Canada
Edmonton All In
dmonton, Alberta is a
powerhouse for
cardiovascular research and
treatment and a city offering
strong suits in Life Sciences and
Innovation. These components helped the
city win its bid to host the Canadian
Cardiovascular Congress (October 2020),
a congress set to bring 3,000 delegates
and create an economic impact of over
CAD$3m.
Edmonton’s world-class universities
have also enabled Canada’s fifth biggest
city to become a global hub for machine
learning and AI research.
The city’s whole academic ecosystem
provides organisers with access to
renowned faculties and institutions.
In 2017, DeepMind, a British company
at the forefront of machine learning,
chose Edmonton for its first laboratory
outside the UK and Royal Bank of
Canada’s R&D lab, Borealis AI, has
established a lab in Edmonton.
“Great minds attract great minds,” said
Mario Nascimento, Professor and Chair
of the University of Alberta’s Department
of Computing Science and Glen
Vanstone, Vice-President of Enterprise
Edmonton at the city’s inward
development agency, says the city is
becoming “a gravity well for talent and
companies in the AI field”.
clients plant-based menu options, opt-ins
to donation programmes and carbon
offsets.
Unique venues in the region include
Métis Crossing, which celebrates the
story of the Métis indigenous group
through traditional crafts, tours, and food
experiences.
There is also Fort Edmonton Park,
currently undergoing a CAD$165m
expansion. It provides a variety of
multi-functional event spaces.
The Royal Alberta Museum has
7,618sqm of exhibition space and Rogers
Place, created to be the home of the
Edmonton Oilers, is more than just an
NHL arena, although The Hall of Fame
contains full-size replicas of five Stanley
Cups.
From stars on the ice to stars in the
sky: Edmonton is the northernmost
metropolis in Canada, and a great place
for stargazing with clear winter skies,
and incredible views of the aurora
borealis.
And the natural theme continues:
Thirty-five minutes east of Edmonton
CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
Canada MICE stats
Below: Cool post-
event pursuits east
of Edmonton
Of 1.3m delegates, 36% are drawn
from international organisations
with 365,258 (80%) coming from
the USA.
71% of the major conference
business is association and 29%
corporate.
As one of Canada’s youngest and
fastest growing cities, Edmonton
has a ready-to-go talent pool.
Between 2011 and 2016,
Edmonton’s population grew
13.9%, nearly triple the overall
Canadian growth rate.
Cannabis conferencing?
Currently, Canada is the only
country in North America where
the cultivation of industrial hemp is
legal and Edmonton claims to be a
leader in the cannabis industry that
is estimated to be worth more than
$8bn.
Edmonton is also No.9 on the
Top Global Sports Cities Index. It
is the only Canadian city listed.
Venues
Edmonton has over 60,000sqm of
convention centre space, including the
Edmonton EXPO Centre, with
48,500sqm of flexible meeting space, and
Edmonton Convention Centre, the
largest meeting venue downtown with
2,900 guest rooms within walking
distance.
A CAN$10.8m atrium modernisation
project at The Edmonton Convention
Centre’s is due for completion by
mid-2020.
The Edmonton Convention Centre’s
Responsible Meetings Programme offers
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lies a wild oasis, ideal for hiking, skating,
skiing and even bison spotting at Elk
Island National Park.
With grizzly bears, waterfalls, canyons
and glacier-fed lakes also worth spotting,
a split itinerary including a couple of
nights in the city before heading out to
the Rocky Mountains of Jasper National
Park or Canada’s Northern Territories
offer the ultimate Canadian experience.
They also call Edmonton ‘Festival
City’ due to its hosting 50 festivals
annually.
And Edmonton’s ICE District will be
the largest mixed-use sports and
entertainment district in Canada when
complete.
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ISSUE 105