Calgary has been known as Canada’s economic powerhouse. The city has had the strongest performing urban economy in the nation for many of the past 10 years, and is expected to stay at the top – or close to it – through 2016.
The economy has grown faster than any other major city in the country. Calgary has had the highest average annual and second highest total GDP growth over the past 10 years.
The superlatives tell the story. Of the six biggest cities in Canada, Calgary has:
The most productive and best-paid workforce
The highest personal income and the greatest purchasing power
A lower cost of living than either Toronto or Vancouver
The second lowest unemployment rate (2011)
The second highest total retail sales growth over the past 10 years
Calgary is the capital of Canada’s energy industry, and has been for close to 50 years. The city is home to many of Canada’s oil and gas producers, and is the decision-making hub and head office location of every energy company doing business in this country.
Increasingly, Calgary is becoming a global centre for all things energy, with a strong representation of coal companies, as well as organizations working in alternative energies, green power and environmental technologies.
The product and service needs of the energy industry have been the catalyst for diversification and development of other sectors of Calgary’s economy, industries that are now acknowledged internationally for innovation and leadership.
These key sectors include financial services, transportation and logistics, film and creative industries, niche information and communications technologies, manufacturing, agri-business, health and wellness, and tourism.
And, as both a contributing cause and result of Calgary’s economic strength, the city has the most favourable personal and corporate tax structure in the country, and one of the most favourable in North America.