Celebrating 125 Years in Operation

On May 28th, 1900, our Chamber of Commerce was founded under the Boards of Trade Act by a group of business people including bankers, barristers, ranchers, merchants, contractors, physicians, a hotelier, a lumber dealer and a butcher.

5 years later, on September 1st, 1905, Alberta officially became a province.

Around a year after Alberta became a province, on May 9th, 1906, the City of Medicine Hat was founded. It is in Medicine Hat where our main Chamber Office was and still is located.

We changed our name through Corporations Canada from the Medicine Hat Board of Trade to the Medicine Hat Chamber of Commerce.

In 1959 and at a cost of $40,000, the new civic building at 413 6th Ave SE was completed. At that time, the Chamber of Commerce signed a 20-year lease with the City.

The grand opening in October was attended by Premier Ernest Manning, local dignitaries such as Mayor Harry Veiner and various government representatives.

Read the article

In 1981, the Chamber relocated to the historic second street City-owned Canadian Bank of Commerce building.

The Chamber updated its name through Corporations Canada to the Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce.

When the city listed the civic building on Sixth Avenue and Fourth Street SE for $119,000, the Chamber gave up the $1.00/year city lease for the bank building and for $110,000 purchased the newly listed building and moved back to its old digs. The Chamber wanted to remain part of the downtown core and continues in that same location to present day.

Transition of the General Manager.
After 5 1/2 years, General Manager Craig Couillard bids farewell as he moves onto the next chapter in his career. Read the full article from the 1998 Chamber Business Magazine. Read the article

Creation of a standing Business Advocacy and Liaison Committee, (formerly the Policy and Advocacy Committee and Business Advocacy Committee) to act as our policy arm and formalize our advocacy role. Did you know your local Chamber of Commerce works with all three levels of Government?

We needed something new... so we got a brand refresh and new brand strategy!

Over the years, the Chamber has been known as the Medicine Hat Board of Trade, the Medicine Hat Chamber of Commerce, the Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce. In April 2024, we were approved to change our name through Corporations Canada to the Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce.

After being invited into the Brooks-Newell area, we expanded our boundaries which now include Bassano, Brooks, Cypress County, Duchess, Medicine Hat, Newell County, Redcliff, and Rosemary; expanding the district from its former boundaries of Medicine Hat, Cypress County and Redcliff.

The Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce announced the formal approval by Medicine Hat City Council to commemorate the Chamber's 125 years in business by assigning a secondary permanent commemorative name of “Commerce Way” to a portion of 6th Avenue SE from 1st Street SE to 5th Street SE. Find out more.

May 2025 officially marks 125 years of the Chamber of Commerce being in operation! That is also 15,00 months or 45,625 days in case you were curious.

The Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce commemorated its 125th anniversary by hosting the 87th Alberta Chambers of Commerce (ACC) Annual General Meeting and Policy Plenary Session in Medicine Hat from May 29 to 31. This milestone event brought close to 200 delegates from across Alberta with 31 Chambers to celebrate a legacy of business leadership and to shape the province’s economic future.