Note: This article is Part 1 of two articles regarding the 2025 State of the Wetaskiwin Region Luncheon.
The Leduc, Nisku and Wetaskiwin Regional Chamber of Commerce held its 2025 State of the Wetaskiwin Region Luncheon on May 1, with speakers City of Wetaskiwin Mayor Tyler Gandam and County of Wetaskiwin Reeve Josh Bishop.
"I am excited to be here today to show off some of the city's successes over the last year and share how we're continuing to work to make Wetaskiwin the best small city in Alberta," said Gandam.
Starting off his address, Gandam said all the city's projects and priorities relate back to council's strategic plan.
"I know there's a belief that council does things based on vibes or for no logical reason, but the truth of it is, we work very hard to move the city forward based on the strategies developed through not only the council strat plan, but the annual budget, the 50-year community vision, other city plans, and through community engagement," he said.
Economy
"One of the realities about economic growth in Wetaskiwin is that in order to grow, we need to also balance the social challenges of the community," said Gandam.
"These social challenges, despite what everyone says, aren't council's fault. They are a reality of Wetaskiwin's geographic location and the post-COVID economy worldwide."
Gandam said while it's important that the city is doing what it can on the municipal level to address social issues, "these issues are larger than what is within council's jurisdiction and are larger than Hope Mission."
"We can't put the city's growth on hold while we tackle social issues, especially if they are outside of our jurisdiction," said Gandam.
"Even while dealing with these realities, the city is seeing growth."
In 2024, Wetaskiwin welcomed 27 new businesses, which created 70 jobs and the city's population increased by 3.6 per cent, including more than 180 new employees in the workforce that supported more than 90 local employers.
There was $3.9 million dollars in new inbound investment, which will bring 30 new families to the community to open businesses and create more job opportunities. The city's five-year total in building permit values is in excess of $83 million dollars.
Safety and crime
"To be frank, safety and crime have been top priorities in the city for years and will continue to be so," said Gandam.
"Residents have been very vocal about the fact that they wanted more boots on the ground to combat crime."
In 2021, council lobbied the province to provide funding for 10 RCMP members, which meant a six-member crime reduction unit, as well as four additional RCMP members for three years.
"Statistics show that our crime reduction unit and extra officers have made the difference," said Gandam. "Total calls for service is down about a thousand calls between 2023 and 2024, nearly 20 per cent."
Six of those RCMP positions are now permanent and the city is continuing to advocate for funding for the remaining four over the coming months, he said.
Council has approved the funding to add two Community Peace Officer positions, one beginning in January this year, and the other joining the city in March.
"We're looking forward to seeing how the work of CPO's impacts the community as the year progresses."
Environment
Gandam said the city has seen some "great progress" over the past year with two major projects, helping to make Wetaskiwin a greener city: the new waste water treatment facility and the curbside organics program.
A grand opening for the waste water treatment facility will be held in the near future.
"We started out with $12.9 million dollars in provincial support, but through relentless emails, meetings, advocacy, and maybe a little bit of begging, we received over $35 million dollars in total provincial support."
After a year of operating, the curbside organics program has made "great strides," said Gandam.
The program diverted over 800 tons of organics waste from the landfill between May 2024 and February of 2025.
He also mentioned the community responded that is was not interested in moving to a bi-weekly waste pickup in the spring, so there will be no change in that level of service right now.
Achievements
Gandam outlined some of the city's 'wins' over the last year, including:
- Updating the Municipal Development Plan.
- The Community Grant Program provided funding for 14 local organizations.
- The Wetaskiwin Multicultural Heritage Festival.
- The Splash Park Committee has raised $585,000 and council approved a motion to backstop funding up to $500,000 to allow for inclusion of the accessible playground.
- The city has spent $1.5 million dollars to rehabilitate the roads in 2025.
- Street sweeping has been contracted out for this year to ensure efficient services.
- Outside of the city, the Wetaskiwin hospital has made changes to prioritize patient care. The emergency room renovation is ongoing, and should be complete later this year or early 2026.
"Wetaskiwin is home to brilliant community organizers, and we're happy to be able to support them and what they bring to our community," said Gandam.
