2019 Annual Report

2019 in Review

A coordinated effort to attract companies and build a tech talent pipeline for digital transformation in industry drove our work at Calgary Economic Development in 2019.

Download the 2019 Annual Report

balanced scoreboard

	2017	2018	2019
Accelerate sector development & diversification
Companies attracted and expanded	67	87	82
Trade and investment deals supported	6	4	13
Direct/indirect jobs created/retained	5,719	8,074	11,455
Film production	$178M	$181M	$197M
Inspire stakeholder collaboration
Completion of economic strategy tactics	87%	87%	93%
Startup Calgary client funding	16	26	42
Non-core funding	$2.4M	$2.5M	$2.95M
Enhance Calgary’s image
Canadian business leaders have favourable perception of Calgary	79%	NA	81%
Build an authentic brand for Calgary Economic Development
Favourability of people who work with Calgary Economic Development	83%	79%	78%
Clients using Calgary Economic Development research	23%	21%	24%

learn more about us

Who are we?

Board of Directors

Advisory Committees

Notable Wins

key Initiatives

Calgary in the New Economy

The momentum around implementation of Calgary in the New Economy in 2019 is evidence of the city embracing disruption to set a foundation for long-term prosperity.

The economic strategy, created by Calgarians in 2018 to help future-proof their city, identifies leading the digital transformation of industry as a key catalyst for growth for Calgary. It aligns the City of Calgary, its civic partners, private sector, educators and community stakeholders around a common goal.

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Vision

Calgary is the city of choice for the world’s best entrepreneurs. We embrace technology to solve the world’s greatest challenges: cleaner energy, safe and secure food, efficient movement of goods and people and better health solutions.

As economic uncertainty increases worldwide, the strategy’s four areas of focus – Talent, Innovation, Place, and Business Environment – remain key underlying drivers of growth.

Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund

The portfolio of investments from the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund took shape in 2019, its first full year of operation, with seven agreements announced that will be catalysts to achieve the vision in the Calgary in the New Economy.

The Fund is an initiative from the City of Calgary that is managed by Calgary Economic Development with oversight and direction from an independent Board of Directors.

At year-end 2019, almost 25 per cent of the $100 million Fund had been approved for nine projects since its launch in April 2018. Companies only receive funds after specific metrics are reached and just over $7 million was distributed in 2019.

Learn more

By the numbers (2019)

7

Projects Supported

$17.5M

Funds Committed

688

Jobs Secured

Link to OCIF Report

Talent

With the rapid advancement of technology across all industries, there is a widening gap between the available talent and the skills required for the jobs in the digital economy.

Calgary Economic Development is working to create a talent pipeline. We are doing it in collaboration with post-secondary institutions; training for our displaced workers to pivot to tech jobs, and a talent-attraction campaign to change the narrative about Calgary.

Talent

Life Tech, Love Life

Live Tech Love Life is a talent attraction campaign launched in 2019 to position Calgary as the one city in Canada where you can truly live tech and love life – where you can do meaningful, disruptive work in tech and enjoy an unparalleled quality of life.

Learn more

more Initiatives

Calgary Film Centre

Startup Calgary

Trade Accelerator Program (TAP)

Team Calgary

Team Calgary is the new name of our partnership program with the private sector that we rebranded in June 2019 to reinforce our belief that Calgary’s future is something we will create collectively. Team Calgary partners help set the economic agenda for the city and their financial support is critical to our campaigns that market the business investment and job opportunities in Calgary.

Thank you to our Team Calgary partners for your continued support

See All Partners

Hello Calgary!

Pleased to share with you our work in 2019

2019 in Review

82

11,455

$197M

A coordinated effort to attract companies and build a tech talent pipeline for digital transformation in industry drove our work at Calgary Economic Development in 2019.

balanced scoreboard

learn more about us

Who are we?

Board of Directors

Advisory Committees

Notable Wins

key Initiatives

Calgary in the New Economy

Vision

Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund

By the numbers (2019)

7

$17.5M

688

Talent

Life Tech, Love Life

more Initiatives

Calgary Film Centre

Startup Calgary

Trade Accelerator Program (TAP)

Team Calgary

Thank you to our Team Calgary partners for your continued support