Frequently Asked Questions

Following are some of the more common questions we hear from visitors to our website. If you don't immediately find an answer to your question here, please do not hesitate to contact us via info@albertafirst.com or call us toll-free at 1 (866) 209-5959 or locally at (780) 427-5374.

General (back to top)

How can I become an AlbertaFirst member?

Membership in the not-for-profit organization AlbertaFirst.com Ltd. is limited to Alberta municipalities and para-public organizations involved in economic development practices. Members of private industry are not eligible to join.

If you want to know more about membership, please send an e-mail to: info@albertafirst.com or call our office at (780) 427-5457.

Do you have information on business start-up / financing?

We don't offer any direct financing, just information resources. Take a look at our "Business Information" section for small business start up guides. For information on business start-up or entrepreneurship in general we encourage you to contact The Business Link Business Service Centre at http://www.cbsc.org/alberta/main.cfm.

Another option is to use our Links section to find organizations that may be relevant to your industry. Within are some links to Entrepreneur-related organizations.

Business Directory (back to top)

What is NAICS? What do you mean by business category?

NAICS stands for North American Industry Classification System. It was adopted in 1997 by Canada, Mexico and the United States as a method to provide common definitions of the industrial structure of the three countries, and a common statistical framework to facilitate the analysis of the three economies. Economic developers and some businesses use this code to search for businesses.

For more information on NAICS you may wish to visit the Government of Canada website at: http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_ecnmy/sio/about_naics_eng.html

How do I know what my business category ( NAICS code ) should be?

When self-registering your business on the AlbertaFirst.com online directory you will be asked to specify your business category. The step-by-step drop-down tool is there to assist you in choosing the right category (that is ultimately related to a specific NAICS code). The NAICS code resides in the background of our database so you don’t need to worry about that part. Just do your best in selecting a description of services or products that best reflects the type of business that you are in.

My username and password for my business doesn't work.

Are you entering data in the fields where it says “update my existing listing”? If you are not having success with your e-mail and password, please contact our office via e-mail at info@albertafirst.com or during daytime business hours call us directly toll free at 1-866-209-5959 or 780-427-5374.

If you do not have a username and password, please contact our office (in the manner above) and we will be pleased to set you up with this access information. There is NO CHARGE for this.

Why does the business record not appear when I click on it?

Pop-up blocking software may inhibit look-up windows from appearing. When clicking on the business name, hold down the Ctrl key at the same time.

If you continue to have trouble with your pop-up blocking software, try looking up Microsoft's website where they offer some additional suggestions:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/web/sp2_popupblocker.mspx

I received a phone call recently from my local economic development department requesting information for your online directory - and I provided it to them. When I do a search on your database now, I can't see my company listing.

The phone call you received may have been part of a regional business directory project taking place in your area. The project may still be in progress, so the information hasn't been provided to AlbertaFirst yet. Upon completion of the project, your business will be added to the online database.

Is it possible to see a complete list of businesses that meet my search criteria (more than 5 at a time)?

To discourage inappropriate use of this business information, we restrict you to viewing five records at once. If you wish to have a longer list provided to you, we would be happy to do so for a per record administrative fee (approximately 25 cents per record). Please contact us at info@albertafirst.com with your search parameters and we will give you a quote for delivery in an Excel format.

Real Estate (back to top)

I'm a realtor - how do I get my listings on AlbertaFirst.com?

The real estate listings on AlbertaFirst.com are supplied and managed by the Alberta Real Estate Association