Canada – Alberta SouthWest Regional Alliance, a regional economic development organisation, is coordinating a new aviation and aerospace cluster linking four municipally controlled airports in southern Alberta to jointly attract investment. The initiative packages Claresholm’s existing flight-training activity with complementary airport infrastructure across Pincher Creek, Cardston and Fort Macleod, giving prospective training and aviation operators a broader regional infrastructure proposition.
- 4 airports are participating through the Municipal District of Willow Creek, Cardston County, Municipal District of Pincher Creek and Town of Fort Macleod, with Alberta SouthWest positioning their different operating characteristics as complementary rather than competing assets.
- Claresholm Industrial Airport is being positioned around flight training and aviation maintenance. The MD of Willow Creek lists flight schools among current airport users, while CFI Flight Academy operates from Claresholm and provides private, commercial, multi-engine and instrument training together with simulator instruction.
- Claresholm Airport has a 3,000-foot asphalt runway and a dedicated taxiway, while its Lancaster Drive development comprises 15 serviced freehold hangar lots with taxiway access. The municipality states that the airport has undergone runway and taxiway upgrades intended to support increased aviation activity.
- Pincher Creek Airport provides the cluster’s longest runway. The MD of Pincher Creek publishes a 6,600 x 100-foot paved runway and identifies the airport as supporting multiple approaches, while regional reporting states that the facility is also used for air-tanker and air-ambulance activity.
- Cardston County Airport operates as a public registered aerodrome with a 3,500 x 75-foot asphalt runway approximately 7 km southeast of Cardston. The airport is open year-round under VFR conditions, and the County makes runway capacity available for pilot training and aviation exercises.
- Fort Macleod Airport contributes development land to the initiative. The Town currently advertises vacant airport hangar lots for aviation-related commercial or private development.
- The cluster developed from a regional aerospace study completed in February 2026 that examined investment attraction and regional resilience. Participating airports are expected to appoint representatives to share updates and coordinate potential opportunities rather than establish a separate entity holding project funds.
Source: Alberta SouthWest Regional Alliance
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