It’s been more than 40 years since I first arrived at the University of Calgary as a young biology professor. In the mid-1980s, Calgary was less than half its current size. It had a small town feel with big city ambitions. Just bursting with potential.
As Calgary has grown and matured, so too have the institutions that serve it. Over those generations, university education has helped equip young people with the skills to build meaningful lives, provided evidence-based advice in moments of challenge, and developed highly skilled workers and entrepreneurs to drive our economy to new heights.
When the University of Calgary opened its doors in 1966, there were just over 4,000 students. Today, in our 60th year, more than 38,000 learners are preparing for their careers here. Our graduates occupy C-suites downtown, conduct surgeries in our hospitals, lead political offices, and fuel the innovation ecosystem of our economy. That’s because so many of our graduates choose to stay.
We have over 120,000 living in the city right now and will graduate about 75,000 more in the next decade.
Now, the milestone of a two-million-person city is on the horizon. The question before us is not simply how big we become, but how well we prepare for what comes next.
The test is simple: will the next generation be better off than the one that came before?
We are up for the challenge. Our Calgary community, donors and partners have voted with their precious time and resources to build a UCalgary powerhouse that creates new knowledge every day, empowers students with leadership and disciplinary skills, and mobilizes those assets as quickly as possible as one of Canada’s leading entrepreneurial universities. We will continue to support vital aspects of quality of life and economic prosperity for those two million Calgarians.
Talent will be decisive. Education is human capital, and human capital translates directly into competitiveness, productivity, and living standards.
Calgary already has one of the most highly educated populations in the country. Calgary Economic Development reports that 68 per cent of the city’s workforce has post-secondary education. In fact, we have the highest percentage of post-secondary graduates with STEM degrees of all major Canadian cities. Combine that with the fact that roughly 70 per cent of Calgary’s labour force is in the prime working age range of 25 to 54, and the foundations for long term success are clear.
Maintaining that advantage, however, will require intention. Across Alberta, roughly 43,000 additional post-secondary seats will be needed over the next decade just to keep pace with population demand. We’ll need to add 10,000 here at the University of Calgary over the next few years.
This investment will be worth it, and discoveries will be definitive. At their core, research universities are economic engines. We develop the talent our economy needs and ideas that fuel economic prosperity and diversification; it is our responsibility to anticipate where that economy is headed. Think the brain economy. Think quantum computing and cybersecurity. Think agriculture and food security. Think new earth-space technologies. Think the future of our world-class energy sector. These are not distant possibilities; they are already reshaping how we live and work.
Over the past six years, research, innovation and entrepreneurial activity connected to the university has helped launch more than 100 new companies, creating jobs, attracting talent and strengthening Calgary’s innovation ecosystem. That’s more new companies than any other university in the country, and we’re just getting started.
Quality of life and economic prosperity go hand in hand. To achieve both, we need everyone working together. Universities and all forms of post-secondary working alongside governments, hospitals, non-profits, and industry. Our students, faculty, staff and alumni will be there for those two million Calgarians ensuring that we have the best possible health care, vital services, and a vibrant arts community.
Every day, UCalgary researchers make discoveries that benefit our community. New health treatments based on fundamental evidence, new pathogen surveillance techniques to prepare us for human and animal health challenges, and new understanding of our precious water supplies. Our School of Public Policy has taken on the challenge of establishing a national research network to find solutions to Canada’s stubbornly stagnant productivity, to improve prosperity and living standards of all Canadians. With our partners, we create access and support to help Calgarians improve their lives and create hope for their future. Scholarship in arts deepens our understanding of human experience that brings light into a world often shaded by darkness.
It’s true, the measure of our success will be whether today’s young people inherit a city that offers them greater opportunity, quality of life, security, and possibility than the one we inherited.
As we approach two million people, that is an aspiration worthy of a city with Calgary’s history. And its future.
Dr. Ed McCauley, PhD, is the president and vice-chancellor of the University of Calgary.
As part of our special Postmedia Calgary series Countdown to 2 Million, we created a virtual think tank of three dozen community leaders who are sharing their thoughts on how to build the best Calgary. Find more columns and related videos at calgaryherald.com/countdown-to-2-million .
We’d like to hear and publish your ideas, too. What should Calgarians be doing and thinking about, as our city’s population heads towards 2 million? Email us at reply2@calgaryherald.com .