calgary
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Inside Calgary's $20 Million Bet on a Billion-Dollar Year
Calgary Economic Development spent C$19.95 million in 2025 to make the city easier to choose. Its product is not a building or an app - it is the well-timed introduction that turns a spreadsheet into a site visit, a hire or an export deal.
Platform Calgary gives startup ambition a street address
Inside a downtown innovation centre, Calgary is putting founders, mentors and investors within walking distance. The harder job is turning those introductions into paying customers.
The 50-Year-Old Warranty Program Selling Alberta Builders Something Pricier Than Insurance: Trust
A voluntary builder pact became part insurer, part referee and part trade school. Its most useful product may be the feedback loop that catches expensive construction problems before they multiply.
Bennett Jones Built a 104-Year Moat Where Canada Gets Complicated
The Calgary-born firm turned resource-law fluency into a national business platform. Its most useful lesson is not to offer everything - it is to earn one difficult wedge, then follow clients into every adjacent problem.
The Teachers Who Bet $25,000 on One House - Then Built a 20,000-Home Machine
Cardel Homes survived Calgary's dollar-house recession by learning when to specialize, when to spread out and when to own more of the customer journey. Its 50-year playbook is useful far beyond homebuilding.
ATCO’s 15-Trailer Playbook for Building What Everyone Needs - and Surviving What Breaks
ATCO grew from 15 utility trailers into a C$28 billion-asset group by pairing dependable networks with buildings that can move. Its next test is whether that same portfolio logic can absorb grid bottlenecks, policy uncertainty and a C$2.9 billion pipeline bet.
The Startup That Turns Factory Exhaust Into a Power Plant - and Bills Nobody For It
Up to 58% of the energy fed into heavy industry escapes as waste heat. Kanin Energy built a business model that catches it, converts it to power, and hands the factory a check instead of an invoice.
The Airline That Started With Three Planes and a Grudge Against Airfare
It began in 1996 with three secondhand jets and a plan to undercut everyone. Today WestJet carries millions of Canadians a year - and it is still arguing that cheap seats and warm service do not have to be a contradiction.