Canada

Alberta’s Smith optimistic about aerospace industry potential as De Havilland breaks ground on hub near Strathmore

By
Stephen Hunt

Published: 

A De Havilland DH-515 firefighting aircraft is shown in a company handout photo. (The Canadian Press/De Havilland Aircraft of Canada)

Pipelines weren’t the only economic development opportunity on Danielle Smith’s mind Saturday on her radio program Your Province, Your Premier.

So was aerospace.

Friday, while the Alberta premier was in Ottawa signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Prime Minister Mark Carney that hogged all the national headlines, De Havilland Canada was breaking ground in Wheatland County, 11 kilometres west of Strathmore on a new aerospace hub that Smith said will not only create 3,000 new jobs for Albertans but may be the latest connecting thread of an intriguing opportunity for the province to diversify its economy.

In a media release, De Havilland said, “De Havilland Field will serve as the company’s home and create a purpose-built, state-of-the-art campus designed to support aircraft parts manufacturing, distribution and support for our customers and their fleets.”

“The development will create thousands of high-quality jobs across skilled trades, engineering, manufacturing, and aviation services, both during construction and throughout ongoing operations.”

Nothing but blue skies for aerospace in Alberta?

Smith laid out a scenario for the expansion of southern Alberta’s aerospace industry that starts with WestJet and could conceivably extend to the region becoming a major manufacturer of fighter jets.

“Let me connect a few things,” Smith told host Wayne Nelson. “First of all, WestJet making the decision to hub out of Calgary – that allowed them to leverage that positioning to attract the investment from Lufthansa, which is going to be upgrading and refurbishing 200 engines a year out of that new facility."

In June 2025, Lufthansa Technik broke ground on a new 150,000 square foot engine maintenance facility at Calgary International Airport.

“It also allows them to attract CAE,” Smith added, “which is internationally-renown for their pilot and other airline personnel training programs – and they also have a very large defence footprint – and then De Havilland is going to be – that site they’ve broken ground on is going to be 3,000 jobs for Albertans.

“We’ve (already) got 22 water bombers that are being sold to Europe, we’ve gotten in the queue with five water bombers for Alberta which will be able to assist not only in our own firefighting efforts but firefighting efforts across the country,” she said.

On top of that, the premier pitched her listeners a scenario in which Canada’s renewed commitment to defence spending could lead to significant economic opportunities for the region.

“It’s excellent from an aerospace point of view but now that the federal government is re-investing in air force when it comes to our armed forces, we have the ability to leverage those companies to expand the investment into defence as well,” she said.

“That’s why I’m feeling like we have a huge opportunity ahead whether it’s for drones or the supply chain associated with additional aircraft,” she said.

" I know, for instance, that De Havilland has a very good relationship with Saab -- and Saab has an alternative kind of fighter jet called the Gripen that they – I think – would build here if we were able to ink that contract.”

Gripen The Gripen, made by Swedish aerospace giant SAAB, is easy to maintain and fits the harsh climate of the Arctic and the High North.

Saab CEO Michael Johannson appeared on CTV Question Period with host Vassy Kapelos in March, 2026 to pitch the Gripen as an alternative to the U.S.-manufactured F-35, saying there are still “intensive” talks underway with the Canadian government around the potential purchase of Gripen fighter jets, but that he has no timeline for when Canada will finish its review of the American-made F-35s.

The federal government launched a review a year ago of its plan to purchase dozens of F-35 fighter jets from the U.S. firm Lockheed Martin, pledging at the time it would make a decision by the end of summer.

Now, months later, the government has yet to announce the results of that review, leaving Saab in limbo as it pitches its Gripen fighter jets to Canada.

With defence spending set to skyrocket in Canada, Smith says Alberta aerospace could benefit.

“The fact that the federal government is finally taking its NATO commitment seriously (means) there’s a huge opportunity for us (the province of Alberta) now that we’re in the aerospace industry to attract a lot of that investment here,” she said, “And De Havilland is going to be absolutely key to it.

“I’m just so proud of them for the work that they’ve done and that they’ve made Alberta their choice.”

CTV News has reached out to Saab for comment.

With files from CTV News’ Spencer Van Dyk