Uplook: An Action Plan for our Economy

Simply put, a city-level economic strategy creates a framework for organizations within a city, including community and business members, civic partners and all levels of government, to intentionally work towards economic prosperity for all citizens both within a city, including those is surrounding areas and Indigenous communities in the region.

An economic strategy ensures that we are always future-looking, assessing the landscape for potential risks and opportunities for Calgary. It creates shared priorities and goals for all community members to work towards to ensure our city’s economy continues to grow and we continue to be an opportunity-rich city.

As we continued to work with the community to drive progress on key priorities within the strategy, many agreed the name no longer resonated. It was unclear to what the “new economy” referred, when we would reach it and who would be included.

As a City strategy it’s vital all Calgarians see themselves in the strategy and this name wasn’t inclusive. It didn’t embody the essence of where we are as a city nor our aspiration for the next 10 years. “Calgary in the New Economy” also didn’t feel relevant, current, future-focused, bold, optimistic or memorable. We needed a name that would rally the community around the ambitious vision for Calgary “to be the place where bright minds and big ideas come together with an unmatched spirit to help solve global challenges.”

Keeping all this in mind the strategy was rebranded to: Uplook: An Action Plan for Our Economy.

The name “Uplook” invites us to look ahead to the horizon, to what is possible for our economy. Turning notion to action, Uplook is an action plan describing how we can collectively move forward to forge a city with long-term prosperity and opportunities for all of us. The name “Uplook” is unique and ownable, a word that hasn’t yet been used in this context anywhere else and one our community can use for our own. Other cities may have economic outlooks, but Calgary has an Uplook: An Action Plan for Our Economy to guide how we intentionally and collaboratively diversify our economy.

While the name and branding has changed, the content remains the same.

The strategy is a multi-year strategy as changes to an economy and economic impacts are long-term transitions requiring consistent investment over time. The strategy is reviewed regularly based on multiple factors, including but not limited to, national, international, and local economic landscape world/global events, progress on the strategy and time elapsed since the strategy was last updated.

When developing the strategy several potential futures and outcomes were considered, and the priorities weighed against those scenarios. This process created confidence that the economic drivers and the corresponding priorities in the strategy are the right ones to move Calgary’s economy forward in a future-proofed, resilient way for the foreseeable future. By testing the strategy with potential futures, we are exploring the implications of unexpected events on Calgary’s economy.

This testing is done on a consistent basis to keep pace with the constantly changing economic landscape and potential impacts.

The current iteration of the city’s economic strategy was developed in 2018 and refreshed in 2022 based on pressure-testing with the community in 2021. It is good practice to review strategies at regular intervals to evaluate the relevance, resilience, and their adaptability. With disruptions exacerbated by world challenges such as COVID-19 and the fall of oil prices, it was time to see if Calgary’s strategy was still addressing the needs of Calgarians.

In 2021 and 2022 over 720 community members were engaged through online surveys, open houses, and focus groups. Feedback and learnings from these engagements has led to the current version of the strategy.

“Calgary is the place where bright minds and big ideas come together with an unmatched spirit to help solve global challenges”. This is the vision of Uplook: An Action Plan for Our Economy.  The economic strategy is a framework for our city to work in a coordinated, interconnected way, in line with other key strategies and City priorities (eg. City Council priorities, Downtown Strategy, Climate Strategy, ImagineCalgary, etc.), to achieve the vision.

Everyone in the city has a role to play, regardless of sector/area of expertise/interest. The work we do, how we show up, our own goals and work align in some way with the different priorities within the economic strategy. The strategy aims to highlight points of intersection, ensuring we’re all on the same page while collectively and intentionally working towards outlined priorities.

The strategy is also a tool that allows for creative collaborations and collisions between organizations that may not have thought about working together before. It brings people together.

There are numerous community and business members from different sectors that are involved in achieving Calgary’s economic strategy. Not to mention all levels of government. These groups advance the goals and priorities of the economic strategy through work within their organizations and/or through supporting with and working on Transformational Initiatives. Please see the Uplook: An Action Plan for Our Economy 2024 Annual Progress Report for a more complete list of who’s involved.

Examples of a small selection of organizations and how they’re involved:

• Calgary Arts Development Association – supporting Calgary’s goal to be an inviting city with year-round experiences for everyone to enjoy by supporting the research being done on the Experience Economy, to better support and fund arts programming for all.
• Platform Calgary – a key partner in building an environment where Calgary companies can accelerate and scale to compete globally, including their contribution to the development of an Innovation District in Calgary.
• City of Calgary – advancing several areas of the economic strategy through various departments, including championing efficient and effective policies supporting business practices by reviewing permitting processes and developing resources to better address needs of business owners.
• Downtown Association – creating a city where everyone is welcome, safe and able to build a meaningful life by advancing the work of the Greater Downtown Plan.
• YYC Calgary International Airport – building a globally and digitally connected city, both by being a transportation hub for direct flights but also cargo deliveries.

While every Calgarian may not be directly involved, the impact of the economic strategy and its transformational initiatives reaches all Calgarians.

All the work we do collectively advances the priorities within the strategy. On an annual basis, Calgary Economic Development, in partnership with many community organizations across the city, reports on progress towards achievement of the strategy. Progress is measured both qualitatively, through stories of ways our city drove economic development across the five drivers of the strategy (talent, innovation, business environment, livability and brand), and quantitatively, through key performance indicators outlined in the strategy.

Uplook broadens the way we see and measure our city’s economy. A holistic view of an economy recognizes several components make up a prosperous economy. Factors such as how the people in a city learn, quality of life, the recognition and perception of a place, and innovativeness of a place. National governments around the world, like Scotland and New Zealand, have begun to look holistically at their country’s well-being rather than simply economic indicators.

This approach has been taken with Calgary’s economic strategy. While economic impacts are tracked and measured, other impacts are tracked, including but not limited to:

• Economic participation of newcomers
• Education levels
• Quality of life perceptions
• Accessible recreation programs and participation
• Physical and digital connectivity
• Number of venture deals and capital investments

Calgary Economic Development is responsible for annual reporting on progress, including qualitative and quantitative measures, every May and presented to City Council. Year over year KPI data allows us to see trends and patterns. We can learn from both the areas where we’re doing well and in those that have room for improvement to inform programs, initiatives, etc. to support continued growth and progress.

A copy of the annual progress report can be found here: 2024 Annual Progress Report

Calgary Economic Development is the steward of the economic strategy. This includes ensuring the strategy is resilient and relevant, reporting on progress and supporting organizations across the city, including community and business members, civic partners and all levels of government achieve the vision set out in the strategy.

Uplook: An Action Plan for Our Economy is not Calgary Economic Development’s strategy, it is Calgary’s economic strategy. As the city’s economic strategy, it is a community effort where realizing the vision and outcomes outlined within Uplook is the work of all Calgarians.

All Calgarians contribute to and are impacted by the economic strategy. The economic strategy features key drivers and priorities within each driver critical for the successful growth of Calgary’s economy. As people who live, work, and play within this amazing city, it is important to know community and business members, civic partners, and all levels of government are actively working towards achieving these priorities.

The strategy also includes key performance indicators to measure progress. These are important indicators to see how well our city is doing in a diverse range of areas, not just those that are traditionally talked about when thinking of economic prosperity. Data around metrics like perceptions of safety, affordable housing, accessibility, diversity, skills training, connectivity, and growth in different sectors tells a more comprehensive story about our city’s economy than gross domestic product or employment data. In the end, driving towards these priorities and outcomes makes Calgary a great place to live for everyone, those already here and those that will make their home here in the future.

Beyond learning and understanding the economic priorities, organizations can get involved in Uplook in a variety of ways:

1. Complete the Uplook survey.
2. Attend quarterly New Economy LIVE events.
3. Add your events to the Calgary Economic Development events page for visibility.
4. Interact with us on social media: LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube
5. Connect with us directly through email if there are specific areas of the strategy that interest your organization, including supporting with a transformational initiative.
6. Incorporate priorities and key performance indicators from the strategy into your own organizational priorities and metrics when possible.

The strategy is revisited every few years, depending on what’s happening in the world. Feedback on the strategy is collected regularly and open to anyone. Please contribute your thoughts through the Uplook survey.

Through the survey you can indicate your desire to be contacted during future community consultations and revisions of the strategy.