Innovation is the key focus in moving Calgary forward, with a new strategy to bring tens of thousands of jobs and billions in economic activity to the region.

Calgary’s Innovation Strategy was unveiled by Calgary Economic Development (CED) as a part of the 2025 Report to the Community held at the Telus Convention Centre on April 2.

It’s a plan to generate 187,000 jobs within 10 years and add $28 billion in economic activity by 2034.

Brad Parry, president and CEO of CED, said that this isn’t something they’ve just been working on for the past four or six months. He said they’ve been charting this path for the past several years as Calgary has pushed to diversify its economy.

“Now is the time for us to double down on innovation and go all in to make sure we’re that city for the long term, that we get underpinned by this innovation to be successful and have a diversified and resilient economy,” Parry told LWC.

The plan calls for sector-specific nodes in areas like aviation, life sciences, and energy, along with areas like agriculture and transportation. They’re also after a roadmap to building a stronger innovation ecosystem in Calgary. Parry said in some of their research on successful innovation ecosystems, they learned that it was important not to be too broad.

“The differentiation for us is to be very sector-specific. So, you bring in people who have like-minded ideas, like minded companies, getting together, coming with new ideas, new kinds of company formation, but then you take what they’re learning and look to apply to on these other nodes to see how we get the Venn diagram happening,” he said.

The Platform Calgary Innovation Centre will play a key role in bringing together industry and innovators, along with capital and other resources.

“As a community of 850+ member companies and partners, Platform Calgary will be a central resource facilitating crucial links and providing essential support for startups, investors, talent, and enterprises focused on launching and scaling to drive growth within Calgary’s innovation ecosystem,” said Terry Rock, Platform Calgary CEO.

Update on economic success

Hundreds attended the CED 2025 Report to the Community, where they heard about the economic highlights of the last year.

CED said that they’ve created more than 7,400 jobs and drawn $719 million in investments and generated more than 3,200 work-integrated learning opportunities.

They also updated on the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund (OCIF), where, thus far, they said that they’ve generated $11 for every dollar invested in OCIF projects, or roughly $925 million in economic activity.

“While we’re facing unprecedented levels of economic uncertainty due to tariffs and the ongoing trade dispute with the U.S., we need to focus on what’s within our control. Now is the time to double down on innovation and continue building a resilient economy for Calgary,” said Parry.

“With implementation of the innovation strategy, Calgary has the potential to be a globally recognized city of innovation, and the innovation capital of Canada.”

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek touted the Prairie Economic Gateway as not only a logistics-based inland port, but a key area that could underpin technology and innovation advancements by being a hub for data centres.

“Prairie Economic Gateway can expand beyond its core function of being a logistics and manufacturing hub, and it can also become a central anchor in Canada’s tech infrastructure, positioning Calgary as a key player in the digital economy,” she said.

She said with endeavours like this, the government is also demonstrating its ability to drive innovation.

“This is what it looks like when your government is being as innovative as all of the sectors within business,” she said.  

“You identify your strengths, you anticipate change and you get ahead of it. Calgary is no longer waiting for the future to come to us. We are designing the future that we want.”