A city with a limitless future and endless opportunities

Calgary is the place where bright minds and big ideas come together with an unmatched spirit to help solve global challenges. Like the mountains that surround us, big things are happening here. In Calgary, the possibilities are everywhere. What’s in the water in Calgary is a signature entrepreneurial spirit, a supportive business environment with some of the most affordable Class A downtown office space in North America, and an enviable lifestyle with a Rocky Mountain playground just one hour’s drive away. It’s no wonder Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Calgary as the third most livable city in the world.

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Economy in Depth

Calgary has more than 100 corporate head offices, the most per capita of any Canadian city, and is home to more than 700 startups, many in tech. Go in depth on Calgary’s economy, labour market, demographics, real estate and industries with Why Calgary: Our Economy in Depth report.

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Economy snapshot

  • Lowest Corporate Income Tax Rate

    At 8%, Alberta has the lowest corporate income tax rate in Canada.

  • One of the Most Livable cities

    Calgary was ranked in the Top 20 most livable cities in the world.
    Source: Economist Intelligence Unit, 2020

  • 5G Ready + Connected City

    Calgary is 5G-ready with carrier-agnostic dark fibre networks.

3RD MOST DIVERSE CITY

Calgary is the 3rd most diverse city in Canada with 120 languages spoken.
Source: Statistics Canada, Census 2016

AFFORDABLE

Housing is affordable with the median price of a single-family detached home at $399,000 CAD.
Source: 16th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey Q3 2019

SECTORS DRIVING OUR ECONOMY

A digital transformation is happening across all of Calgary’s industries. Our digital transformation spend is projected to grow by 13% from 2021 to 2024, representing $7.5 billion (in spending by Calgary businesses). Calgary is driving towards the next generation of a sustainable, inclusive and resilient innovation ecosystem. From fueling and feeding to healing and moving, Calgary has a long-established innovation ecosystem that’s attracting international investment.

Calgary Tech Stories

Calgary's game-changers, innovators and visionaries are putting our city on the map for solving the world's greatest challenges — right here.

Local intel

Use our LocalIntel microsite to discover Calgary’s business climate, research industry trends, analyze competitors and customers, and much more.

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Access to support and funding

All levels of government are committed to welcoming new businesses. With the lowest tax rate in Canada and one of the most generous R&D tax incentives of G7 countries, Calgary is your best bet.

Investment Trends in Calgary

In 2020, Calgary saw venture capital investments totaling $353M, a 160% increase in value over the previous year. Notable large investments in Calgary over the past few years include:

  • Attabotics: Provider of 3D robotic warehousing and fulfillment system, raised $66M in Series C round
  • Benevity: Global software social enterprise that develops workplace giving and volunteer management software solutions, raised $40M in Series C round
  • Blackline Safety: Designer, developer and manufacturer of connected safety wearables and Industrial IoT software raises $36 million to accelerate connected worker market growth
  • Eavor: A leader in scalable geothermal technology has completed a $50.7 million funding round
  • Symend: Customer engagement platform remediating consumer debt using data science, closeda total of $127M in a Series B round of funding

Notable Expansions

  • Morgan Stanley: One year after Morgan Stanley acquired Calgary-based Solium Capital, the American financial giant is expanding further in Canada with the launch of a wealth management division
  • AMD: AMD, an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara expands to Calgary focusing on the development of its GPU software engineering talent 
  • Cisco: Further growing its team in Western Canada with new senior artificial intelligence jobs that will support the company’s Western Canadian operations
  • Finger Food Advanced Technology Group: Finger Food Advanced Technology Group selected Calgary as the location for its first advanced technology centre to accelerate the incubation of new digital technologies and development of Calgary’s tech and business ecosystems
  • Royal Bank of Canada: RBC launches Calgary Innovation Hub with plans to create 300 technology roles over the next 3 years
  • Mphasis: Mphasis plans to set up its Canadian headquarters in Calgary and establishing a Quantum Centre of Excellence creating over 1,000 jobs over the next 2 years
  • Lovingly Made Ingredients: Lovingly Made Ingredients, a subsidiary of UK-based Meatless Farm, opens a plant-based protein manufacturing facility in Calgary
  • Infosys: Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, and commits to bringing 500 jobs to Calgary by 2023

Where is Calgary

Calgary is connected to everything — connecting over 18 million people per year to over 140 destinations globally. Canada’s sunniest and most liveable city is home to 1.5 M people in the Calgary Metropolitan Area (CMA) and is conveniently located within a 60-minute drive to Banff and the Rocky Mountains and a one-hour flight to Vancouver, Seattle and the Pacific Ocean.

A vibrant, multicultural city of 1.5 million people, Calgary’s strengths are rooted in our values - innovative, entrepreneurial, and inclusive. Home to diverse industries, we are a city that embraces change and change-makers. Whether it's feeding, fueling, healing, or moving, Calgary is helping solve the world's problems through the adoption of transformative technologies. For any company embracing digital transformation, Calgary is the ideal city to grow your business.

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