Our province's most valuable resource is brains
Skilled talent key to future success, Robert Miller writes.
In the late '90s, I remember my in-laws debating the Alberta Advantage versus the Celtic Tiger:
Glenn: “Alberta's resource revenues will drive growth in Alberta for decades. What resources does Ireland have to sustain (economic) growth?”
Daniel: “Ireland only needs one resource. We have brains!”
Twenty years later, Alberta's economy is at a crossroads. Alberta has a highly educated workforce and yet our minds seem to be valued less than the province's energy resources. Finance Minister Travis Toews stated during the 2021 budget announcements, “Some suggest diversifying the economy requires a transition from our traditional sectors such as energy. Let me be clear, Mr. Speaker. That is not this government's position.”
Alberta is falling behind while much of the world transitions to a technological and carbon-free future. Iron and Earth, a notfor-profit established by petroleum industry workers, calls for a green recovery and actively promotes the retraining of fossil fuel workers for careers in solar and wind energy. Environmental Defence Canada's “Steady Path” report makes a case for winding down Alberta's fossil fuel industry in a controlled manner over the next 20 years. Both organizations believe a planned transition will be more successful than a late reaction to new global economic realities.
In this changing world, Alberta's most promising future lies in the same resource that delivered the Celtic Tiger to Ireland — our brains.
Alberta has a clear opportunity. We are facing a growing demand for digitally skilled talent. According to the report, “A Digital Future for Alberta” from the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC), Alberta companies are looking to fill 9,000 new tech-sector jobs by 2023, bringing the workforce in the digital economy to nearly 80,000 workers. This is already over half the size of the current energy sector workforce.
A study by venture capitalists Alberta Enterprise Corporation revealed over 1,200 technology companies existed in Alberta in 2018, excluding publicly traded companies like Telus. One quarter of those had revenues in excess of $1 million and employed over 25 people. The companies were diversified among the following markets: software companies (40 per cent), life sciences (13 per cent), clean tech (11 per cent), energy tech (10 per cent), and industrial (nine per cent).
The digital economy in Alberta is small in comparison to B.C., Ontario, and Quebec, but these numbers show we have a viable and growing industry. Tech companies have proven that they are resilient and can experience exponential growth. Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google now have a combined market cap of nearly US$6 trillion.
In comparison, the top five North American oil and gas companies have a market cap of less than US$700 billion, and growth has stalled since 2015.
Technology jobs are high-paying and less prone to boom/bust cycles. The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta's most recent salary survey indicates that entry-level positions for engineers in the tech sector are in the mid $60,000 range, and senior engineer salaries exceed $100,000 per year. Skills and experience gained in the digital economy are in demand across Canada and around the world. These skills are also transferable between markets such as artificial intelligence, robotics, cryptocurrencies, network security, entertainment and financial services.
Alberta needs to invest wisely in businesses that will continue to grow as global economies transform to address the climate crisis. Cutting funding to universities and eliminating 2,000 teaching jobs when 20,000 new students are entering the K-12 system is absolute folly when there is already a digital skills shortage in Alberta. In July 2019, Alberta's world-class Machine Intelligence Institute had $100 million in funding cut, while the UCP considered if it was “fiscally responsible.”
Nearly two years later they still haven't decided. It is time to start moving subsidies, investment, and tax breaks into sectors of our economy where growth is less of a gamble.
It's time to start investing in the one Alberta resource the world will demand for decades to come — our brains.