Why Red Deer?

Red Deer provides opportunities for any type of business, whether you are looking to expand, relocate or start your professional, retail or industrial operations. Known for being one of Canada's most entrepreneurial cities, Red Deer is competitive with other large cities in Alberta and Western Canada. Other Red Deer advantages include access to major transportation routes, the Red Deer Regional Airport, readily available land for sale or lease and low tax rates.

Location

Red Deer is located in Central Alberta next to the Queen Elizabeth II Highway (also known as Highway 2), the busiest highway in Alberta, which runs north to south between Edmonton and Calgary. This highway provides easy access to the rest of the province and Canada. Red Deer has immediate access to over 81 per cent of Alberta's 4.4 million population in a two hour drive, making it's central location an ideal place for warehousing and transportation companies.  

Market Access

Centrally located in Western Canada, just over 1,000 km east of Vancouver, 1,500 km from Prince Rupert, 150 km from the two largest cities in Alberta (Edmonton and Calgary), and 400 km north of the Carway border crossing to the United States, Red Deer benefits from being located along the most populated transportation corridor in Alberta and in one of the most prosperous regions in North America. In addition, Red Deer boasts an immediate trade area of over 312,700 people and beyond that access to over 15 million people in Western Canada and U.S. Pacific Northwest markets. 

Queens Business Park taken July 2013

For companies that require convenient access to travel routes, the Queens Business Park has permit-ready industrial land with all the infrastructure already in place to create ready-to-build customizable lots. The Queens Industrial Park lots include, municipal water, sanitary and storm sewers, gas, power and curb and gutter. With over 48 acres available to purchase it is easy to make Red Deer the home for your business.

Transportation Links   

The Red Deer Region is served by road, air and rail.

The QEII Highway sees more than 16 million trips annually by automobile, with roughly 5,000 one-way trips between Red Deer and Edmonton each day.

The Red Deer Regional Airport has recently completed the Apron II rehabilitation and launched the South End Development with newly serviced land. In addition, the Airport Drive expansion—set to open in spring 2026—will unlock 200 acres of prime aviation and commercial land. Together, these infrastructure upgrades position the airport to attract businesses and aircraft operations typically associated with low-cost airlines, cargo carriers, and heavy aircraft maintenance and repair facilities. The airport also now features a Fixed Base Operator (FBO), delivering exceptional customer service to private and charter traffic.

Red Deer Railway operates primarily on the Hoadley Subdivision, transferred from CPKC in 2024, handling short-line operations, industrial switching, and connects with CPKC trackage in the area, supporting local industries and freight movement.

Commercial Opportunities 

In Red Deer there is an abundance of commercial opportunities as well. Whether professional or retail, Red Deer has space for you. The Timberlands North development on the northeast side of the city provides access to some of Red Deer's newest neighbourhoods and with a large customer base within easy walking distance with more homes being built daily.  

Capstone 

Artist's digital rendering of fully developed Capstone areaThe Capstone development will create a vibrant, walkable, mixed-use district in Red Deer's Greater Downtown. It will feature a mix of medium and high density residential development, complimentary commercial opportunities, beautiful riverfront gathering areas, pedestrian-friendly trail connections, public art, cultural spaces and outdoor amenities. This 20 year Master Plan vision imagines 5,000 new residents living in some 2,000 new townhomes and condos with an additional 2 million square feet of commercial development bringing activity to the streets day and night.  Visit www.liveincapstone.ca to learn more about this visionary new community and the great spaces it will offer to live, work, play and unwind. 

Business Advantages      

Red Deer has an excellent  business environment which has many advantages for all businesses to assist them in being more competitive in the provincial, national and world markets. Some of the advantages that Red Deer businesses enjoy are:      

  • no business taxes (over and above property taxes)
  • no capital tax
  • no machinery and equipment tax
  • no payroll tax
  • provincial corporate income tax of 8 per cent, small business rate of 2 per cent

Investment      

Sizable investments are being made in critical transportation and community infrastructure, contributing to the Red Deer Region's growth. This includes the Red Deer Regional Hospital Expansion ($1.8B), the recently completed Red Deer Justice Centre ($207M), the Red Deer Regional Airport runway extension and terminal expansion ($18.5M), and Capstone Community Infrastructure ($45M).

View a complete list of the Government of Alberta's Major Projects.

For more information on Red Deer and our business environment please contact the Economic Development team at econdev@reddeer.ca or call 403-342-8106.