Attract, retain and invest in talent

Our priorities

We envision a vibrant Calgary that develops, retains, and attracts talent from all backgrounds, enabling our city and our people to have the skills needed to thrive in the economy of today and tomorrow.

Challenge

As one of the fastest-growing cities in Canada, Calgary has the potential to leverage a growing population to improve its economic outlook. However, as the city’s population increases overall, one key demographic is shrinking: young adults between the ages of 20-24.

Our ability to attract and retain young talent will facilitate:

Increased opportunities for innovation in business and industry;
Greater ability to realize economic diversification;
Higher and more sustainable workforce productivity;
Greater potential for labor force replacement and growth; and
Increased interest from businesses as they choose to locate closer to readily available talent.

Opportunity

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored a greater need for digital skills and programming talent. Critically, Calgary offers significant depth in scientific and engineering disciplines, offering a solid foundation on which to develop and attract new industries.

Persistent economic headwinds, combined with the need to tackle climate change issues, has also spurred technological innovation and growth in many sectors, including the energy sector, which is poised to play a leading role in the transition to a low carbon economy. We believe this is key to attracting young people to live and work in our city. Additionally, Calgary’s lower cost and higher quality of living compared with other major cities makes our city an attractive option.

Calgary has an opportunity to leverage these competitive advantages by diversifying training and employment opportunities, investing in community vibrancy and leading the way in employment best practices, including mental health initiatives and equity, diversity and inclusion.

How we move forward

1. Promote and develop growing companies, including through accelerators and incubators.

To enable long-term economic growth, we must support the development of an ecosystem that enables start-ups to launch and grow.

Fund and promote incubators and accelerators.

Fund and promote incubators and accelerators to diversify our economy through targeted investment in the technology and other sectors. The City should leverage funding from other levels of government to increase the pool of capital available for research and development.

Facilitate access to business and entrepreneurship programs.

Ensure companies of all sizes and across different sectors can navigate and access business and entrepreneurship programs.

Create a culture of connectedness and collaboration.

Focus on creating a culture of connectedness and collaboration, convening incubators and accelerators, innovators, businesses, and associations through forums, working groups, and other avenues.

Help small and early-stage companies access capital.

Help small and early-stage companies access capital so they can innovate and grow by attracting accelerators, private and angel capital.

Support companies focused on climate change and emissions reduction.

Prioritize support for companies focused on climate change and emissions reduction.

2. Invest in community vibrancy.

Talented professionals want to live in vibrant, diverse, and connected cities and communities. These highly skilled and creative professionals drive innovation and economic growth.

Share Calgary's story around the world.

Showcase Calgary as a great place to live on local, national, and international stages, working with partners such as Calgary Economic Development and arts organizations to highlight the City’s vibrancy and diversity as a competitive advantage, helping attract companies and talent.

Enable an active and connected lifestyle.

Invest in facilities, public spaces and programs that enable an active and connected lifestyle year-round. This includes recreation facilities, bike lanes and pathways.

Fund Calgary's local arts and entertainment.

Increase funding to the arts and entertainment sector, including both programming (e.g. performances, exhibits, etc.) and infrastructure (e.g. arts centers), and by allocating funding for diverse groups and extending Calgary Arts Development’s Project Grant Program. Currently, Calgary has the second-lowest support of the arts among major Canadian cities.

Keep Calgary's high quality of life affordable for all.

Support initiatives that foster an affordable cost of living and high quality of life, keeping city services and amenities affordable for all.

3. Encourage and develop workplace best practices, including mental health initiatives.

Through the pandemic, one in five Canadians reported depression, anxiety, or posttraumatic stress. Poor mental health is also costly, at an estimated $51 billion per year in Canada.

Promote initiatives to support mental health and well-being.

Promote initiatives similar to those developed by community organizations such as the United Way, which, together with headversity, have developed the Adaptive YYC initiative supporting mental health and well-being.

Increase funding for mental health organizations.

Increase funding for mental health organizations that support accessible and affordable service delivery.

4. Advocate for the development of Calgary’s talent pipeline through strong post-secondary institutions.

Calgary’s colleges, universities, and technical schools are among the best in the country. As we transition to a knowledge-based economy focused on innovation, automation, and cross-sectoral collaboration, postsecondaries are producing the next generation to lead our city.

Provide stable funding and supports to post-secondary institutions.

Work with the provincial government to provide post-secondary institutions with stable funding and supports. Align post-secondary offerings with growth of various existing and emerging sectors including energy, technology, agriculture, health sciences, entertainment and media.

Support work-integrated learning and micro-credentialling.

Support work-integrated learning and micro-credentialling by connecting businesses with skilled talent through an online portal akin to the federal Job Bank.

Attract more exchange students and work programs to Calgary.

Work with the provincial government to attract more exchange students and work programs such as work-integrated learning and co-op programs to Calgary.

5. Identify and address skills gaps

The pandemic has accelerated the shift towards digitized and knowledge-based economy. This means virtually all sectors are seeing changes in the types of skills needed from the workforce. With both high unemployment and labour shortages, there is a gap between the skills we have and the skills we need. To attract and retain talent and remain competitive internationally, we need to reskill, upskill, and increase the size of our skilled workforce, in conjunction with a broader economic strategy that ensures Canada maximizes its economic potential.

Expand, improve, and innovate training and re-hiring programs.

Work with provinces, post-secondary institutions, and businesses to expand, improve, and innovate options for training and re-training programs to reduce barriers and help workers adjust more efficiently to the changing economy.

Increase funding options available to students.

Increase funding options available to students pursuing post-secondary education, particularly as tuition rates increase, and offer prime interest rates on student loans.

Accelerate and bolster work-integrated learning or micro-credentialing opportunities.

Work with and incentivize businesses to offer work-integrated learning or micro-credentialing opportunities for employees

Improve our understanding of skill and competency needs across industries.

Work with industry to improve the collection and coordination of market information to produce accurate forecasts of evolving skill and competency needs across industries.

Prioritize nationwide continuous learning opportunities.

Prioritize nationwide continuous learning opportunities and job-training programs like the Canada-Alberta Job Grant.

6. Invest in the development and improvement of infrastructure that drives talent.

As our world becomes increasingly interconnected and Canada aims to attract the brightest talent to our country, we need to develop infrastructure to help attract talent and accommodate growth. Infrastructure development promotes economic prosperity and improves quality of life and overall community well-being.

Facilitate urban and rural broadband connectivity.

Facilitate implementation of 5G networks in urban and rural regions to ensure business competitiveness and educational connectivity.

Improve and build railway and transit capacity.

Improve and build railway and transit capacity across cities as well as access to rural areas.

Direct funding towards social infrastructure and affordable housing.

Direct funding towards social infrastructure and affordable housing projects such as mixed income housing developments to support communities.

Invest in child care.

Invest in child care infrastructure in partnership with school boards, municipalities and the provincial government. Align planning to ensure enough spaces are available where and when they are needed.