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Economic Performance:
Economy
Equity
Environment
Quality
of Life
Calgary Region Cluster
Portfolio
Wireless
Information
Technology
Transportation
Warehousing
Logistics
Tourism
Arts
Entertainment
Geomatics
Oil &
Gas
Agriculture
Health Biotechnology
Economic Foundations
Human
Resources
Finance
Infostructure
Transportation
Physical Infrastructure
Business
Climate
Technology
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Economic Foundations
Human Resources
The education and
training system is the key to a skilled workforce and the bedrock of a
globally competitive economy. In the knowledge-based economy of today,
information drives the economy, and at the centre of information creation,
innovation, deployment, and distribution is human talent.
Education today is
a lifelong process consisting of continual development and upgrading of
knowledge.
Calgary has a strong
educational system. It has solid primary and secondary schools. It has
many community colleges with a growing entrepreneurial orientation. It
has quality research-oriented universities and institutes and a growing
demand for highly skilled labour due to a strong economy.
The K-12 education
system is strong. The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) is the largest
school system in Alberta and the third largest in Canada. There are growing
industry-public education partnerships that are serving to enhance both
career preparation as well as opportunities for students.
In addition, the private
K-12 education is growing rapidly with private school enrollment growing
by 61% from 1993 to 1999. There are several potential challenges facing
the public school system. Public school enrollment is declining, average
classroom size is increasing, and the high school dropout rate is among
the highest in Canada.
The post-secondary
education system is healthy in Calgary with several high quality post-
secondary institutions. Demand for university education is growing, fueling
the growth of student enrollment. Growth in community college enrollment
is the most rapid among CanadaÕs large provinces.
Significantly, there
is a vigorous entrepreneurial culture among community colleges, with many
of them leading the region in forging new, strategic collaborations. Bow
Valley College, Mount Royal College, and Alberta College of Art and Design
respond assertively to changing global and local dynamics. Several challenges
confront post-secondary education: increasing tuition fees, increasing
faculty-student ratio, rising debt burdens among students, competitiveness
of faculty salaries in certain fields, deterioration of facilities and
technical infrastructure.
There are emerging
skills gaps in the region due to the growing economy, the diversification
into new economy industries and the strong demand for diverse skills.
Business leaders in the Calgary region have identified specific industries
with labour shortages such as banking, technology, transportation, health
care, and oil and gas.
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