Quick! If I say Calgary, what is the first thing you think? Mountains? Stampede? Or was your first thought oil and gas? My guess is the latter, and no surprise. For decades, Calgary has been considered the energy capital of Canada: a massive oil and gas engine that not only supports economic stability for Canadian governments, corporations and employees but has been the foundation and focus of education and innovation in the province. While it is true that, for generations, natural resources have been the fuel that have powered business and the workforce in Alberta, things are changing and changing fast.
According to Todd Hirsch, VP and Chief Economist at ATB Financial, “The energy sector in Alberta is taking on a different role. It’s no longer the growth engine it used to be … It’s very important, but the growth in Alberta and Calgary is going to come from other sectors.” Calgary is in the midst of an exciting expansion of industry, with less concentration on natural resource extraction and more focus on high-tech industries. Doug Schweitzer, Alberta’s Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation, reports that the province’s tech sector went from 1,200 to more than 3,000 tech companies between 2018 and 2020.
Yet, such a significant pivot from a predominantly resource-based economy to a more high-tech, digital one requires employees with technology-focused skillsets, which begs the questions:
- Where are these highly skilled, tech-savvy employees coming from?
- What are government, business and educational institutions doing to prepare them for in-demand roles in the rapidly expanding high-tech sector?
- And how are we helping find the right positions for the right people with the right skills?
Challenge and change
Over the past several years, two massive and difficult global situations hit the workforce in Alberta like a sledgehammer. First, in 2019, a decrease in oil and gas demand compounded by a high amount of U.S. shale oil inventory caused oil and gas prices to plummet, causing thousands of layoffs and business closures. In a 2019 year-end report, the Conference Board of Canada noted, “Difficult operating conditions in the energy sector led many oil and gas companies to slash their 2019 spending plans, deleverage debt and focus on shoring up their financial positions.”
Then, in 2020, COVID-19 struck. Between December 2019 and December 2020, Alberta lost nearly 133,000 positions, with the natural resources sector suffering the steepest job losses on record.
As a young, diverse, educated population, Albertans recognized the importance of leveraging their professional experience and reinvesting in their future. As one former oil and gas employee told the Calgary Herald, “We can either sit here and keep waiting and hoping for that oil and gas job to come — and in the meantime, we’ll continue to be unemployed — or we pivot and start to diversify.” The conditions created by unstable oil and gas prices and a global pandemic have revealed this unexpected, untapped highly skilled workforce who are beginning to transition into new industries, with the focus on high-tech sectors.
Preparing workers
Government, business and post-secondary institutions have responded to the changing landscape of work with investments of money and resources, including the creation of digital transformation hubs and schools to train and upskill an emerging tech-savvy workforce. The response has been overwhelming. In 2019, Calgary Economic Development launched a six-week Bootcamp called EDGE UP aimed at reskilling and upskilling laid-off energy professionals. Offering 100 seats for the first two cohorts, EDGE UP received 1,400 applications. This two-year pilot project was so successful that Future Skills Centre invested nearly $5.4 million for EDGE UP 2.0 to provide career technology training for displaced oil and gas professionals.
As the investment in the tech industry grows – nearly doubling year over year – the investment in training continues to grow as well. Three of Calgary’s largest post-secondary institutions are turning their attention and capital to this pivotal change: Mount Royal University created the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to support and provide mentors for the development of the high-impact talent; the University of Calgary has created the University Innovation Quarter to house five key groups that make up Innovate Calgary, an innovation transfer and business incubator; and in 2020, SAIT, the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, received a $30 million donation to help establish the School for Advanced Digital Technology (SADT). Working closely with industry experts to develop and deliver cutting-edge digital programming, SADT’s goal is to produce digitally savvy work-ready graduates with the knowledge, skills and practical hands-on experience they need to flourish in the digital work world.
Right people, right jobs
Yet, training alone is not the answer. Finding the right people with the right skills for the right positions is a task shared by businesses, career professionals and educational institutions. It begins by recognizing and addressing the two-fold needs happening simultaneously: the world of work is changing at a breakneck speed, leaving many people under- or unemployed, and Calgary is facing a huge gap in tech talent.
Bridging that gap requires people and organizations invested in education and employment to collaborate and support the building and sustainability of an engaged, educated workforce. In consultation with career specialists, post-secondary institutions in Calgary are stepping up. Mount Royal University’s Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship has developed Designing You, a comprehensive series of resources to help guide and support students in identifying, pursuing and finding meaningful employment. The University of Calgary has introduced the Elevate platform to “enhance, support and guide the academic and professional journey of students” through connection and collaboration with partners off campus. And the post-secondary centre of digital transformation in Calgary, SAIT’s School for Advanced Digital Technology, strives to connect graduates with high-tech careers through close, collaborative relationships with career professionals. Including initiatives like the creation of a Skills Mapping Tool helps graduates recognize and highlight their breadth of knowledge and enables career professionals to use the tool to scrutinize the skills graduates bring from other professions or industries.
There is a monumental shift happening in the nature of work in Alberta – a shift that is putting pressure on businesses and people – but Albertans are a resilient bunch and are embracing the change. Leading the charge, career professionals, post-secondary institutions, government and industry are working together to ensure that those wanting or needing to retrain or upskill can find a dynamic, in-demand careers in the fast-growing digital industry. Though collaboration, shared investment and commitment, Alberta has perhaps discovered an empowered, educated workforce is a natural resource worth more than oil.
