Why some industrial companies are taking their business outside Edmonton

For 44 years CVS Controls has made Edmonton its home – but now the company is looking to relocate – to not only a bigger space but one outside of Alberta's capital.

"Our whole thing was to try to get CVS back under one roof. Operating under the two locations has had numerous challenges so that's why we started looking," CEO Melanie Kurtz-Gibson told CTV News Edmonton.

The company had been looking for space on the south side of the city, but Kurtz-Gibson said better alternatives were found in Nisku.

"It had numerous advantages to it. One being the taxes. I mean, I think the taxes were about half the rate for what we're paying for Edmonton city taxes and then land taxes were substantially cheaper too," she explained.

A man who works in local industrial leasing points to 41 Avenue Southwest as an important dividing line. That's what separates Leduc County from the City of Edmonton.

"If we put a $5,000,000 building on the north side of that road and one on the south side, the one on the north side of the road would pay $120,000 in property taxes and the one on the south would pay about $50,000," said David St. Cyr with Avison Young.

That company has found that the demand for industrial space in Edmonton continues to grow at a high rate. But the city is competing with neighbouring municipalities like Nisku, which offer larger properties and a better bottom line.

"Because of the shrinking availability of space within the city proper, and that lower cost base for land outside of the city, it's making it more attractive for groups to move outside," St. Cyr said.

Accessibility to the airport and other distribution centres could also be drawing business to Nisku.

"The completion of those area highways, which is allowing for the freer movement of goods, and that kind of ties into what makes these surrounding municipalities more attractive," St. Cyr explained.

CVS Controls hasn't decided when it'll make the move official.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Alison MacKinnon