A major manufacturing investment is officially open for business in Wheatland County, east of Calgary. CGC Inc. celebrated the opening of its new wallboard manufacturing plant on Wednesday, a project carrying a price tag of $210 million. The opening marks one of the more significant industrial additions to the region and signals continued investment in Alberta's manufacturing base.
The new facility is built around a single core product. It will produce sheetrock-brand wallboard intended for customers across Western Canada. By locating production in the region, the company positions itself to supply a market that stretches across the western provinces directly from the new plant.
The economic impact is being felt first in jobs. The facility has created nearly 100 full-time positions in the region, adding a fresh source of stable employment in Wheatland County. For a largely rural area east of the city, the arrival of a manufacturing employer of that size is a notable boost.
Company representatives framed the investment around housing demand. They noted that there is a need for increased housing in Canada, and described the plant as another important step in doing their part on the drywall side of the business. In that framing, the wallboard produced here is tied directly to the materials needed to build more homes.
The scale of the site underlines the ambition of the project. The plant sits on 214 acres and is being described as one of the most technologically advanced and sustainable facilities in the company's global network. That places the Wheatland County operation among the more modern plants the firm runs internationally.
Beyond the roles inside the plant, the project is expected to ripple outward. CGC says it will also support roughly 80 additional jobs tied to plant operations. Taken together with the full-time positions created directly, the facility is set to anchor a meaningful number of jobs in the area as it ramps up.