Nate Glubish, Alberta’s
Minister of Technology and Innovation of Alberta, sits down with ‘s Chris Hogg. Photo by Jennifer Friesen,
“Technology isn’t just an industry — it’s the future of every industry,” said Alberta’s Minister of Technology and Innovation, Nate Glubish, in a state of the unionstyle interview with .
“What we’re trying to do is to help inspire every industry in Alberta to be more aggressive at adopting technology. There’s been a lot of talk of a productivity crisis in Canada, and I think technology is a solution to that.”
Glubish sat down with during Innovation Week in Calgary, which runs across the city from Nov. 1321, 2024.
The minister focused on how Alberta is positioning itself as a powerhouse in innovation — a move with implications for both provincial and national growth.
Glubish emphasized that Alberta is focused on becoming a top destination for tech entrepreneurs and investors, with venture capital playing a key role.
“We’ve been laserfocused on trying to make Alberta a destination of choice for innovators and inventors,” he explained, pointing to Alberta Enterprise Corporation (AEC), a venture capital fund backed by the provincial government.
With recent investments totalling $150 million, the program requires companies receiving support to have operations in Alberta.
The impact has been significant, Glubish underscored, with venture capital investment in Alberta’s tech sector surging from $30 million in 2017 to more than $700 million in recent years.
“For every dollar we invest into those funds, they invest five dollars into Alberta tech companies,” Glubish said, underscoring the value of Alberta’s competitive tax framework, low cost of living and businessfriendly environment.
“There’s no better place in Canada to sell your company than Alberta, because you’re going to keep the majority of what you make,” he added.
Glubish pointed to companies like Neo Financial, an Albertaborn fintech firm that recently raised $360 million, as proof that Alberta can support significant growth for local startups.
Minister of Technology and Innovation of Alberta, sits down with ’s Chris Hogg. – Photo by Jennifer Friesen,
But Alberta’s tech vision goes beyond startup success.
Glubish explained that the provincial government is also focused on helping traditional industries adopt new technologies.
“We need to work with every industry and help them see it’s actually not rocket science to become more innovative,” he said.
By partnering with groups like the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii), the province aims to help a range of industries — including agriculture, manufacturing and healthcare — adopt tech solutions to improve productivity and capacity.
Glubish sees this focus on innovation as a way to address Canada’s productivity challenges and boost economic growth.
On a national level, Glubish believes Alberta’s innovationdriven approach is a win for Canada as a whole.
“The adoption of new technologies is universally going to raise productivity and increase the standard of living of all Canadians,” he said.
Alberta’s strong emphasis on education in highdemand fields, including computer science and artificial intelligence, helps strengthen Canada’s tech talent pipeline.
“We have some of the best academics on planet Earth in computer science and AI,” he explained, noting that Alberta is doubling down on talent development to meet future demand.
This helps build a solid foundation for Canada’s competitiveness in tech on the global stage.
In closing, Glubish shared his perspective on which sector he’d invest in if he were still a venture capitalist: healthcare.
“Any companies that are bringing more technology into building capacity and addressing challenges in healthcare are going to be enormous,” he said.
Glubish said he sees potential in areas like diagnostic imaging tools and precision medicine, where artificial intelligence can make diagnostics faster and more accurate.
“If I were investing as a VC, I’d be looking into those spaces,” he concluded, noting that these innovations are especially crucial as demand on the healthcare system grows.
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