The City of Calgary is making city-building investments to break free from its historic boom-and-bust economic cycles that have been tied to the fortunes of the oil and gas industry.AMBER BRACKEN/The New York Times News Service
Jyoti Gondek is the mayor of Calgary.
Perhaps the most significant thing to understand about the energy sector that has come to define Calgary is this: The growth of this industry has been fuelled by new technologies and an acknowledgment that past methods cannot be sustained into the future. In fact, the energy industry has been in transition since its inception.
The current paradox facing the industry is one where we must reduce carbon emissions while simultaneously ensuring that the world still has access to a secure, affordable energy supply. We are now in a moment where such reduction is a possibility, but we also need to recognize that, as a country, we simply do not have the infrastructure or capacity to flick a switch to achieve net-zero energy production or consumption.
So, yes, Calgary is an oil town. And it will be one for years to come. But it’s much more than that.
Look at renewables. In 2022, Western Canada accounted for 98 per cent of Canada’s total growth in wind and solar installed capacity. When you compare this with Eastern Canada’s contribution, Alberta’s growth in renewables was more than 38 times greater than that of Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia combined.
Calgary-based energy companies have made public commitments to net-zero emissions as well as investments in the research required to achieve this goal. Major producers are doing this through unprecedented collaboration, pooling their resources to advance technologies and attract the necessary capital to do so. They’ve invested in Calgary’s Energy Transition Centre, powered by the strength of Avatar Innovations’ entrepreneurship program, where nearly 1,000 energy-sector employees are partnered with researchers in a shared mission to do meaningful work toward sustainable transformational change.
This notion of meaningful work is what has driven many technology companies to locate their head offices in Calgary. Realizing their opportunity to help bring about change, 66 per cent of cleantech companies target customers in oil and gas. These tech firms know their work is valued in these industries.
According to the 2021 Alberta Energy Transition Study, more than half of the 945 cleantech companies in Alberta call Calgary home.
We know the potential of investing in this sector. By setting a net-zero pathway that is aligned with global climate targets, Alberta could generate almost 170,000 jobs in cleantech and contribute $61-billion to provincial GDP by 2050 if we invest properly. Considering the magnitude of the economic impact that could be realized, Calgary is actively working to attract global climate-focused investment dollars.
Calgary is also making important city-building investments at the same time to break free from its historic boom-and-bust economic cycles. We are ensuring that downtown becomes a thriving community with multiple housing options, as opposed to a central business district that hollows out after 5 p.m. We’ve started this evolution by approving 10 building conversions, removing more than one million square feet of vacant office space to create over 1,000 housing units, generating $189-million in private-sector investment through municipal financial incentives of $86-million.
As the world’s third most livable city, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Calgary is home to many diverse people and companies. Calgary is creating an investment environment that commits to emissions reduction, new energy sources and being a global source for responsibly produced energy. This city has long had a certain brand, but it is capable of more than just one thing.