Edmonton Companies News & Discussion

[occidentalcapital]

The more I see these announcements in Calgary the more frustrated I grow with Edmonton. Every month there is some sort of announcement of a company setting up a presence there bringing 500 hundred jobs this time, 1,000 jobs that time. Is there anyone, anyone at all in Edmonton that can change the course of direction? While this is a subject of passion (frustration) of mine, we all talk on this forum about how because Calgary (insert reason here), Company A wont choose Edmonton. Austin is a perfect example. Despite being a government and blue collar town with lesser air connections and less corporates connections, investment banks, etc. Austin does just fine in competing against Houston and Dallas, and now San Francisco (on the tech front). Kitchener-Waterloo, despite being small and close to Montreal, Toronto and even Ottawa (who manages to pull its own weight in the tech world), manages to do very well in tech. I simply do not buy because of Calgary, Edmonton doesn't have as much of an advantage. BUT I do strongly believe that the city, the leaders in this city (city council) are not coordinated enough, not aggressive enough, not strategic enough and not visionary enough to compete and change the course of economics that has seemed to drag this city for decades. These exact announcements WILL CONTINUE to happen in Calgary and not Edmonton until something drastically changes and there is nothing that gives me confidence that will occur any time soon.

Additionally, we all know it, but I do not think it could be any any more obvious at all that the Provincial Government is doing whatever it can to drag Calgary from the depths of unemployment and COVID and low oil and gas prices. Every announcement that has occurred recently from a corporate perspective has involved the Provincial Government in some form or another. This is also a major contributor to this city's continual tire spinning and is as far away from changing as ever.

Time to take action!! Start a non-profit organization dedicated to changing this.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

 

[TAS]

Startup TNT, a community of entrepreneurs, scientists, investors, innovators and startup supporters held a summit to invest in entrepreneurs from our community.

Startup TNT

www.startuptnt.com

On June 17, 2021, it invested over $1 million into seven Alberta tech startups (3 from YEG and 4 from YYC).

Honestdoor Inc from Edmonton was one of two big winners of $150,000 for its real estate platform. I use this site to see what homes were previously sold for as I like to look around.

HonestDoor - Your Real Estate Starting Point

Free real estate data on residential and commercial properties - sold prices, estimated value of homes, bed and bath. Exclusive houses for sale

www.honestdoor.com

The other two Edmonton start ups to receive funding were:

Quotetome Inc. - digital construction purchasing service https://edmonton.taproot.news/news/...million-to-reimagine-construction-procurement

And

Goal Zero - an OH&S company

Home - Goal Zero

#1 Safety Management Software The simple way to manage safety […]

goalze.ro

 

[TAS]

Interesting YouTube video comparing yeg and yyc in various factors for an international audience of students and young professionals in tech and engineering and others - from India. Most of it is not in English. Here is the breakdown. (Sidenote - Walterdale bridge is a gem in promo pics of Edmonton)

Edmonton 7 calgary 6

YEG wins on;
Education
Government Jobs
Private Commute
Housing/real estate
Festivals, sports, cultural events
Indoor amenities/ malls
Industries - oil, gas, chemicals and others


YYC wins on:
Weather
Tech jobs
Public transportation
HQs and corporste jobs
Airport/connectivity
Outdoor lifestyle

 

[TAS]

Edmonton cracks top 50 for first time and is fastest growing in past 5 years, but still 8th among Canadian cities when it comes to tech talent.

"Edmonton is the 38th ranked city in North America for the ability to attract and grow talent in the technology industry. This is the first time Edmonton scored in the top 50 thanks to 12,000 added jobs since 2015, and with a total market of 34,500 tech jobs in 2020. Edmonton scored eighth out of Canadian cities, not far behind Quebec City and Calgary, ranked 34th and 28th respectively."

Edmonton ranks fastest-growing tech sector in North America, makes CBRE's top 50 list for the first time

Edmonton is an ideal spot for growing tech companies, Young said, noting the availability of a young, educated labour force as well as relatively inexpensive office and residential real estate.

www.google.com

 

[ChazYEG]

Edmonton cracks top 50 for first time and is fastest growing in past 5 years, but still 8th among Canadian cities when it comes to tech talent.

"Edmonton is the 38th ranked city in North America for the ability to attract and grow talent in the technology industry. This is the first time Edmonton scored in the top 50 thanks to 12,000 added jobs since 2015, and with a total market of 34,500 tech jobs in 2020. Edmonton scored eighth out of Canadian cities, not far behind Quebec City and Calgary, ranked 34th and 28th respectively."

Edmonton ranks fastest-growing tech sector in North America, makes CBRE's top 50 list for the first time

Edmonton is an ideal spot for growing tech companies, Young said, noting the availability of a young, educated labour force as well as relatively inexpensive office and residential real estate.

www.google.com

Interesting to note that in some key indicators (that will probably impact future growth of the industry here), Edmonton is ahead of Ottawa, Quebec City and Calgary, consistently:
- Retention/attraction of tech professional's relative to the number o tech degrees awarded
- Total number of tech jobs added
- Tech jobs growth rate
- Cost/quality ratio (Edmonton's tech workforce quality is ranked as higher than all other Canadian cities except Vancouver and Toronto, with a cost as low as Quebec City, which has the lowest quality in the sample)
- Operational cost (500 employees and 75K sqft)

And that is all with the provincial government doing EVERYTHING it can to help Calgary and NOTHING for Edmonton, with a mayor/council that lacks any effectiveness and much less publicity. We have an ENORMOUS potential that is neglected and overlooked.

 

[MacLac]

Interesting to note that in some key indicators (that will probably impact future growth of the industry here), Edmonton is ahead of Ottawa, Quebec City and Calgary, consistently:
- Retention/attraction of tech professional's relative to the number o tech degrees awarded
- Total number of tech jobs added
- Tech jobs growth rate
- Cost/quality ratio (Edmonton's tech workforce quality is ranked as higher than all other Canadian cities except Vancouver and Toronto, with a cost as low as Quebec City, which has the lowest quality in the sample)
- Operational cost (500 employees and 75K sqft)

And that is all with the provincial government doing EVERYTHING it can to help Calgary and NOTHING for Edmonton, with a mayor/council that lacks any effectiveness and much less publicity. We have an ENORMOUS potential that is neglected and overlooked.

You are too focused on the “Technology” sector. Who cares? It’s a bit a small bit of our economy. One has to realize that everything oil and gas is made/produced/ refined here in Yeg. What the Yyc clan should be doing is saying the that Yeg gets all the O &G love from the province. I’d sooner have the 10’s of billions worth of plants producing in the Industrial Heartland of the province…..extremely well paying jobs than the so-called “IT Call Center” jobs that we may or may not have. Have you been out by Redwater lately? If not, you should, it’s a sobering sight to see the Scottfords, the Dow’s, the NW Upgraders, the IPL’s of the area.

 

[CaptainBL]

You are too focused on the “Technology” sector. Who cares? It’s a bit a small bit of our economy. One has to realize that everything oil and gas is made/produced/ refined here in Yeg. What the Yyc clan should be doing is saying the that Yeg gets all the O &G love from the province. I’d sooner have the 10’s of billions worth of plants producing in the Industrial Heartland of the province…..extremely well paying jobs than the so-called “IT Call Center” jobs that we may or may not have. Have you been out by Redwater lately? If not, you should, it’s a sobering sight to see the Scottfords, the Dow’s, the NW Upgraders, the IPL’s of the area.

What are these "IT Call Center" jobs you like to repeat? This is just in the past few months that have been publicly announced:

https://www.infosys.com/newsroom/press-releases/2021/canadian-expansion-doubling-workforce2023.html - 500 skilled tech jobs
https://betakit.com/mcloud-moving-h...ution-closer-to-alberta-oil-and-gas-industry/ - Tech headquarters moving from Vancouver to Calgary
https://www.newswire.ca/news-releas...algary-for-its-national-office-807211727.html - High impact entrepreneur organization
https://dailyhive.com/calgary/mphasis-opening-headquarters-in-calgary-tech-jobs - 1,000 jobs related to cloud and cognitive services

I sure would like some of these jobs to be in Edmonton so that grads from U of A, NAIT, Mac could work here and the Edmonton region would benefit from them, wouldn't you? And yes, I used to work at the Redwater refinery so I am quite aware of what the situation is like and how that area drives the region's economics. If your suggestion is to hang the region's hat on O&G then welcome to 2021. And btw, the new Air Products plant for all the dollar investment will create about 30 full time jobs

Opinion: New Edmonton plant a giant leap forward for Alberta's hydrogen economy

Air Products has announced plans to build the world’s largest net-zero hydrogen complex in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region. The first phase of this new…

edmontonjournal.com

You know you can have Heartland activity and recruit other, high skilled jobs and companies (whether tech, financial, chemical, consulting, etc.) to the city right? Its called diversification and economic development. Its good.

 

[ChazYEG]

You are too focused on the “Technology” sector. Who cares? It’s a bit a small bit of our economy. One has to realize that everything oil and gas is made/produced/ refined here in Yeg. What the Yyc clan should be doing is saying the that Yeg gets all the O &G love from the province. I’d sooner have the 10’s of billions worth of plants producing in the Industrial Heartland of the province…..extremely well paying jobs than the so-called “IT Call Center” jobs that we may or may not have. Have you been out by Redwater lately? If not, you should, it’s a sobering sight to see the Scottfords, the Dow’s, the NW Upgraders, the IPL’s of the area.

Oil & Gas is a sunset industry and IT, especially Artificial Intelligence, Software Development and Cloud Services, is the future of well paying, skilled jobs, like it or not.
I won't even entertain the parts of your comment about supposed "call center" jobs, because it doesn't make sense and sounds more like a tantrum than an actual argument.

 

[Glenco]

Ten fifteen years ago there were a number of call centres in the region but have long since moved because of high labour costs. maclac is living in the past.

 

[IanO]

City of Edmonton celebrates local corporations for their environmental leadership​

July 15, 2021 Corporations play an important role in reducing the impacts of climate change, both in their operations and for their customers. At the first annual Corporate Climate Leaders Summit, the City of Edmonton honoured three of the members of the Corporate Climate Leaders Program, for taking exceptional action in measuring their carbon footprint, developing action plans and setting greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets. The Corporate Climate Leaders Program (CCLP), launched in 2018, is part of the City of Edmonton’s Energy Transition Strategy, a plan to reduce emissions 35 per cent below 2005 levels by 2025, and achieve net-zero by 2050. “The 65 members of the Corporate Climate Leaders Program are leading the way in achieving meaningful greenhouse gas emission reductions,” said Stephanie McCabe, Deputy City Manager of Urban Planning and Economy. “The City of Edmonton is proud to partner with them to demonstrate that together we can make a difference in protecting our environment.” Lafarge Canada won the Employee Engagement Award for achieving up to a 25 per cent reduction in their greenhouse gas footprint as a result of employee engagement initiatives. The Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues won the Community Leader Award for their Green League program which supports Edmonton’s Community Leagues to become leaders in energy efficiency and increasing the number of community solar projects in the city. The Corporate Climate Leader of the Year Award went to Explore Edmonton Corporation for their work in transforming the Edmonton Convention Centre and Edmonton EXPO Centre to become two of Canada’s greenest event venues. “I am tremendously proud of our team and everyone who has supported the work of our climate action plan,” said Melissa Radu, Sustainability Manager, Venues at Explore Edmonton. “Our sustainability initiatives at the Edmonton Convention Centre and Edmonton EXPO Centre demonstrate that the urgency needed to act on climate change is possible.” Members of the CCLP have collectively committed to reducing 183,962 tonnes of GHGs in Edmonton by 2035 - the equivalent of removing more than 42,000 cars off the road for one year. The CCLP welcomed nine new members this year: ​ Alberta Investment Management Corporation Canadian Urban Limited Child Development Dayhomes Coke Canada Edmonton Public Schools Melcor Developments NorQuest College Switch Engineering Wild + Pine For more details on all the CCLP award winners, visit their profiles.​

For more information: Corporate Climate Leaders Awards Media contact: Mary-Ann Thurber Communications Advisor Communications and Engagement 780-619-3254​

 

[occidentalcapital]

Key thing from the CBRE report is that Edmonton is, as I have been saying for quite some time, the future of tech in Alberta.

Best quality work force bar none and biggest growth in tech jobs in North America.

Someone tell Doug Schweitzer - No One Will Hold Us Down thank you very much!!

Enourmous sums of Government largesse have been lavished on Calgary - 30 years of LRT expansion, multiple multi-billion hospitals, expensive research facilities, cultural institutions, and let's not forget excessive attention and corporate benefits. If anything, Edmonton's resilience proves the "free market" thesis... here we are on our own which makes us tough, resilient and ready to take on the world and win for the future.

 

[MacLac]

Oil & Gas is a sunset industry and IT, especially Artificial Intelligence, Software Development and Cloud Services, is the future of well paying, skilled jobs, like it or not.
I won't even entertain the parts of your comment about supposed "call center" jobs, because it doesn't make sense and sounds more like a tantrum than an actual argument.

Wow! You sure are aggressive. My point is simple: those “IT” jobs that you posted that YYC recently attained are basically “Call Center” jobs. We punted those jobs off to India/Bangladesh back in the day and now those “Call Center” jobs are coming back disguised as “IT” jobs. I am hoping one day you stop flaunting them as some sort of an “YYC coup de gras or an YEG disadvantage.” Cause frankly, YYC can have those min. wage paying jobs that YYC is so desperate to fill up millions of empty office space, which btw I am hearing from my company who is the tenant in the BOW is more like 40% vacant. Plus you can add 2 more empty Husky office towers to the mix as more then 2500 got shown their walking papers by Cenovus.

 

[ChazYEG]

Wow! You sure are aggressive. My point is simple: those “IT” jobs that you posted that YYC recently attained are basically “Call Center” jobs. We punted those jobs off to India/Bangladesh back in the day and now those “Call Center” jobs are coming back disguised as “IT” jobs. I am hoping one day you stop flaunting them as some sort of an “YYC coup de gras or an YEG disadvantage.” Cause frankly, YYC can have those min. wage paying jobs that YYC is so desperate to fill up millions of empty office space, which btw I am hearing from my company who is the tenant in the BOW is more like 40% vacant. Plus you can add 2 more empty Husky office towers to the mix as more then 2500 got shown their walking papers by Cenovus.

What part of my post did you miss?

NO ONE, absolutely NO ONE here is flaunting any of it as a big Calgary advantage on anything, except for the fact that the UCP government has been sending MASSIVE skilled IT jobs to Calgary (and even so, Edmonton added more of those than them, so there's that). Quite the opposite, in fact: the whole discussion was about how Edmonton is outpacing other cities and attracting IT jobs (a 50% growth). Also, these "call center jobs" you talk about are not being counted towards any of it! Please, let me know any call center that is paying 55K/Year, I'll take the job!!! (55k is where the lower boundary of the salaries being paid here, according to the report, is).
Edmonton has attracted more and better IT jobs from 2015 to 2020, despite the last 1 1/2 years of that period being lived under the UCP - United Calgary Party - government in the province, doing everything to send jobs down there and screw us over.
We have attracted more talents in AI, Robotics and Cloud Services than any other comparable city in North America (with the U of A being ranked top 3 in the world for AI and Google Deep Mind expansion in the city, that's no surprise).

As for your ode to Oil & Gas, as important as it was, and is, for the city and the province IT IS a dying industry. The world will move away from fossil fuels fast in the next 30 years or so. We'll NEVER see a big oil boom again - maybe a few small, short-lived ones in the next decade or two, but nothing like the big money makers of the past. This means we need to diversify the economy and move towards where the money is: IT and its many facets, especially Software Development, Cloud Services, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics... Not to mention new and/or cleaner energy (see the massive hydrogen plant investment coming to the city), 3D printing construction (especially for affordable housing and less environmental impact). It is WAY past time Edmonton freed itself from being ONLY an O&G city and started preparing to have a more modern, integrated to the world economy, not unlike other cities with similar profile (think Austin, TX, for example).

And all that this CBRE report shows is that we are particularly well positioned to do so and, even with politics against us, overtake Calgary as Alberta's main economic driver and premier investment destination: we have a better IT workforce, a MUCH better university, lower cost of living and MUCH more space to diversify.

 

[Kosy123]

Interesting to note that in some key indicators (that will probably impact future growth of the industry here), Edmonton is ahead of Ottawa, Quebec City and Calgary, consistently:
- Retention/attraction of tech professional's relative to the number o tech degrees awarded
- Total number of tech jobs added
- Tech jobs growth rate
- Cost/quality ratio (Edmonton's tech workforce quality is ranked as higher than all other Canadian cities except Vancouver and Toronto, with a cost as low as Quebec City, which has the lowest quality in the sample)
- Operational cost (500 employees and 75K sqft)

And that is all with the provincial government doing EVERYTHING it can to help Calgary and NOTHING for Edmonton, with a mayor/council that lacks any effectiveness and much less publicity. We have an ENORMOUS potential that is neglected and overlooked.

I am more than curious and excited to see the results of the next five years regarding Edmontons's Technology growth. Very much hoping we breach the 50,000 magic number

 

[ChazYEG]

I am more than curious and excited to see the results of the next five years regarding Edmontons's Technology growth. Very much hoping we breach the 50,000 magic number

We have the potential! I'm a firm believer in this!