IBM expanding Calgary facility, will create 250 new jobs
IBM Canada will be opening a new client innovation centre in Calgary, and said its creation will generate 250 new jobs.
The new client innovation centre will service all of Western Canada and will be located in a portion of the 25,000 square-foot office IBM currently occupies in the Beltline.
"We will be renovating and reinvigorating that space to make it even more amazing to collaborate with our client and new employees that we're going to be hiring," said Laura Hartwell, vice president Western Canada for IBM.
Jobs created will be in artificial intelligence, hybrid cloud, 5G and security – including application developers, business and transformation analysts, testers and project managers.
The company said the centre will play an important role in contributing to Alberta's economic growth.
"It will accelerate innovation in sustainable practices and advance the position of Alberta as a hub for energy transformation," said Dave McCann, president of IBM Canada, in a Wednesday release.
Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek said the expansion of IBM in the downtown core is "yet another signal of confidence in our city's growing tech sector."
She later added, these investments are instrumental in achieving our goal of creating more than 1000 new tech companies in our city over the next decade."
The city contributed $5 million for the launch as part of its Opportunity Investment Fund. The province matched that amount as part of the "Jobs Now" program.
Premier Jason Kenney said IBM noticed the Alberta advantage, and is helping diversify the economy.
"(IBM has) been looking at the whole range of incentives, the tax structure, availability of incentives for skilled labour, the labour market situation, the training picture in the region," he said.
The Calgary Chamber of Commerce said the announcement is validating for a city that has endured seven years of economic instability, as companies packed up downtown offices.
Chamber President and CEO Deb Yedlin said attracting deals like this requires strategic moves.
"Sometimes you have to spend money to attract businesses. That's what we need to do more often, I would argue, in Calgary and in Alberta," said Yedlin to CTV News on Wednesday.
She later added, "This is a game that is played everywhere. It's played around the world. And we need to be part of that game. This is table stakes."
According to a report from Calgary Economic Development and international data corporation (IDC) Canada, Alberta's spending on digital transformation is expected to surpass $20 billion by 2024, of which Calgary businesses will account for nearly $7.5 billion, which represents an average growth of 13 per cent across all industries.
IBM said internal recruiting is underway, with the jobs being added over the next five years.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.