Young. Educated. Growing
Western Economic Diversification Canada has announced over $27 million in new investments for 23 projects across the Edmonton region. “A diversified economy is important to our ability to seize opportunities in the rapidly changing global economy,” said Navdeep Bains, minister of innovation, science, and economic development. “These investments will help position Edmonton and surrounding areas to prosper from their unique advantages.” Organizations receiving investment include Willowglen Systems Ltd., which makes industrial automation technology, and the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii), which aims to “establish viable uses for artificial intelligence and machine learning in health and data analytics.”
Jobber has been named the 2nd fastest growing software company in Canada on the 30th annual Growth 500 ranking published by Canadian Business and Maclean’s. The company ranked 7th overall, the highest of the sixteen local companies to make the list. Jobber qualified for the list with 10,290% growth since 2015 and 2018 revenue in the $20-50 million range. The company was also named to the 2019 Best Workplaces list in the technology sector. Earlier this month, Jobber introduced a large product update bringing new growth-focused features and automation capabilities to its offerings.
Edmonton’s official city population is 972,223 as of April 1, 2019, an increase of 72,776 over the last municipal census in 2016. The City of Edmonton said that represents an average growth rate of 2.6% annually. “This is a great sign for Edmonton,” said mayor Don Iveson as he announced the results of the 2019 Municipal Census at City Hall on Thursday, Sept. 5. “One of the highlights of our census is that we continue to have one of the youngest populations in Canada.”
The Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) has announced the first cohort of Innovation Affiliates participating in the newly launched Amii Innovates program. Nearly two dozen businesses were selected “based on their readiness for machine intelligence adoption and potential for commercial success,” including 2S Water, DrugBank, Frettable, MEDO.ai, SAM, and Testfire Labs. Through the program, Amii works with Alberta-based businesses to grow their internal machine intelligence capabilities.
Cargo volumes at the Edmonton International Airport (EIA) are up nearly 5% year-over-year “in a world economy that has about a 6% decline in cargo,” says Myron Keehn, vice-president of air service and commercial development at EIA. Cargo traffic at EIA has grown 18% over the past decade and the airport is in the process of being the only Canadian airport with the International Air Transport Association’s certificate for Center of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV), “otherwise known as the international gold standard for pharmaceutical air shipping.”
“Aurora Cannabis Inc. sold almost double the amount of cannabis and reported a 52% increase in net revenue in its latest fiscal quarter, results that were mostly in line with what the Edmonton-based licensed producer had forecast a month ago. The company attributed the substantial increase in cannabis production and sales to its Aurora Sky facility near Edmonton International Airport, which received full licensing from Health Canada in late February this year.” |
