Costco is building its 1st store on a First Nation

Tsuut’ina First Nation, west of Calgary, is getting a Costco.

The store will be the anchor tenant for a 500-hectare, multibillion-dollar development along the edge of the ring road called Taza that will include retail centres, entertainment and hospitality complexes, a research campus, and office developments with a health and wellness component.

It will be the first Costco built on a First Nation in Canada.

The 150,000-sq.-ft. store is already under construction at the corner of the southwest Calgary ring road and 130th Avenue, and is set to open in summer 2020.

The store will be part of a development called Shops at Buffalo Run, with other stores and restaurants nearby scheduled to open in summer 2021.

“This signifies another major step forward for Taza and is reflective of the economic and social vision the Tsuut’ina Nation and its leadership have had for decades,” Chief Lee Crowchild said in an emailed release on Wednesday.

“We have been building up our own infrastructure and social programs … Taza is an extension of all these investments.”

There are five other Costco stores in the Calgary area.