Canada’s energy capital is building its future with youthful vigor. With a median age of just 38 years in 2021, Calgary ranks among the country’s youngest major cities, a powerful foundation for its fast-growing tech and creative sectors.
In June 2024, Calgary unveiled the $500-million expansion of the BMO Centre in Stampede Park, immediately elevating its profile among top-tier North American convention destinations, which will give wings to the current #122 ranking for Convention Centers. On-site, the Stampede Park Hotel, a 320-key luxury development, is set to open in 2028, further enhancing the even ecosystem. The transformation of downtown is also underway. A refreshed Stephen Avenue pedestrian corridor will be revealed in June 2026, in time for the world-famous Calgary Stampede. In East Village, new residential towers and the transformed Arts Commons and Olympic Plaza are cementing cultural energy downtown.Thanks to over $250 million in incentive-backed office-to-residential conversions, more than 1,200 new units are expected in the heart of the city by 2026, helping maintain Calgary’s strong price-to-income affordability index. Talent remains the city’s secret sauce, with its #9 global ranking in our Educational Attainment subcategory fueling new life sciences, ag-tech and clean-energy ventures. The Green Line LRT will bring game-changing north-south transit when it opens in 2031.