Calgary offers founders a unique entrepreneurial culture and an active, supportive business network.
Known as the “biggest small town in Canada,” Calgary is the ideal place to build a tech company. The economic advantage is hard to ignore. Alberta has no provincial sales tax and has the lowest corporate and small business tax rates in Canada. Further, the cost of living in Calgary is more than 10% lower than other large Canadian cities despite the city having globally competitive tech salaries.
The University of Calgary is Canada’s #1 startup creator and is known as Canada’s entrepreneurial hub. This talent creation generates a vibrant and capable young workforce which startups can easily draw from.
What the numbers don’t fully capture is Calgary’s culture. Numerous founders who have built here describe Calgary as a city where everyone is one or two degrees of separation from a person they need, where cold emails are answered, and where the ecosystem prioritizes collaboration over competition.
For a founder weighing the decision on where to build, Calgary has all the ingredients for success: a low cost structure, the talent and capital access of a major city, and a supportive community. Calgary offers entrepreneurial energy and network access that make it the ideal place to build a tech startup.
“Calgary gave me an opportunity to build a business where I don't think I would have had that same opportunity in other larger centers. This is home for us. This is where we built our business and raised our families. It's a safe place to do that. It's a great place to do that.”
– Jay Gohill, CEO of Arcurve