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Every program we run is powered by the BREWD survey and live regional data.
Business Retention, Expansion and Workforce Development - Central Alberta First's regional strategy, launched in January 2025 and built from a survey of the region's businesses, interviews with key employers and input from job seekers.
Businesses surveyed
698
Businesses across 7 partner communities completed the 87-question survey.
Against the goal of 400
175%
Plus 41 in-person employer interviews and 101 job seeker surveys
Who answered
A finding is only as good as who it came from. These are the five sectors that made up the largest shares of the 698 businesses that responded.
Largest group
Retail Trade
12.26% of all 698 respondents
Sector
Share
Retail Trade
12.26%
Other Services
11.79%
Professional, Scientific & Technical Services
10.69%
Construction
10.06%
Health Care & Social Assistance
9.59%
All other sectors
45.61%
Shares of all 698 respondents, as published in the BREWD Regional Strategy.
The findings
Recruiting is hardest for low-skilled service workers and for skilled trades and technicians, and the reason given most often is a lack of hard and soft job skills. Most businesses expect their headcount to stay the same, but those expecting to hire more outnumber those expecting to cut by almost ten to one.
83%
train their employees in-house
83.18% of employers provide in-house training, and they estimate over half of their employees need more training.
57%
recruit through word of mouth
57.14% rely on word of mouth and 56.93% also advertise on job boards such as Indeed (Q32).
64%
say staff need general and soft-skills training
Targeted training for higher-skilled roles was also flagged, with managerial training at 53%.
85%
rate their employees productive or very productive
A strong level of confidence in the existing workforce.
32%
expect technology to affect their organisation
32.20% expect technological change to affect them - artificial intelligence was the most common theme, mentioned more than 50 times.
55%
are satisfied with the region's marketing
55% are satisfied or very satisfied with how the region and its businesses are promoted (Q74).
The other side of the table
101 job seekers answered a separate survey, most of them from the City of Red Deer. Employers and job seekers agree on one thing: two-thirds of job seekers say they need, or are already seeking, more training to land the job they want.
74%
describe themselves as having soft skills
45%
need more education to be eligible for jobs
38%
say there are not enough job postings with good pay
75%
are willing to travel 15-30 km for work
The regional strategy
The findings were reviewed by subject-matter experts and turned into potential regional projects under eight economic foundation themes.
8
Strategic themes
Theme 1
Inform, attract, develop and retain the workforce the region needs.
Theme 2
Knowledge sharing and cross-sector partnerships that speed up adoption of new technology.
Theme 3
Access to capital for growth, start-ups, emerging industries and infrastructure.
Theme 4
Attract and keep business investment, and help firms reach new markets.
Theme 5
Build the region's brand and show off its quality of life and community strengths.
Theme 6
Make sure infrastructure can support long-term competitiveness.
Theme 7
Keep the natural resources, energy, water and land that industries depend on available.
Theme 8
Recognise the part quality of life plays in keeping talent and attracting investment.
How BREWD ran
BREWD is a bottom-up project, run by teams of local leaders, businesses and workforce partners. The next survey is planned for 2027.
Step 1
Leadership, business visitation, workforce and task force teams drawn from across the region.
Step 2
698 businesses completed the survey, well past the goal of 400, alongside employer interviews and job seeker surveys.
Step 3
Findings compiled into a regional report and seven community data summary reports.
Step 4
A task force retreat turned the findings into ranked projects with named leads.
Step 5
Priority projects go to the Economic Growth Forum (planned for spring 2026), and project leads meet monthly to track progress.
Community reports
Each partner community has its own Community Data Summary Report comparing its results with the region's. The answers were strikingly consistent - most challenges and opportunities are shared right across Central Alberta.
Who ran it, which communities took part, and how to be part of the next survey.
Central Alberta First (CAF) led the project with its partner communities. The research report was written by Outlook Market Research & Consulting Ltd. under CAF's direction.
The City of Red Deer, Red Deer County, the Town of Olds, the Town of Innisfail, the Town of Penhold, Kneehill County and Mountain View County.
Yes. Seven Community Data Summary Reports compare each partner community with the regional results. They are published on centralalbertafirst.ca.
The next BREWD survey is planned for 2027, redesigned with partner organisations to cut survey fatigue. Businesses can commit to taking part, or volunteer to help promote it, through Central Alberta First.
The complete findings, the workforce research and every potential project are published by Central Alberta First. The next survey runs in 2027 - the more businesses that take part, the stronger the evidence.
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