North Battleford representatives in attendance at the ICSC convention in British Columbia. (Image Credit: Kelli Hawtin/ Facebook)

By Alyssa Rudolph

INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF SHOPPING CENTERS

North Battleford puts itself on developers’ radar at retail convention

Jan 30, 2026 | 3:22 PM

North Battleford representatives attended an International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) convention in British Columbia this week in an effort to promote business and commercial development.  

During the conference and tradeshow, shopping centers, franchises, developers, and realtors were brought together from across North America. 

North Battleford representatives in attendance at the ICSC in British Columbia. (Image Credit: Kelli Hawtin/ Facebook)

Mayor Kelli Hawtin said ICSC specifically focused on development in western provinces.  

“There’s only about a handful of municipalities that were there at the show, but the ones that are there are the communities that are really putting themselves out in front of these potential opportunities for retail, shopping centers or development to say, ‘Hey, come and choose our community to invest in,'” she said.  

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Hawtin said they had a few developers circle back to them a few times over the two days to delve more into the demographics of North Battleford – the traffic count, what type of land is available, and what type of opportunities exist.

“Now, what do we do with that interest from here? We’ve developed those contacts being there, some of its follow up, some of it’s groups or businesses, retailers, looking for additional information.” 

Last May, a Retail Gap Analysis was completed in the city. It recorded 996,175 square feet of retail space citywide and a 9.9 per cent vacancy rate.  

“We brought that information, and that was really highlighting some of the specific gaps and opportunities that are here that we can highlight,” said Hawtin. 

In addition to the city representatives, local developers, including Red Pheasant Eagles Landing, Sweet Grass Urban Reserve, and Terracap real estate for the Frontier Center, were also in attendance.

Moving forward, the city will continue to work closely with industry development, investigate oil and gas manufacturing warehousing, and follow up with plans regarding data centers. 

“I’d love to highlight a couple of opportunities that I know are coming our way, but there’s a lot of discussions that happen there that need to stay in confidence. I know that we will be seeing a couple of further developments in the coming, hopefully year, but I know that there’s also some interesting developments that will be coming over the next two to three years as well, with the contacts we made,” Hawtin said. 

She added North Battleford representatives will continue to promote the community and encourage local investment.  

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Alyssa.rudolph@pattisonmedia.com