Is There Value in Adding Value? An Assessment of the Sturgeon Refinery

The objective of Is There Value in Adding Value? An Assessment of the Sturgeon Refinery is to evaluate the business case of the first phase of the Sturgeon Refinery in northeastern Alberta and to quantify the economic and fiscal impacts associated with its construction and operation.

The results of macroeconomic modelling suggest that the positive effects of the construction and operation of the refinery will extend beyond the project’s toll-payers and shareholders and past Alberta’s borders, by increasing GDP, government revenues, and employment opportunities. For example, for the construction phase alone, total capital expenditure of $8.6 billion, incurred over the 2007–17 time frame, are estimated to result in $7.9 billion in total value-added impacts across the Canadian economy, 75,884 person-years of total employment impacts, and $1.9 billion in various forms of federal and provincial government revenues.