Calgary is an opportunity-rich city
A vibrant, multicultural city of 1.5 million people, Calgary is one of Canada’s most innovative and forward-looking cities. Home to bright minds and game-changing companies with a signature entrepreneurial spirit, the city continues to see record venture capital flow and billion-dollar unicorn deals across diverse industries.
The vision of the city’s economic strategy, Calgary in the New Economy, is for Calgary to be the place where bright minds and big ideas come together with an unmatched spirit to help solve global challenges.
Home to a highly-skilled STEM workforce, world-class post-secondary and research institutions, attractive tax and business-friendly advantages, and an unparalleled quality of life, Calgary is an ideal city for companies and people alike looking to grow and prosper.
Calgary has long been known as an energy city and today, is being recognized as a leader in the global energy transition. Alberta is Canada’s largest oil and natural gas producer. The province also boasts some of Canada’s best wind, solar, bioenergy and geothermal resources.
Digital transformation (DX) is a major driver of new solutions and technology investments by energy companies. It is forecasted that Calgary’s energy sector will spend $2.3 billion on DX between 2022 to 2024.
The global energy transition is creating opportunities for Calgary and Alberta to lead in the development and implementation of emerging clean technologies. With a strong cleantech innovation ecosystem, a history of industry collaboration and investment, and a pool of specialized talent, Calgary is a top cleantech ecosystem globally and positioned to be a leader in pursuit of net-zero.
Setting a net-zero pathway in Alberta aligned with global climate targets could generate almost 170,000 jobs in the cleantech sector and contribute $61 billion to provincial GDP by 2050. There are six cleantech subsectors with significant potential to attract investment, talent and generate startup companies – hydrogen; ag-tech and agriculture; carbon capture, utilization and storage; digitalization; energy efficiency; and electrification.
While Calgary continues to be a major center for the global energy industry, the expanding economy has diversified far beyond this traditional strength. Agribusiness, creative industries, aerospace and logistics and life sciences are industries contributing to the city’s economic growth and to its international reputation for innovation.
Links:
Calgary’s Energy & Environment Sector
Alberta Energy Transition Study