Calgary’s days of being defined solely by oil and gas are long gone. The city is in the middle of a tech transformation, and the pace is remarkable.
Over the past five years, Calgary has experienced the fastest growth rate for tech jobs in North America, increasing by 78% to employ nearly 60,000 people. In that time, the city’s tech ecosystem added $8.1 billion in value, fueled by a 1,000% jump in venture capital investment since 2018.
Local success stories like Neo Financial, Helcim, and PurposeMed have raised hundreds of millions in funding, scaled operations, and anchored their headquarters in Calgary, drawing top-tier talent from across Canada.
A Roadmap to Innovation
To harness this growth, Calgary Economic Development (CED) has launched the Innovation Strategy 2025 — a bold blueprint to position Calgary as Canada’s Innovation Capital. The plan focuses on creating interconnected “innovation nodes” across the city: dense clusters of talent, accelerators, funders, and workspaces in sectors where Calgary already has global potential.
These right-to-win sectors include life sciences, clean tech, digital media, agriculture, and aerospace — each supported by targeted resources, from research hubs and regulatory sandboxes to investment networks. Platform Calgary will serve as the central on-ramp, guiding entrepreneurs from startup to scale-up and connecting them to the citywide network.
The strategy’s goals are clear:
- Establish sector-specific nodes that fill resource gaps and attract investment.
- Launch an innovation roadmap with “innovation champions” to help businesses navigate the ecosystem.
- Enhance impact by expanding regulatory sandboxes and scaling homegrown ideas.
- Tell Calgary’s story to attract companies, capital, and global talent.
Beyond Startups: Data Centres & Big Tech
It’s not just startups making waves. Calgary’s data centre industry is emerging as a critical piece of the tech landscape, with 24 colocation facilities, 82 cloud service providers, and major projects in the pipeline — including a $750M, 90MW facility north of the city. Global leaders like Amazon Web Services and Infosys have established local offices, while homegrown companies like CoolIT Systems are exporting innovation worldwide.
The Big Picture
If successful, the Innovation Strategy could generate 187,000 new jobs and contribute over $28 billion to Calgary’s economy by 2034. With a lower cost of living than Vancouver or Toronto, a booming population, and post-secondary institutions leading the country in startup creation, Calgary is hitting the “critical mass” that turns momentum into long-term dominance.
Learn more about Calgary’s Innovation Strategy and how the city is shaping its tech future → Read the full strategy here
Blog Sources:
Calgary Economic Development: Calgary's Roadmap to be Canada's Innovation Capital
Calgary Economic Development: Calgary's Innovation Strategy
Platform Calgary: Calgary's Booming Tech & Data Centre Industry: A Growing Powerhouse
