About Alberta

• Alberta was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Princess Louise was the wife of the Marquess of Lorne, the Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883.
• The total population of Alberta is approximately 3.72 million as of April 2010.
• Alberta is located in western Canada, next to westernmost British Columbia, the coastal province on the Pacific. Alberta’s border to the west, with B.C., is mostly formed by the Rocky Mountains. To the north, Alberta borders the Northwest Territories, to the east the province of Saskatchewan, and to the south the American state of Montana.
• Alberta is the fourth largest province in Canada. It is similar in size to Texas, three times the size of Great Britain or equal to the combined areas of France, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands.
• The province has a diversity of natural terrain—parklands, grasslands, primordial badlands, vast tracts of wildlands, boreal forests and plains, ancient glaciers, thousands of lakes and rivers, and mountain ranges that run the length of North and South America.
• More than 12 per cent of Alberta’s total land area is protected in 500 provincial parks, five national parks, and three national wildlife areas. Five of Canada’s 13 UNESCO World Heritage Sites are in Alberta, including Jasper National Park, 370 km from Edmonton.
• Alberta is home to a pair of the world’s most magnificent skiing areas, in Banff and Jasper National Parks in the Rocky Mountains. Much of northern Alberta is boreal forests, which offer great cross-country skiing and wildlife viewing.
• Alberta offers the lowest income tax rates in Canada and some of the lowest in North America.
• Canada’s economic driver, Alberta has consistently led in annual rates of growth and job creation. While natural resources, particularly petroleum products, were long the base of Alberta’s economic success, the province’s economy today is diverse and sophisticated.
• Alberta is the world’s second-largest exporter of natural gas.
• Alberta has the most attractive investment climate in the country, far above any other provinces.
• Alberta has retained its triple-A credit rating, despite running a deficit for two years in a row.
• One in 15 Alberta jobs is directly related to energy.
• Alberta ranks as the world's most attractive jurisdiction for mineral exploration and development.
• The Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute reports the oilsands region has a species intactness index of 94%.
• Productivity Alberta connects Alberta-based businesses to everything they need to kick start and enhance productivity growth and competitiveness. Every dollar of manufacturing output generates $3.22 in total economic activity — the largest multiplier of any sector in the Alberta economy.
• Alberta has the sixth ranked education system in the world and the best in the English speaking world.