Billion-dollar companies abound in Alberta
Province home to 52 of 169 top revenue-generating companies
CALGARY — Alberta accounts for just over 11 per cent of Canada’s population but it is home to nearly 31 per cent of the country’s billion-dollar firms, says a study released Wednesday by the Centre for Digital Entrepreneurship and Economic Performance.
Of the country’s 169 public billion-dollar firms, 52 are based in Alberta and the report said the province has nearly 3.2 times as many of these firms as Ontario on a per-capita basis.
“To be able to build a business and make it to the $1-billion revenue threshold, you need a comparative advantage,” said Pierre Cleroux, chief economist and vicepresident of research for the Business Development Bank of Canada, which was one of four organizations that commissioned the study. “And I think Alberta has one in energy … There’s a strong advantage in Alberta.
“Having said that, it’s one thing to have the resource but it’s another thing to grow a business to that level. So it’s also because entrepreneurs are talented and they are also eager to build the business. It’s a combination of both.”
The report, which evaluated 169 publicly traded firms with revenues over $1 billion, said 41 energy and natural resources billion-dollar firms are headquartered in Alberta, representing 82 per cent of Canada’s billion-dollar firms active in those industries.
Between 2003 and 2012, 25 public oil and gas firms made it to the billion-dollar category and 22 of them are based in Alberta.
The report said sectors such as engineering and transportation as well as retail and wholesale are also showing growth in billion-dollar firms.
The report was commissioned through a partnership between the BDC, the Canadian Digital Media Network, Export Development Canada and Industry Canada.
Cleroux said the most significant impediments to growth in Alberta, particularly for young firms, appear to be non-financial.
They include access to management talent with experience at the international level, access to mentoring and better branding of Canada as an investment destination.