Calgary is home to innovative companies exporting cross-sector solutions to clients around the world.
For more than 20 years, H2Safety has been helping companies, and now communities, prepare for and manage emergencies.
The Calgary-based company specializes in emergency response plan development, safety training and software solutions that help organizations manage and respond to critical incidents.
"We exist to protect. If we do our job right and an emergency happens, a company and its team will know exactly what to do,” said Steve Sinclair-Smith, President of H2Safety Services Inc.
With support from the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund’s (OCIF) Express program, H2Safety is accelerating its transformation into a data-driven business, modernizing how emergency management is delivered while creating high-skill jobs in Calgary.
Why Calgary?
Calgary has been a strategic base for H2Safety’s growth since its inception in 2004.
As the energy capital of Canada, Calgary's high concentration of energy companies created a natural demand for emergency planning and preparedness. Regulatory requirements in the sector reinforced the need for organizations to have comprehensive emergency response plans and training programs in place.
H2Safety’s founder quickly identified this opportunity, building a company around a combination of emergency management expertise and technology-enabled solutions.
The Blue Sky City also provided access to the skilled talent needed to grow.
"Calgary attracts and retains a lot of really strong talent from within and outside of Canada," said Charman Cross, Human Resources Manager at H2Safety. "You can have all the business in front of you that you want, but you also need a workforce that can execute on that."
In Calgary, just 41 per cent of tech talent works directly in the technology industry, meaning many are applying their digital skills in energy, financial services, agribusiness and health care. This combination of industry knowledge and digital expertise has helped companies like H2Safety grow in traditionally non-tech sectors.
Today, H2Safety has serviced more than 3,000 customers, exporting Calgary-built solutions to markets around the globe.
That growth caught the attention of SGS Canada, the world's largest testing, inspection and certification company, which acquired H2Safety in 2025. Following the acquisition, H2Safety has continued to operate from its Calgary headquarters with the same leadership team, workforce and hiring practices focused in the city and surrounding area.
"H2Safety appealed to SGS because we have a good company and a good product," said Sinclair-Smith. "Being in Calgary was also a factor because there's a lot of opportunities and business to be had here. With the support of SGS acting as a catalyst, we can continue to expand across Canada, into the U.S. and even globally."
Modernizing emergency preparedness with data
As H2Safety has grown, emergency management has become a field powered by technology and the ability to manage real-time and constantly evolving data.
Many of the company’s clients manage thousands of assets that can change year-to-year. Keeping their emergency response plans current requires sophisticated data management and digital tools, including cutting-edge GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping and incident response software and communications.
Sinclair-Smith explains that H2Safety’s GIS and data capabilities allow clients to see not only their own assets, but the people, infrastructure and communities around them.
“In the event of an emergency, that information helps companies understand who may be affected and gives them the ability to communicate with those individuals in a worst-case scenario.”
OCIF Express funding accelerates hiring
To support its next phase of growth, H2Safety launched the LEAPS project, which focused on modernizing how the company delivers emergency management services and manages data.
With OCIF Express funding, H2Safety hired key roles in engineering, GIS, training, IT and data management. The investment allowed the company to speed up hiring and advance the LEAPS project simultaneously, rather than in a fragmented timeline.
As a result, H2Safety has been able to improve automation and deliver engineering and mapping services faster and more reliably.
“The ten hires built out all three of our core offerings at the same time — response planning, training and software. We could not have done that sequentially,” said Sinclair-Smith.
"In this time of pressure on the bottom line and to do more with less, the funding helped us do things quicker and get results faster. It was perfect timing to inject some capital into the project and get the people we needed in place.”
What's next for H2Safety?
Although its origins lie in the energy sector, H2Safety is expanding its presence in industries like mining, agriculture and community emergency management.
The company is looking to help communities prepare for what to do in the face of natural disasters like wildfires.
"Through managing data, providing a plan and training people on the plan, a community can react to natural disasters like a flood or a fire,” explained Sinclair-Smith. “But the truth is, any industry and any community can have an emergency, and our goal is to help people prepare.”
For H2Safety, completing the LEAPS implementation is also a near-term priority, followed by expanding automation and AI-supported workflows and continuing to create opportunities for skilled workers in Calgary.
Thanks in part to OCIF support, the organization now has the right people in place to make that happen.
OCIF’s strategic investments unlock opportunities for Calgarians and accelerate economic growth and innovation across key sectors. Learn more about OCIF’s impact here.