New Walmart fulfillment centre in Rocky View County to create 325 jobs: province

A Walmart truck can be seen driving down the road in a stock photo. (Getty Images)

Walmart Canada is spending $118 million to build a new 430,000 square foot fulfilment centre in Rocky View County.

The centre is expected to be capable of storing 500,000 items for direct-to-home and in-store orders.

Walmart Canada president and CEO Horacio Barbeito says centre will be the delivery hub for Western Canada, serving millions of people.

“This modern facility will provide our associates with the latest logistics technology to improve our supply chain. That means more products available, more orders fulfilled and more Canadians offered two-day shipping," Barbeito explained.

The province expects the new fulfilment centre will create about 325 jobs when it opens this fall, in addition to the numerous engineering and construction jobs that will need to be filled to build it.

“This new fulfilment centre is not just creating jobs for Albertans in both the short and long term, it will improve the customer experience throughout all of Western Canada,” said Doug Schweitzer, Alberta's minister of jobs, economy and innovation.

The province says the new fulfilment centre will include robotic technology to help associates store, pick and sort items, and will be capable of shipping 20 million items annually.

“Walmart’s choice to serve their Western Canadian customers from the Calgary area is another signal to the world that our province is coming back, stronger than ever,” Premier Jason Kenney said.

Walmart has 61 stores and four distribution centres in Alberta, employing more than 16,000 people.