About one-third of Alberta’s land area is in agricultural use, with roughly half that agricultural land used to grow crops and the remainder to raise livestock. A network of dugouts and irrigation canals provides water in dry areas. The main crops are wheat, barley, and other grains, as well as hay and rapeseed (canola). Specialty crops such as sugar beet, potatoes, peas, and mustard seed are locally important. Beef cattle dominate livestock production, but pigs, poultry, and sheep are raised as well.
Forests cover more than one-half of the province’s surface. Aspen, white spruce, and pines are the principal commercial species and are used for lumber, wafer board, newsprint, pulp, and paper. Commercial fishing, mostly of whitefish, is done in Alberta’s northern lakes.
Resources and power
Alberta contains the bulk of Canada’s known fossil fuels. Oil and natural gas occur widely, and major deposits of heavy crude oil and oil sands are exploited in the Lloydminster, Cold Lake, and Fort McMurray regions along the eastern border with Saskatchewan. Alberta produces the vast majority of Canada’s natural gas and crude oil and roughly half of its coal. Not surprisingly, fluctuations in world oil prices seriously affect the province’s economy. Other mineral resources include sand and gravel, limestone, and salt, but the most valuable is sulphur, most of which is extracted from natural gas.
Most of Alberta has an abundance of lakes and rivers, some of which are exploited for irrigation and hydroelectric power; however, the ecological damage caused by these projects has brought about widespread controversy. Natural resources are largely developed by private industry (much of which is foreign-managed and financed), under provincial and federal regulation. Extensive government research and assistance benefit resource development and agriculture.
Manufacturing
The manufacturing sector in Alberta is heavily oriented toward the processing of primary goods. The leading industries are food-processing (especially meat products), chemicals, petroleum, and wood-related products. Metal fabrication and the manufacture of machinery and equipment have also become important, and there have been significant developments in the telecommunication, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical industries. Construction is extremely important, too, though it is much affected by economic developments in the local petroleum industry.
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