How the Last of Us helped the rest of us

Canada's largest series was filmed in Alberta, and paid Okotoks and High River visits in the process.

HBO spent a year and over $140 million to bring The Last of Us into reality.

According to the Oxford Economics firm, the series cost HBO $71 million on production crews and labour, and another $70 million was spent on local suppliers.

All of the $141 million was spent in Alberta alone, causing a positive impact on the Alberta economy. 

In a report from Oxford Economics, 1,490 full-time equivalent jobs were supported in Alberta by HBO as a result of the filming of The Last of Us.

Of those, 840 jobs were directly employed by the production itself, while the rest of the jobs were supported by the production buying goods and services for the show, and by production crews spending their wages across Alberta.

Over 1000 businesses across Alberta saw business from The Last of Us alone.

While HBO saw a $40 million tax incentive to film in Alberta, it is estimated that for every dollar of the tax incentive, there was a $4.6 dollar return to the Alberta GDP. Overall, the show generated over $182 million for Alberta's GDP.

On top of all this, the production company behind the Last of Us donated $7,500 to the Okotoks Family Resource Centre and $2,500 to Good Shepard School. 

In High River, the production company paid the Town of High River $100,000 to be used towards a legacy project, which the town put towards their new pump track.
 
But the benefits of having a large-scale production like The Last of Us being filmed in Alberta didn't dry up the moment production stopped. 

Travel Alberta has created an entire webpage dedicated to the filming locations of The Last of Us, hoping to entice fans of the show to come explore Alberta.

The Last of Us season one aired from January 15 to March 12 and has received 24 Emmy nominations.

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