At least four million in local shopping thanks to a Whitecourt Chamber initiative

By Serena Lapointe

The Whitecourt & District Chamber of Commerce is always up to something. Earlier this month,
President Terriann Masse and Executive Director Alyssa Calliou presented to Town Council
about last year’s busy schedule.
The Chamber wrapped 2025 with 231 members, achieving an 86 percent retention rate. They
also welcomed twenty new members. “It’s great to see new businesses coming in. Some of the
grand openings we attended last year were Northern Health Advanced Foot Care, the
Meadows, First Choice Petro Canada, Four Families Daycare and Uncle Wieners,” explained
Masse.
Initiatives last year included ‘Shop Local. Buy Canadian.’The goal of the program was to
encourage residents to support local, Canadian-made products and to keep dollars circulating in
the local economy. “We had twenty-eight businesses across Whitecourt, Woodlands County and
Mayerthorpe apply for our ‘Shop Local. Buy Canadian’ sticker,” explained Masse. She said prior
to giving a sticker, businesses had to complete a brief survey describing how many of their
products are Canadian.
A couple of the Whitecourt Chamber’s ongoing initiatives include Whitecourt Bucks. “If you do
not know what Whitecourt Bucks are, it’s actual money, and you know that it’s being spent in the
community because you can’t spend it anywhere else. It has been around for quite a few years
now. We sold over $55,000 worth of Whitecourt Bucks in 2025, and there are over 40
participating stores in Whitecourt,” said Masse.
Councillor Braden Lanctot asked how much, on average, the initiative pumps into Whitecourt’s
economy. “It has been down a little bit for the last couple of years. It used to be up closer to
eighty thousand a year, but it’s getting back up there. I think people are getting more informed
about it. A lot of big companies purchase it for their staff,” said Calliou.
Around the holidays, the Chamber ramps up local Christmas shopping by kickstarting the “I’m
Dreaming of a Whitecourt Christmas” event, where shoppers can collect stamps at participating
stores for the chance to win prizes. “We had thirty-six businesses participate in the promotion,

and over 20,000 stamp cards were handed out, resulting in millions of dollars being spent locally
over the holiday season,” said Masse.
A new initiative last year saw the local Chamber partner with the Alberta Chamber of Commerce
and the Canadian Red Cross. “We delivered emergency preparedness resources to local
businesses. Our board of directors split up three hundred businesses across Whitecourt,
Woodlands County and Fox Creek and contacted them with the resource package,” explained
Masse.
For advocacy efforts, the Whitecourt Chamber attended the Canadian Chamber of Commerce
AGM in October as part of a large contingent of Alberta Chamber members, even receiving a
shout-out for being such a large group. “We were successful in passing all 14 policy resolutions
that were brought forward, ensuring that Alberta’s voice was heard,” said Masse, which included

resolutions to reduce interprovincial trade barriers for trucking and empower small businesses to
help solve Canada’s housing crisis.
Advocacy efforts also include addressing crime and safety concerns in Whitecourt. “We have a
goal to identify and implement effective solutions this year,” said Masse. “We are also
advocating for major projects in our area, including the small modular reactor plant and data
center.”
Event-wise, the Whitecourt Chamber held its fair share. The carnival, aided by exceptional
weather, was a tremendous success. The chamber receives a percentage of tickets sold, and
the 2025 piece of the pie was unexpected. “We received $19,000 for hosting compared to the
ten thousand dollars we normally get. I thought the check was wrong,” chuckled Calliou.
The President’s Gala, another popular event, featured 322 nominations for community
businesses and staff over fifteen award categories, and nearly 7,500 votes were cast. “We were
able to recognize ninety-seven businesses, and we had 181 attendees at the awards night,”
said Masse.
An exceptionally delicious event held for the first time last year, Rib Fest, ended up being a big
hit. So much so that Masse said the organizers have already said they plan to come back. “It
drew visitors, supported non-profits and showcased Whitecourt as a vibrant regional

destination.”
The Trunk or Treat and the Santa Claus Parade continue to impress with droves turning out to
enjoy them. “We had thirty-one businesses participate and approximately 2,500 people, kids
and their parents, attend the Trunk or Treat. For the Santa Claus Parade, forty businesses took
part, and the streets were packed,” said Masse.
For this year, Masse said they are changing up the Fresh Community Market. Instead of
Saturday markets, they will hold a monthly night market and do some special markets. “Last
year was the last of our three-year trial for the Saturday market. While the average attendance
remained around six hundred people per Saturday, the number of vendors each week continued
to decline. In total, we had sixty-three different vendors throughout the whole season; however,
the average number attending each Saturday was only thirteen.”
Lastly, the Whitecourt Chamber was selected to host the 2026 Alberta Chamber of Commerce
AGM on May 27 and 28. A hundred and fifty guests from across the province are expected to
attend. “We appreciate what the Chamber does for the community and the partnership we
have,” said Mayor Ray Hilts.
He asked if they have a sense of the economic upside for downtown businesses when events
are held in the area. Calliou and Masse said that it depends on the event held. “We do ask
around if people have had an uptake during events, but a lot of the time we do them when
businesses are closed because they don’t like having their streets shut down sometimes,” said
Calliou. Last year’s night market was different. “We got a lot of feedback from businesses that
their stores were nice and busy that night, which was awesome.”

When asked about their sense of businesses closing and new ones opening, Calliou said the
majority of businesses they lose as members are doing so because they are closing, but added
that it seems like the same number of businesses that they lose, they get back through new
businesses opening. “We are trying to figure out how we can collect this data,” said Masse.
TAGS:
From seasonal events to hard-hitting initiatives and business supports, the Whitecourt Chamber
is a busy group. Here’s a recap of some of their movements last year, including one worth

several million dollars.