with teams and toured the construction of NewCold’s first advanced automated warehouse in Canada.  

NewCold shared with the Premier how the state-of-the-art food storage facility will become critical infrastructure to supply food across Canada. The automated high-bay warehouse will support regional food processors and address the growing need for cold storage and logistics while ensuring food safety.  

NewCold will also invest in improving Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) rail connectivity to give businesses ready access to export their products with ease and security. The investment will go into municipal rail lines to develop Coaldale into an export hub and unlock the export market directly from Southern Alberta.  

“On behalf of Coaldale Town Council, I extend my sincere thanks to Premier Danielle Smith for visiting Coaldale and engaging with our community. I’d also like to thank her for taking the time to tour the construction site of NewCold’s $222 million-dollar cold storage facility. This project not only underscores Coaldale’s role in driving economic growth within the region, but also, marks a significant investment in Canada’s Premier Agrifood Corridor that will benefit Alberta as a whole for many years to come,” said Town of Coaldale Mayor Jack Van Rijn. 

The collaboration among Alberta’s business-friendly government agencies, including Coaldale, Invest Alberta, and the province, was crucial in bringing the investment to fruition. The Government of Alberta contributed $2.1 million through an Innovation and Growth Fund grant for NewCold’s expansion, while the Town of Coaldale expedited operations and continues to provide strategic development support. 

“I cannot emphasize enough just how special this partnership is, and how quickly we have been able to bring this project from an idea to constructing this facility,” said Jonas Swarttouw, NewCold Executive Vice President Commercial and Chairman North America. “It would not have been possible if our partners in Coaldale and Alberta had not been able to accelerate diligence and mitigate risks.” 

The new Coaldale facility will not only help support the food chain of Southern Alberta but will create quality, high-tech jobs for Canadians.  

“We are committed to becoming a long-term community member, both in Alberta and Coaldale. We will locally recruit and train a team to operate the facility, recognizing that people are the ultimate drivers of long-term success,” said Swarttouw. 

NewCold is creating over 50 permanent jobs in the area with an eye on connecting with post-secondary institutions in the future, to develop training programs aimed at diversifying available talent. The construction of the facility will also create up to 200 construction jobs. 

The facility is on track to be operational by spring 2025.