RBC investing in tech hub, bringing 300 jobs to city
Calgary's technology sector is poised to grow by about 300 jobs this fall as the Royal Bank of Canada expands its investment in the city.
On Wednesday, RBC announced plans for 300 tech hires over the next three years at the company's new Calgary Innovation Hub, which is set to launch in September. The hub will be located within RBC'S current location in Bankers Hall downtown, and job openings are already posted online.
Positions include jobs in “high-demand areas,” such as artificial intelligence, data engineering, full stack agile software delivery, site reliability engineering, machine learning and data analytics, among other skills.
Jeff Boyd, RBC regional president for Alberta and the Territories, said the combination of Calgary rising in the ranks of tech hot spots in North America, the city's strong post-secondary institutions and existing RBC infrastructure tilted the scale in Calgary's favour.
“That sort of can-do entrepreneurial approach and spirit that we all know and love of Calgary, plus it's a great place to live and a great place to attract talent,” Boyd said.
The Calgary hub will join RBC'S global technology and operations team, with offices in locations including Toronto, Minneapolis, London, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The recent $1-billion valuations of companies such as Shareworks, Benevity, RS Energy Group and Parvus Therapeutics are all examples of success stories in Calgary, Boyd said.
The announcement comes as Calgary's tech sector is getting more recognition. A recent CBRE report found Calgary as the second-fastest mover in this year's study, jumping six spots to 28th place. It now ranks behind Philadelphia and Charlotte, and just ahead of Pittsburgh and Kansas City.
The report also noted Calgary saw its technology workforce increase by 18 per cent in the past five years to more than 46,000 employees, with an average annual salary of almost $96,000.
Brad Parry, interim president and CEO of Calgary Economic Development, said the agency has been working with RBC for the past few years on Calgary's growing tech sector.
“We knew this was coming down the pike, and we were thrilled that they've committed to our community,” Parry said.
To have a large corporation like RBC make this investment in Calgary helps “solidify the positioning that we've been talking about for so long,” he said.
“RBC is a global brand, and they have an amazing tech team that works on global challenges. So for them to acknowledge that Calgary is a hub … really helps solidify the positioning that we've been talking about for so long, that Calgary is a place where you should come and set up shop.”
RBC is also looking to help grow the city's future generation of tech workers by pursuing partnerships with companies and institutions. The company has already started conversations around potential work-integrated learning programs with SAIT and Mount Royal, Boyd said.
“How do you cultivate these kinds of programs that create the skills and capabilities in individuals that will be important for these roles?” he said. “Those are the kinds of partnerships where we can work collaboratively together to help continue to build the technology ecosystem.”
Creating such an ecosystem could help foster more interest in tech sectors, especially while skilled labour shortages remain a concern. CBRE'S report noted the total number of computer engineering degrees being completed in Calgary sat at 298, up 63 per cent between 2015-19, but “other tech engineering ” degrees fell by 10 per cent during that time.
Calgary Economic Development is also working on work-integrated programs in partnership with post-secondary institutions and tech companies, Parry said, with details to come.
“We believe everybody in our education system should have an opportunity to do hands-on learning, and we've built out this plan to build a platform that will allow companies to more easily access students that are wanting to get that experience,” he said. “RBC, in making that commitment to work-integrated learning, is huge.”