Toolkit
Edmonton's Diverse Economy
- Edmonton was selected as one of the top 21 intelligent communities by The Intelligent Community Forum in 2008. This was due to the city’s historic establishment of computerized medical records, nanotechnology growth and commercial discoveries that have yielded 70 active spin-off companies and created over 1,000 new jobs.
- Edmonton is strategically located between one of the world’s largest oil reserves and the world’s largest consumer – the US. The region has the advantage of being the transportation and logistics hub for Alberta’s oil, gas and mining sectors.
- Greater Edmonton’s success in the energy sector has spun off into new areas of prosperity including technology, clean energy, manufacturing, production, and transportation.
- The National Institution for Nanotechnology, located on the University of Alberta campus, is Canada’s centre for cutting-edge micro systems and nanotechnology research.
- Edmonton International Airport is the fastest growing airport in Canada; 6.4 million passengers flew through Edmonton International Airport in 2008, an increase of 6.1 per cent from the year before. This marks the third year in a row that Edmonton led the country in passenger growth
- The Conference Board of Canada estimated Edmonton’s personal income per capita in 2009 to have been $44,967. That’s 20 per cent higher than the Canadian average.
- Edmonton Economic Development Corp. was named one of the 2007 Top Canadian economic development Groups by Site Selection Magazine.
- Edmonton has an educated, entrepreneurial workforce of well over 600,000.
- NAIT Northern Alberta Institute of Technology trains more apprentices than any other institution in Canada, with a 95per cent employability rate.
- Maclean’s Magazine voted the University of Alberta as the Canadian University with the #1 best overall reputation in 2006.
- The University of Alberta is the second top-funded research university in Canada.
