t ’ s been said that the future of business belongs to those who can acquire more skills and apply them in creative ways . Edmonton Metropolitan Region is leading the growth and evolution of many new and emerging industries and there are breakthroughs in sectors such as autonomous vehicles , cleantech , and nanotechnology . AI and machine learning , energy , agriculture and health and life sciences are also among Edmonton ’ s strong suits .

University of Alberta is ranked third in the world for artificial intelligence and hosts the Edmonton-based Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute ( Amii ).

Edmonton is a core member of the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy thanks to expertise from Amii , which partners with global industry leaders , notably Google Brain , IBM , Microsoft Research , and Volkswagen Data Lab .

Edmonton is home to the second fastest growing software company in Canada , Jobber , a scheduling software and app . The city is also home to dynamic companies such as Serious Labs which develops VR training solutions for the global heavy equipment industry ; OENano which uses nanotechnology to create revolutionary products for a number of sectors and Granify which provides a SaaS solution that enables online retailers to maximise their sales by using big data and ML technologies .

TEC Edmonton , founded out of the University of Alberta , is a business working with the tech community to help bring products to market .

DeepMind is a major international company that has collaborated with Edmonton ’ s tech labs . “ To open a lab feels like a natural extension of what we do here in London . It was a big decision for us to open our first non-UK research

lab , and the fact we ’ re doing so in Edmonton is a sign of the deep admiration and respect we have for the Canadian research community ,” said Demis Hassabis co-founder and CEO , DeepMind .

Talent pool Edmonton region represents a rich talent pool and games technology company Improbable general manager for North America , Aaryn Flynn , said : “ We have to go where the talents is and that means we come to the Edmonton Metropolitan Region .”

Edmonton is further showing its tech credential by hosting the NanoCanada From Earth to Space International Conference in June 2022 plus its Virtual Launch Event in October 2021 .

And , in terms of successful events already held , the 2019 SigularityU Canada Summit in April of that year brought 1,126 delegates to Edmonton Convention Centre , joined by 6,000 virtually . It was one of 15 international SU Summits that happened around the world , and highlighted Edmonton ’ s important place in the open data , open government and digital innovation spaces .

Edmonton ’ s historic Rossdale Power Plant ( which has been closed for over 30

Below : The city of Edmonton is a core member of the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy

years ) was the secret venue for SU After Dark , the Summit ’ s official after party .

Oren Berkovich , Singularity U Canada CEO , described bringing that event to Edmonton as “ a big leap of faith , but in hindsight it was the best decision we could have made ”.

And Hoffmann-La Roche Limited ( Roche Canada ) recently launched its Roche AI Centre of Excellence ( CoE ) in the city .

Explore Edmonton in June secured Destination Global Biorisk Advisory Council ® ( GBAC ) STAR™ Accreditation and Maggie Davison , acting CEO , Explore Edmonton , said the accreditation would “ ensure our international airport , major venues and hotels are all working towards the same standards for cleanliness and outbreak prevention ”.

Explore Edmonton ’ s Business Events team has partnered with Edmonton Destination Marketing Hotels to offer a range of perks for business events considering Edmonton as their next host destination , including cash rebates on hotel room nights for events ( T & Cs apply ).

The city boasts more than a million square feet of meetings and event space and is a proud member of the Hybrid City Alliance .

Another reason to take a closer look at the region is the low rate of corporate taxation in Alberta ( 8 %,) compared to other Canadian jurisdictions , and VAT is just 5 %.