Costco warehouse takes shape in Lloydminster, opening eyed for fall 2026

Foundation work at 75 Avenue and 19 Street has pushed Lloydminster’s Costco site out of the rumor stage and into the part of the build where employees can start reading the labor map. A sign is up, the slab work is underway, and the project now looks like a real warehouse opening rather than a paper plan.

Alberta Major Projects lists the warehouse at about 160,000 square feet on a 19.6-acre parcel with about 900 parking stalls, and says a building permit was issued in late 2025. Culture Alberta says a fall 2026 opening is the most likely window. For Costco workers, that means the clock is moving from entitlement to execution: contractor coordination, equipment installation, merch planning, scheduling, and training all tend to follow once the foundation is in place.

That is the stage when warehouse hiring usually starts to matter. Costco Canada says it is an equal opportunity employer and provides accommodation support during recruitment and hiring, while Costco’s career page says employee development is central to its future success and points to a college student retention program. In practical terms, that can shape how early openings are posted, how quickly local applicants get into the pipeline, and whether current employees in Alberta watch for transfer opportunities before the first pallets are ever staged.

The Lloydminster project has been building toward this point for years. Meridian Source reported in June 2023 that site grading was expected to begin in late May 2024 and that completion was then targeted for August 31, 2025. In July 2024, new staking appeared at the site, and in March 2025 the city circulated a notice to landowners about a large warehouse and automotive and equipment repair shop. By October 2025, Mayor Gerald Aalbers said, “I understand there is a building plan in place that’s been approved by the city for Costco.” By February 18, 2026, local coverage said the Costco sign had been installed.

Aalbers has said the project could be transformative for Lloydminster and could bring in more regional traffic and investment. That matters on the floor as much as it does on the map: a new Costco on the west side will create a new commute pattern, a new sales floor, and a rush of first-month operational pressure that typically falls hardest on front-end teams, stockers, forklift operators, meat and bakery crews, optical staff, and managers.

Culture Alberta says Lloydminster is one of three confirmed new Costco warehouses in Alberta in 2026, alongside Manning Town Centre in Edmonton and Bingham Crossing near Calgary. For Costco’s Canadian workforce, that keeps the company’s expansion model visible: new buildings bring new jobs, but they also bring the strain of opening-week volume, regional shopper traffic, and the kind of fast reset that only a trained crew can absorb.