Industry experts discussed Calgary’s strategic areas of opportunity at ‘Uplook LIVE: What’s Next for Calgary’s Transportation & Logistics Sector’ on June 11 at TELUS Spark Science Centre.
Transportation and logistics are being reshaped in real time — from autonomous fleets and AI-powered supply chains to new trade corridors and shifting global demand. The question for Calgary isn’t whether change is coming — it's how we position ourselves to lead.
To examine that question, Calgary’s business community — including its transportation and logistics sector — gathered at TELUS Spark Science Centre on June 11. The group was convened by Calgary Economic Development (CED) for Uplook LIVE — an event series that delves into the city’s economic action plan, including key sectors of focus.
With the largest rail and air hubs among Canada’s Prairie provinces, Calgary already has significant momentum in transportation and logistics — and it’s a sector where CED sees endless possibilities for growth.
“We have the potential to become a major hub for trade and market access,” said Helen de Faye, CED’s Director of Corporate and Economic Strategy.
“We are North America’s most connected mid-sized city – and unique from other major cities, we have the land and room to grow,” de Faye told attendees.
Calgary has the largest rail and air hubs among Canada’s Prairie provinces — links that provide easy access to EU markets as well as West Coast ports, making the city uniquely positioned to maintain an export focus. This superior connectivity explains why major players and projects are choosing Calgary; the city is home to WestJet’s global connectivity hub, CPKC’s headquarters and is the future base of the Prairie Economic Gateway project.
But these strengths of Calgary’s can only be leveraged to their fullest potential when paired with a view to the future — and that’s where foresight comes in.
The possible futures for transportation & logistics
To build a resilient economy in Calgary, CED scans global trends in each of its key sectors to imagine the possible and probable futures for the region 10, 20, 50 and 100 years from now.
Rachelle Bugeaud, CED’s foresight manager, provided attendees with a crash course on the power of foresight and how it can help inform a sector's trajectory.
“CED uses strategic foresight to develop insights for the future so we can develop sector strategies that take various possibilities into account. We look at what futures are possible to create in the region, and then identify what types of skills, education and even future jobs might exist – so we can make this a reality in Calgary.”
Bugeaud shared four major macro trends, or shifts, discovered in her foresight research that are impacting the trajectory of the transportation and logistics sector, and ultimately creating opportunities for Calgary:
- Automation: Systems able to run themselves without interruption or delays
- Speed: Items getting from point A to point B in record time
- Networks: Creation of new systems for moving goods
- Manufacturing: Shift in length and frequency of trade routes
With global freight demand expected to nearly triple by 2050, Bugeaud predicts that the next decade will be anchored by bold ideas — especially the businesses and cities that take the risk to build them first.
“It's going to be ever more competitive with new technologies coming aboard,” explained Bugead.
Applying the Calgary lens
A panel of industry leaders were eager to weigh in on the foresight research. Reflecting on the major shift of automation, Dr. Sarah Flick, Head of Supply Chain and Logistics at Lufthansa Technik Canada, emphasized the role of testing.
“What's really important with these technologies is that we take them from proof of concept, to proven concept. With the automation and AI that we can already see and do in a proof of concept, the true value shows up through industrialization."
Of the four major shifts, CPKC’s Assistant Vice President of Facilities, Real Estate & Development — Jeff Edwards — anticipated that the speed shift would ultimately alter global supply chains the most.
“If we can improve on that overall system velocity — creating capacity, efficiency and predictability — that's going to be a measure of success in the future.”
From his Executive Director seat at the Alberta Logistics Centre of Excellence (ALCoE), which opened earlier this year with support from the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund, Tom McCaffery had a different view on which foresight shift is most influential.
“There's no shortage of automation opportunities right now. We're supporting companies to think about what automation looks like for them through programs like The Intelligent Warehouse, which helps organizations define their challenges and identify where the opportunities lie within the technology itself.”
Panelists were asked for their perspective on where Calgary already competes well and where it needs to improve.
“Location is critically important. Calgary is so well situated — not just within Western Canada, but all of Canada — to be a logistics powerhouse,” responded Edwards. “The people, the education and the employment base within Calgary is incredibly high.”
As far as innovation and technology in Calgary are concerned, Edwards is seeing them in action at CPKC.
“You can look to our development of a hydrogen locomotive as an example — that's all being done in Calgary; with parts developed in Calgary, with people that live in and are from the Calgary area.”
Dr. Flick expressed that Calgary's sector strengths in infrastructure, space and opportunity make the city "well-positioned to serve customers not only in Canada, but also the Americas."
"Regionalization is key," added Dr. Flick, since “strong local ecosystems, where we have the control, connectivity and visibility, will create a logistics advantage.”
Dan Schatz, Director of Business Development at Radiant Global Logistics, proposed automation as an area requiring more focus. “Don't be scared of it; foster it,” said Schatz.
“We see a lot of uncertainty in the marketplace, so you need to have experience behind you; something that doesn't fit within an algorithm, that you know is adaptable, flexible and nimble," added Schatz on automation and the premium on human expertise across the system.
How Calgary moves forward from here
Edwards believes that collaboration is critically important to the sector’s future in the Calgary region.
“We [CPKC] think that North America, to be successful, will continue to see trade growth among the three nations. The Prairie Economic Gateway becomes that location where, within Calgary, you can start to touch those markets.”
A first-of-its-kind project expected to be completed in the next 12 years, Prairie Economic Gateway will increase capacity to support goods travelling to, through and from the Calgary region — especially relevant as Canada increases export targets to new international markets.
“We're starting to see produce come from Mexico into the Calgary marketplace. We've seen it grow from almost $0 to a $400 million business, and we see such more potential with that trade relationship. So I see the Prairie Economic Gateway project as critically important.”
Dr. Flick believes Calgary is headed in the right direction.
“Calgary has the right infrastructure, the right talent, and the right attention from supporting functions in industry — we just need to continue to grow that locally.”
McCaffery echoed his fellow panelists on the importance of dialogue within the sector — a common thread that was woven throughout the session.
"We need to be together; to move in the same direction and collaborate. These sessions are critically important; we need to keep doing this and we need to keep talking.”
Learn more about Uplook, the vision for Calgary’s economic future and explore the possibilities in Calgary's transportation and logistics sector.
Or, check out this brief video to learn more about the region’s advantages in space, speed and air connectivity.