Move over Be Part of the Energy, you’re being gradually replaced by a Blue Sky City.

Calgary Economic Development (CED), Tourism Calgary, the City of Calgary and other stakeholders unveiled the city’s new brand on April 17 at the Telus Convention Centre, hours before CED’s Report to the Community.

More than 129 organizations in 26 sectors were consulted, with citizens, businesses and visitors sharing their feedback on the new direction over the past three years. The broad theme of the new brand was one of inclusion, collaboration, and what Calgarians have in common.

“We heard that you can’t think about Calgary without thinking about its big, blue skies,” said Brad Parry, president and CEO of Calgary Economic Development.  

“We’re the sunniest city in Canada. We are a city of unexpected possibilities, where our ambitions are as big as the blue skies we converge under.”

Cindy Ady, outgoing CEO of Tourism Calgary, said that brands evolve as cities evolve – and it’s important to welcome the things that have helped the city get to this point, while inviting in things that will take Calgary to the next stage.

“The one thing we all have in common is that we sit under this big blue sky,” said Ady.

“New Calgarians tell me about their first day here and how it felt to come under such a bright landscape. Sometimes it’s Calgarians who’ve been here a long time we kind of forget about it, we take it for granted.”

Parry said they’d heard through research done as a part of the $4.8 million, four-year rebranding project, that the city’s reputation as a place to do business and one of inclusion and diversity has taken a hit.

“We also found that that this is a place where not all voices feel heard, and not all voices are seen themselves inside of the brand.”

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said the Blue Sky City was a much-needed broader approach to defining the city.

“It may be broader, and it maybe needs to be broader. Calgary is not who we were decades ago,” she said.

“We are an incredibly diverse city. We’re the third most diverse city in the country. There are people here from all kinds of places doing all kinds of things, living all kinds of different lives, and we all do it together. I think Big Sky City absolutely embraces who we are.”

Welcome under the big blue sky

Anila Umar with Centre for Newcomers said it’s important to recognize the importance of the participation of social service agencies and newcomer organizations in this process.

“This wasn’t a ‘the world is so great and Calgary is so wonderful,’” she said.

“We know that we have issues of marginalization, we know we have issues of racism and discrimination. We know that we have global politics, we have all kinds of really nasty things happening in the world that have an impact here as well.”

Umar said that the blue sky piece symbolizes everyone working together with a common hope of a better city. She said without that togetherness, Calgary won’t achieve that ideal.

“This is a way forward for all of us to say these are our values, this is what we want,” she said.

“We’re not going to let to politics, we’re not going to let hate, we’re not going to let divisiveness come into our city and into our space. Everyone is safe here and everyone is welcome under this big blue sky.”

Calgary has had the current tagline – Be Part of the Energy – since a rebrand was done in 2011. Work on the new one was on and off leading up to 2018 but continued in earnest in 2021. Calgary city council helped spur things on with funding for the work in 2022.

Before that, Calgary’s marketing slogan was Heart of the New West, which was adopted in 2000. The City of Calgary’s motto, emblazoned on their crest, is Onward.

Parry said that the Blue Sky City brand has a flexibility that allows all of the community partners to tell stories about both the past and the future.

“It was built with the intention to allow for the maximum flexibility for people to again, understand our stories. Right now, we have a fragmented approach to this,” he said.

“We’re hearing all of this thing going around with people not seeing one common theme. Now we can bring this under one blue sky.”

This is the first step in the brand rollout, CED said, with a logo and other visual elements to be released in the coming months. Each partner will also integrate the brand with their own storytelling.