CCI's Response to Alberta's 2022 Budget

Today, Alberta Finance Minister Travis Toews delivered the 2022 Alberta budget. In response, CCI issued the following statement:

This budget is an innovation budget and it’s a big win for Alberta’s burgeoning technology sector. On behalf of our members, the leaders behind Alberta’s fastest-growing technology firms, we warmly welcome the government’s focus on positioning Alberta to be the best place in Canada to live, work, and scale globally competitive companies.

The technology sector is facing massive skilled talent shortages and demand for workers is increasing, and we are pleased the government heard our concerns. In the budget we applaud the government’s commitment to increasing access to highly skilled talent through a variety of measures, including targeted post-secondary placements for in-demand careers, more co-op and work integrated learning opportunities in the private sector, and supporting the creation of upskilling and micro-credential programs to address labour market gaps. CCI’s members are keen to contribute to the generation, upskilling and retraining of Alberta’s workforce to meet the demands of the digital economy.

We were also encouraged to see the government has put new funding behind its upcoming multi-year Technology and Innovation Strategy. Local innovators are hopeful this financial commitment will spur the development of a Premier’s Innovation Council and long overdue policy frameworks in Alberta, including intellectual property and data strategies, privacy reforms, and updated research, development and commercialization programs. Clear targets, updated investment strategies, and new key performance indicators for provincial innovation intermediaries are critical to ensuring that taxpayers see the greatest return on their public tax dollar investments.

The way to foster long-term prosperity and generate economic value from the 21st century digital economy is by creating the conditions for homegrown technology companies to succeed. Many details in today’s budget still need to be coloured in, but at first blush, it’s clear that the advocacy of the local tech community has made its mark on the economic blueprint of this government. We look forward to working with all members of the Alberta legislature to ensure Alberta’s economic recovery continues to be fuelled by the growth of its homegrown tech sector.

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The Council of Canadian Innovators is a national business council of more than 150 scale-up technology companies headquartered in Canada. Our members are job-creators, philanthropists and leading commercialization experts in the 21st century digital economy. We work closely with the CEOs and C-Suite leaders behind Canada’s most successful companies to develop national strategies that increase access to talent, capital and customers for homegrown firms, and expand their freedom to operate in the global innovation economy.

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Media Contact:

James McLeod

jmcleod@canadianinnovators.org