Although Calgary is best known as an oil and gas city, the growing aerospace and defense industry has largely flown under the radar.
According to Calgary Economic Development, the city is now home to 158 companies in the aerospace and defense sectors. Industry across the province contributed $3.1 billion to gross domestic product in 2024, according to the agency.
“There's a tremendous amount of defense and aerospace activity going on that most people aren't even aware of,” said Jeff LaFrentz, president of VizWorX, a technology company whose software includes a virtual reality platform that could allow soldiers to hold battle meetings from the safety of their armored vehicles.
LaFrenz said the energy industry tends to “dominate a lot of the discussions,” which can drown out aerospace developments.
This may change.
This week Boeing, Ottawa and Calgary Economic Development announced funding for a new initiative in Calgary to accelerate the commercialization of Canadian defense technologies and help local companies find new customers in the sector.
The company must spend a certain amount of money on the Canadian aerospace and defense industry as part of a contract signed with Ottawa to replace the country's aging maritime patrol aircraft. This is the latest in a string of announcements across Canada and is expected to be just the first of the company's “Alberta-focused announcements,” a Boeing spokesperson said.
Wave of aviation announcements
This comes in a year that also saw a flurry of commercial aviation announcements in the city. Calgary has long been the headquarters of WestJet, the country's second-largest airline, which this year placed its largest aircraft order in history.
Also this year, Lufthansa Technik announced a multibillion-dollar agreement to build an aircraft maintenance center at Calgary Airport, and Canadian Aviation Electronics (CAE) announced it would build a 126,000-square-foot aviation training center in the city.
Meanwhile, De Havilland Canada plans to break ground in the spring on a 1,500-acre aircraft plant 30 minutes east of the city that is expected to become the company's new headquarters.
Nicole Holinati, director of an aircraft maintenance company in Calgaryany HeavyAero, said there is a lot of overlap between the commercial and defense sides of the aerospace industry.try.
“An aircraft engine is an aircraft engine,” Holinati said.
Holinati said the company has recently begun to “enter the defense space,” but a persistent problem is the bureaucratic red tape associated with becoming a defense contractor. She hopes Boeing's commercialization initiative will help them expand their network.
“There are many barriers to bringing your innovations to the defense market,” she said.
It is hoped that this initiative can also bridge the gap between different industries. According to Kimberley, an oil-water separator used in the energy sector could be repurposed for shipbuilding, for example, and a radar system used in defense could be used in the mining industry. Van Vliet, whose organization ConvergX will lead the commercialization program.
People are a barrier
But if the city wants to become a bigger player in the industry, one obstacle may be human resources. De Havilland Canada, for example, employs about 500 engineers, many of whom are approaching retirement age, said Vice President Neil Sweeney.
“That's the one thing that could really hold back the sector… not just in Alberta, but in Canada,” he said.
The company will build a new plant somewhere between Chestermere and Strathmore, which could create up to 1,500 jobs.
The majority of aerospace jobs in this country are concentrated in Quebec, followed by Ontario and Western Canada, according to the study. report University of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. Aeropackelectronic service, representativeThe report said air and overhauls are more common in Western Canada, although it did not identify a specific province.
Montreal is the country's aerospace center (and third largest in the world after Seattle and Toulouse).
Aviation expert John Gradek said that while Calgary is still far from competing with the likes of Montreal, he believes the city is rising in the country's rankings.
However, without more specialized higher education to train a new cohort of aerospace workers, it will be difficult to see the sector grow, he said.
“There is no shortage of opportunities,” said Gradek, a lecturer in supply chain and aviation networks at McGill University. “There's not enough talent.”
However, given that Ottawa has promised to spend more money on defense and prioritize Canada's Domestic Industrial Advantages — there is optimism that the sector as a whole will grow and that Calgary (and Alberta) will get a bigger share of the pie.
“We have an opportunity as a province to really come together on aerospace and defense issues,” said LaFrentz of technology company VizWorX. “I think we can compete with any place in the world if we want to.”
