Rural Entrepreneur Stream for Immigrant Investors

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Rural Entrepreneur Stream for Immigrant Investors

The Town of Sundre is participating in the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP), under the Rural Entrepreneur Stream (RES).

For provincial information on the RES, read more here.

Invest in the Town of Sundre

Downloadable Economy and Tourism Booklets

Complete the Town of Sundre's Pre-Qualification Questionnaire

The Town of Sundre is a small town that acts as a regional service hub, home to about 2700 residents, 3500 residents in the immediate urban contiguous area, 7500 permanent trade area residents, and over 12000 seasonal/summertime trade area residents. The community is located just over an hour north west of Calgary at the doorstep to the Rocky Mountains, featuring natural vistas, wildlife, clean air, clean water, and many outdoor recreational opportunities. The people are friendly, the land is affordable, and there are many amenities and extracurricular activities for you to participate in with your family and friends.

Sundre has fibre optics, and the main highway through town is a high-load corridor, seeing over 7 million vehicles per year traverse the town. From a tourism perspective, there are over 2000 campsites within 10 minutes of town. 75% of the tourists that currently visit Sundre are from Calgary and Edmonton. There are opportunities of all sorts, since Sundre has also been identified by Travel Alberta as a tourism hub, receiving investment and provincial support.

Sundre welcomes investors from around the world. The community is a hub for forestry, oil and gas, and tourism. Featuring a diverse economy, there are opportunities in many areas, including:

Film, TV & Media, including media tech serving the entertainment industry (i.e. CGI and interactive digital media development)
Mixed-use residential/commercial development (non-passive)
Industrial park development (non-passive)
Transportation and warehousing
Health and medicine
Craft culinary operations (like a craft brewery)
Value-added food processing
Tourism operations (tours, retail, hotels, resorts, attractions)
And more

For economic development information on Sundre, visit GrowSundre.com; or visit ExploreSundre.com for tourism and quality of life information.

Get Support for your Residency Application from Sundre Economic Development

As part of the Rural Entrepreneur Stream of the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program, the Economic Development Officer for the Town of Sundre may support your application, under certain conditions. The Town of Sundre is specifically looking for businesses and families that will help the community thrive. Here are certain conditions that we are looking for:

The business must be located within the Town of Sundre corporate limits. In other words, your property taxes need to be paid to the Town of Sundre.
New construction projects will be looked favourably upon. We'd love to see shovels in the ground.
We want you to live within the Town of Sundre. Investors with families and young children will be prioritized. We want your kids to be enrolled in our schools, and we want your family to become part of the fabric of our diverse community.
We want to see a plan that includes a well-designed storefront and exterior landscaping. The goal is to have your business improve the streetscape and feel of our town, which in turn helps maintain the community as a tourism destination and a desirable place to live.
Currently, the Town of Sundre is experiencing a major uptick in tourism. Businesses that can continue to support this, through experiences, craft culinary offerings (i.e. via the development of a craft brewery), or stylish hotels and resort offerings, will be looked favourably upon.
Currently, the Town of Sundre has a 0% industrial vacancy rate. Any investor that opens a job-creating industrial business requiring construction of industrial building(s), will be looked favourably upon.

Conditions of the program, according to the Province of Alberta

The Town of Sundre's support can only go so far. The Province of Alberta has multiple criteria you must meet. Please read Tables 1 and 2 on the Alberta RES eligibility page. https://www.alberta.ca/aaip-rural-entrepreneur-stream-eligibility.aspx

Steps to Success

There has been a lot of interest in this program, particularly directed toward the Town of Sundre. Once you have decided that you would like to make Sundre your new home, here are the steps to improve your success.

Step 1: Ensure you meet the requirements set out by the Province, outlined in the link above (i.e. work experience, net worth, education, etc.)

Step 2: Complete our pre-qualification questionnaire found here.

Step 3: Meet with Sundre Economic Development over video to prepare for in person exploratory visit. You should be prepared to pitch your business plan and case.

Step 4: Once you have confirmed that Sundre is your preferred destination, and you have a business opportunity in mind, you'll need to complete a Rural Entrepreneur Stream Business Proposal Summary. We will also want to see an indication in writing stating the plan to reside in the Town of Sundre along with an indication that you plan to have your kids enrolled in our schools.

Step 5: We will then submit a Community Support Letter and endorse your Business Proposal Summary. At this point, you can submit an Expression of Interest to the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program.

Step 6: Once approved, you will be encouraged to meet with our Planning and Development Department to ensure all permits are applied for. We will help you with this to make your move as simple as possible.

Step 7: We welcome you with open arms!