The governments of Canada and Alberta will collaborate to explore potential high-speed rail connectivity with the Calgary-Red Deer-Edmonton corridor in Alberta.

As part of this collaboration:

• This initiative will be referred to the Major Projects Office (MPO) as a transformative strategy to explore how the governments of Canada and Alberta can strengthen collaboration, align expertise across departments and agencies and support coordinated implementation.
• Both governments will establish a joint governance structure to guide collaboration, support planning activities and explore near-term activities to assess market interest and implementation opportunities, including potential market-sounding activities.

"High-speed rail has great potential to reshape the way people move in Canada and supports Alberta's economic growth, productivity and regional connectivity,” said Canada Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons Steve MacKinnon. “Today's collaboration demonstrates our shared commitment to exploring opportunities that could deliver lasting benefits for Albertans and Canadians."

The pair says the collaboration complements ongoing federal efforts to strengthen passenger rail and improve intercity connectivity across Canada. Together, both governments are set to explore the potential for high-speed rail in Alberta, share expertise and information and identify next steps to advance planning and development of this transformative transportation initiative.

This comes in addition to the Alto project, which plans to construct an approximately 1,000-kilometer (621.4-mile) high-speed passenger rail network between Toronto and Québec City.

“Connecting Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton with high-speed rail would be a generational investment in Alberta’s future. As our province continues to grow, we need to build the infrastructure that keeps people, businesses and our economy moving,” said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. “By working with the federal government, we are taking the next steps toward a project that could strengthen one of Canada’s fastest-growing economic corridors and support Alberta’s growth for decades to come.”

As work progresses, the governments note they will engage with Indigenous communities, municipalities, industry, investors, stakeholders and the public.