Industry Strengths

While Calgary is well known as Canada’s natural resources hub, its entrepreneurial spirit helps the city lead the nation in many key economic sectors. Tourism Calgary can connect meeting and convention organizers with sector leaders in business and academics, acting as a catalyst for enhancing face-to-face events.

Calgary excels in the Advanced Manufacturing and Aerospace economic sector, particularly in geospatial data collection and analysis, drone manufacturing, and advanced aerospace communications and navigation. Calgary is very fortunate to have the Living Labs program which allows companies and researchers to test ideas in real-life scenarios. This program offers event planners the unique chance to integrate experiential components into their conference itinerary. The sky's the limit in Calgary!

Research & Development

• The Centre for Innovation and Research in Unmanned Systems (CIRUS) is based out of the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) here in Calgary. The centre’s goal is to increase the role of unmanned systems in data acquisition and management and to create efficiencies in several sectors, including infrastructure, environmental, agriculture, film, and search and rescue.

• TECTERRA is a geospatial technology innovation support centre located in Calgary. The first of its kind, the centre has supported over 100 Alberta-based businesses and generated over $200 million in economic impact.

Past Events

• American Society of Civil Engineers UESI Pipelines 2021

• Architectural Woodwork Manufacturers Association of Canada 2021 Annual Conference

Agriculture is the backbone of Calgary; it’s one of our top industries and part of our culture, as demonstrated by the annual Calgary Exhibition & Stampede. With proximity to high value land, a focus on innovation, and agribusiness giants such as BASF recently moving their headquarters to Calgary, significant opportunities exist for agribusiness meetings here.

Alberta is home to more than 22 facilities that play important roles in agricultural research and innovation, such as the Canadian Beef Centre of Excellence, the Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network, and the Food Processing Development Centre.

Tourism Calgary is eager to connect event planners with key agribusiness contacts to enhance their meeting or convention.

Success Stories

• NForce-Fiber, a unique, high-performance concrete reinforcement product made from industrial hemp fiber and developed by Calgary-based Canadian Greenfield Technologies Corp., will help pave the way for safe, stable bobsleigh and luge runs at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.

• Alta Genetics, the world’s largest privately owned AI company, customizes and implements genetic and reproductive programs to optimize herd performance and improve farm profitability.

Past Events

• U.S. Grains Council 2023 Annual Board of Delegates Meeting

• Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies 2023 Annual Meeting

• American Society of Animal Science 2024 Annual Meeting

There is significant opportunity for event planners to leverage Calgary’s world-class research assets and clinical expertise in life sciences. The University of Calgary is a leader in brain and mental health, biomedical engineering, chronic diseases and cardiovascular research. This, along with the impressive advancements being made in digital health services by local companies such as Brightsquid, position Calgary as a leader in the life sciences field and an ideal destination for an event in this sector.

Success Stories & Research Centres

• Brightsquid Secure Communications Corp. provides communication services to healthcare teams to help them share patient information quickly, easily and securely, ensuring the privacy of information and compliance with patient privacy legislation. This Calgary start-up quickly grew from conception to supporting over 20,000 healthcare practices across North America.

• Based out of the University of Calgary, the Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) is an internationally recognized center of excellence in brain and mental health research and education. The HBI launched in 2004 and focuses on areas of research including neurodevelopment, healthy brain aging, neural injury and repair, and NeuroTechnologies.

Past Events

• Sigma Theta Tau International – 30th International Nursing Research Congress 2019

• International Society of Biomechanics 2019 Congress

• DONA International 2020 Annual Conference

• International Society for Quality of Life Research 29th Annual Conference 2021

• Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada – Canadian Conference on Medical Education 2022

Calgary is the country’s energy capital and a leader in advancing technology in the energy sector. The city serves as the headquarters to several major oil and gas companies and a huge array of pipeline, drilling and engineering firms. Not to mention the fast-growing Sustainable & Renewable energy sector. Calgary has become a leading innovation hub for CleanTech. In 2019, Calgary was ranked one of the world’s top 15 clean technology ecosystems. As world energy needs continue to increase, Calgary is the perfect host destination to bring together top talent in this field to meet face-to-face to build innovative solutions.

Research Centres

• The University of Calgary’s Centre for Advanced Solar Materials was established in 2011. The centre’s mission is to solve the issues around solar energy conversion and storage to assist the move towards low carbon energy sources.

• InnoTech, a subsidiary of Alberta Innovates, is Canada’s premiere applied research organization. The Alberta Carbon Conversion Technology Centre (ACCTC) is one of Innotech’s research facilities and was built to demonstrate CO2 capture and conversion technologies.

Past Events

• Society of Petroleum Engineers 2019 Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition

• Canadian Renewable Energy Association Operations Summit 2024

Calgary’s strong corporate presence, entrepreneurial spirit and tenacious startup culture is driving an ecosystem that embraces innovation across sectors as diverse as clean technology, agri-technologies, fintech, biotech, and more. Sub-sectors in which Calgary excels include artificial intelligence, digital media and gaming, geomatics and autonomous technologies, and eLearning. Calgary also has the highest concentration of high-tech workers of Canadian cities.

Calgary is a natural place to host a technology conference – even our venue spaces are designed to integrate advanced event tech and inspire your delegates!

Success Stories

• Headquartered in Calgary, SMART Technologies is an award-winning company offering innovative education, business and government solutions to help teams learn and collaborate. Perhaps most well-known as the inventor of the SMART Board®, the company has now installed over one million displays world-wide.

• The neuroArm project, based out of the University of Calgary and the Foothills Medical Centre, resulted in the creation of an image-guided, MR-compatible robot arm used for neurosurgery. This highly precise device was the first of its kind and one of the most advanced robotic systems ever developed.

Past Events

• SPTS Technologies Annual Sales Conference 2019

• Polytechnic Canada Annual Showcase 2023

Calgary is the North American hub for the Pacific Northwest by road, air and rail. Our strong business climate and low provincial tax have made Calgary one of the most cost-effective cities to establish a logistics centre. Couple that with one of Canada’s busiest airports, major highway access, and two Class 1 Railroads, and it’s easy to see why the city has become an integral part of the western distribution strategy of many major retailers, and why Calgary is considered a gateway to both regional and global markets.

Success Stories

• One of Calgary’s most well-known success stories, WestJet launched its first flight in 1996. Starting with three planes servicing five destinations, the company now houses a fleet of 150 planes flying over 700 flights a day to over 100 destinations all over the world.

• Attabotics is a Calgary-based company developing robotics technology with the goal of disrupting the goods-to-person supply chain. Founded in 2016, the company designs and manufactures a robotics automated storage and retrieval system used in the e-commerce, logistics, retail, grocery and advanced manufacturing sectors. The company has experienced explosive growth since inception and has been recognized worldwide as one of the most innovative upstarts around.

Past Events

• International Association of Transportation Regulators 2019 Annual Conference

• Canadian Urban Transit Association 2019 Fall Conference and Transit Show