Agri-Trade Equipment Expo made the unfortunate announcement Thursday morning that Agri-Trade 2020, which was scheduled to take place at Westerner Park in Red Deer from November 11th to the 13th, has been cancelled. 

In a news release they said that although the Alberta Governments Relaunch Strategy guidelines allowed for trade shows at this time, they had no choice but to cancel the show once they considered all of the factors. They said they made that decision after working closely with stakeholders and did what they thought was best for all.

They cited restricted travel policies as one of the main factors, stating: "Corporate policies have introduced restricted travel that would impede both exhibitor participation and attendance for the event."

“With so many concerns around the current situation with COVID-19, many companies have implemented restricted travel policies. With a significant number of companies having to cancel, we felt that the show would not be representative of the Agri-Trade brand.  This was not a decision that was made lightly, we left no stone unturned as we were making this decision.” said David Fiddler, Agri-Trade Expo Show Manager.

“We know that in a normal year, millions of dollars of business takes place and almost $300 million in economic impact is created as a direct result of the show. We recognize that many people and businesses will be impacted by this decision. We appreciate the Government of Alberta, and Alberta Health Services for providing an environment that would allow tradeshows such as Agri-Trade to be a part of Alberta’s recovery plan.” said Rick More, Chief Executive Officer, Red Deer and District Chamber of Commerce.

“After hundreds of event cancellations over the past six months, we wanted to try everything we could to safely and successfully host Agri-Trade, once we were given the green light for tradeshows by Alberta Health Services. But as we monitor the environment and the ongoing challenges and feedback from exhibitors and stakeholders, we feel that the risks outweigh the reward in pushing forward this year.” Mike Olesen, Chief Executive Officer, Westerner Park.

More information on Agri-Trade Equipment Expo can be found here at their website, www.agri-trade.com