Brad Parry is President and CEO at Calgary Economic Development (CED), and Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund. Photo by Jennifer Friesen /
Calgary Economic Development (CED) today released a roadmap aimed at positioning the city as Canada’s innovation capital by 2033, setting a longterm plan focused on workforce development, investment attraction, and business expansion.
The roadmap reflects a shift from building innovation momentum, to organizing a more deliberate, structured push for leadership.
Central to the plan is a commitment to strengthen the city’s innovation ecosystem, ensuring that businesses, researchers, and investors have the connections and support needed to scale ideas into global success stories.
The strategy identifies three priorities that will guide the next phase of Calgary’s innovation economy. Developing a skilled, inclusive workforce is the first focus, recognizing that talent attraction and development will be critical to scaling new industries. Improving access to capital for businesses at all stages of growth forms the second pillar, while supporting the growth of local companies and attracting new global players to the city anchors the third.
CED emphasizes that these pillars must be tied together through a stronger, more connected ecosystem that fosters collaboration and better tells the city’s innovation story.
Earlier this year, reported on how Calgary was leaning into innovation to weather economic uncertainty, as city leaders shifted focus toward technology and emerging industries.
The new roadmap builds on that foundation, following ’s coverage of Calgary’s broader innovation strategy that projected significant new economic activity tied to innovationdriven sectors.
Sector nodes and strategic goals set the foundation for growth
A critical piece of Calgary’s plan involves the development of sectorspecific innovation nodes across the city. These nodes are not single sites but rather concentrations of resources, expertise, and infrastructure designed to create dense, collaborative environments for startups, researchers, and businesses.
CED highlights that connecting these nodes into a network will make it easier for companies to find the resources they need to move from ideation through commercialization and growth.
The city is targeting several “righttowin” sectors where Calgary already has competitive strengths, including energy transformation, life sciences, aerospace, logistics, and digital industries. Building innovation nodes focused on these sectors is intended to drive deeper collaboration, create investment opportunities, and strengthen Calgary’s brand as a destination for global talent and business.
To support the broader vision, Calgary’s roadmap outlines four strategic goals.
First, the city plans to establish sectorspecific nodes across all quadrants, identifying gaps in existing supports and building infrastructure to close them.
Second, it will launch a formal innovation roadmap to help entrepreneurs and companies navigate the ecosystem, with innovation champions acting as guides.
Third, the city aims to enhance the overall impact of its innovation ecosystem by improving access to resources and expanding tools like regulatory sandboxes to encourage experimentation.
Fourth, the strategy calls for a strong focus on telling Calgary’s innovation story, sharing successes and reinforcing the city’s Blue Sky City brand on a global stage.
Investment from the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund (OCIF) is expected to play a major role in bringing this strategy to life.
CED notes that strategic funding will help accelerate the development of nodes and ecosystem supports, making it easier for innovators to access capital and grow.
Success, the roadmap emphasizes, will depend on collaboration, unified messaging, and a commitment from all parts of the innovation ecosystem to move forward together.
Calgary’s innovation ambitions are now backed by a detailed blueprint that moves beyond highlevel aspiration. With a clear timeline and defined priorities, the city is laying the groundwork to compete nationally and globally as a centre for new ideas and emerging industries.
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