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
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in U.S. if legal options fail, Reuters sources say
TikTok owner ByteDance would prefer to shut down its loss-making app rather than sell it if the Chinese company exhausts all legal options to fight legislation to ban the platform from app stores in the U.S., four sources said.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Improve balance and build core strength with this exercise
When it comes to cardiovascular fitness, you may tend to focus on activities that move you forward, such as walking, running and cycling.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.