Dear Premier Smith,
Congratulations on your new role as Premier of Alberta.
In the past few weeks, we’ve enjoyed watching Ontario react to the government’s “Alberta is Calling” campaign, which highlights the thousands of open jobs in the tech sector. We are the business leaders creating those jobs, seeking to drive growth and prosperity for Alberta and for Canada.
But we cannot have a strong tech sector in Alberta if our provincial regulatory system does not allow tech companies here to be competitive.
The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) has taken the aggressive position that software engineers must be regulated, and subject to onerous, restrictive, and unnecessary certification requirements. APEGA is actively targeting companies in Alberta with legal action to restrict us from using globally competitive job titles and descriptions.
“Software engineer” is a globally accepted standard job title for people who build software. You will find software engineers in every region that is serious about growing a tech ecosystem — from Toronto and Vancouver to Silicon Valley, New York, London and beyond. In this new remote work environment, we compete against giants like Facebook and Amazon in all these regions to hire software engineers, data science engineers, security engineers and many other roles critical to growing our companies.
Talent is the most important input to our businesses, and the inability to compete for it is an existential threat. If we cannot effectively compete for the best employees while headquartered in Alberta, we must seriously consider whether this is a place where our companies can succeed.
The “Alberta is Calling” campaign encourages skilled workers to move to the province, but the truth is that if people want to work as a software engineer, they may need to move somewhere else, and so too might the companies that employ them.
We recognize the importance of APEGA’s role in regulating professional certifications and designations in the interest of public safety. The term “software engineer” is not itself a certification or designation, and it should not be the role of a regulator to determine who can and cannot use common language in the normal course of operating a business.
We need leadership from you and your government on this issue. This is a classic case of regulator overreach—tech companies shouldn’t need the blessing of a regulatory body to build an app.
As leaders of technology companies who do business in Alberta and beyond, we are calling on you to act and remove the regulatory red tape that prevents us from being able to compete on an even playing field with global giants for talent.
Without action, we risk long-term damage to the competitiveness of Alberta’s technology sector and tarnishing our province’s reputation as a place where businesses are free to innovate, grow and thrive.
As the leaders behind the fastest-growing technology companies in the province, we look forward to working with you and your team to accomplish shared priorities of job creation, economic development, and making Alberta the best place to raise a family, build a career, and grow an innovative business.
As you settle into your new role, we ask that this be one of your first priorities as Premier. It’s important for our future as an economic engine and innovation leader in Canada.
Sincerely,
Cory & Nicole Janssen
Co-CEOs, AltaML
Edmonton, AB
Kelly Schmitt
CEO, Benevity
Calgary, AB
Nicolas Beique
CEO, Helcim
Calgary, AB
Sam Pillar
CEO, Jobber
Edmonton, AB
David Edmonds
Industry Chair, A100
Calgary, AB
Ash Esmaeili
CEO, Aimsio
Calgary, AB
Cam Linke
CEO, Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute
Edmonton, AB
Rohit Joshi
CEO, Brightsquid
Calgary, AB
Court Ellingson
Program Director, Calgary Innovation Coalition
Calgary, AB
Amir Reshef
CEO, dealcloser
Edmonton, AB
Scott Nye
Chair, Digital Alberta
Edmonton, AB
Michael Wilson
CEO, DrugBank
Edmonton, AB
Malcolm Bruce
CEO, Edmonton Global
Edmonton, AB
Catherine Warren
CEO, Edmonton Unlimited
Edmonton, AB
Alice Reimer
CEO, Fillip
Calgary, AB
Taran Singh Kainth
CEO, Flahmingo
Calgary, AB
Jeff Lawrence
CEO, Granify
Edmonton, AB
Rishi Patel
CEO, Keeran Networks
Edmonton, AB
Andrew Chau
CEO, Neo Financial
Calgary, AB
Kyle Johnson
COO, NeuroSoph Development
Edmonton, AB
Terry Rock
President & CEO, Platform Calgary
Calgary, AB
Sam Jenkins
Managing Partner, Punchcard Systems
Edmonton, AB
Aldo Zanoni
CEO, Riva International, Inc.
Edmonton, AB
Ashlyn Bernier
COO, samdesk
Edmonton, AB
Colin Bramm
CEO, Showbie
Edmonton, AB
Kristina Milke
General Partner, Sprout Fund
Edmonton, AB
Zack Storms
Founder, Startup TNT
Edmonton, AB
Hanif Joshaghani
& Tiffany Kaminsky
Co-Founders, Symend
Calgary, AB
James Lochrie
Managing Partner, Thin Air Labs
Calgary, AB
Dr. Ray Muzyka
CEO, ThresholdImpact
Edmonton, AB
Chris LaBossiere
CEO, We Know Training
Edmonton, AB
Paul Bellows
President, Yellow Pencil
Edmonton, AB
Ali Habib
CEO, Umay
Edmonton, AB
Jackson Fisk
CEO, Goal Zero
Edmonton, AB
Kevin Petterson
CEO, Zipstall
Edmonton, AB
Jon MacConnell
CEO, Buoyancy Works
Calgary, AB
Susan Groeneveld
CEO, Sylvester.ai
Calgary, AB
James Neufeld
CEO, samdesk
Edmonton, AB
Jackson Cooper
CEO, JAMH
Calgary, AB
Jeff LaFrenz
President, VizworX Inc
Calgary, AB
Kyle Myck
Managing Director of Stragtegy, Dura Digital
Edmonton, AB
Ben Grande
Co-Founder, Arbor
Calgary, AB
Matt Wilson
Founder, Allied Venture Partners
Calgary, AB
Evan Chrapko
CEO, Trust Science
Edmonton, AB
Audrey Charles
CEO, Convenient Business Solutions Inc.
Edmonton, AB
Jack Newton
CEO, Clio
Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto
Ashif Mawji
Managing Director,
ScaleGood Fund LP
Edmonton, AB
Tim Johnson
President, AccuBytes Inc.
Edmonton, AB
Dr. Husein MoLoo
CEO, Purposemed
Calgary, AB
Neil Cawse
CEO, Geotab
Toronto, ON
Eric Kryski
CEO, Bidali
Calgary, AB
Bobbie Racette
CEO, Virtual Gurus
Calgary, AB
Jeff Archibald
Managing Director, Paper Leaf
Edmonton, AB
Brennan Lewis
CEO, my-eforce
Calgary, AB
Adrian Camara
CEO, Athennian
Calgary, AB
Scott Gravelle
CEO, Attabotics
Calgary, AB
Warren Bergen
President, AVAC Group
Calgary, AB
Steve Liang
Founder, SensorUp
Calgary, AB
Nir Katchinskiy
CEO, PulseMedica
Edmonton, AB
Adam Ludgate
Co-Founder, cirkuit Inc.
Calgary, AB
Greg Burlet
CTO, Frettable
Edmonton, AB
Solehin Islam
CEO, TechCare Inc.
Edmonton, AB
Jason Suriano
CEO, TIQ Software
Edmonton, AB
Mike Zouhri
Co-Founder, Painworth
Edmonton, AB
Sandi Gilbert
CEO, DealPoint Capital
Calgary, AB
Philip Mackasey
Managing Partner, Attona Group
Calgary, AB
Keith Armstrong
CEO, Flow Sparrow
Edmonton, AB
Leo Popiel
Co-Founder, What’s the Deal? Edmonton, AB
Bruce Johnson
Co-CEO, Vertical City Inc. Edmonton, AB
Jeanette Jackson
CEO, Foresight Canada
Calgary, AB
Matt Nielsen
Founder, Fishbone Analytics Inc.
Calgary, AB
William Richards
CEO, EasyRedir
Calgary, AB
Wayne Sim
CEO, Tauri.ai
Calgary, AB
Chris Izquierdo
CEO, Sparrow Connected Inc.
Edmonton, AB
Scott Montgomerie
CEO, Scope AR
Edmonton,AB
Guillermo Salazar
CEO, IrisCX
Calgary, AB
Ayomikun Kayode
CEO, Atadel Inc.
Edmonton, AB
Alina Martin
CEO, Be First Investments Corp.
Calgary, AB
Amit Anand
CEO, ez enRoute Ltd.
Edmonton, AB
Amirreza Sohrabi
CEO, Roshan Water Solutions
Edmonton, AB
David Nedohin
Co-Founder, Scope AR
Edmonton, AB
Gezim Hoxha
CEO, CommerceOwl
Edmonton, AB
Sepehr Shoarinejad
CEO, Koridor
Calgary, AB
Pratik Ghoshal
Co-Founder, Skyfri Technologies
Calgary, AB
Eric von Stackelberg
President, Grow Cycle Solutions
Parkland County, AB
Samuel Hale
CEO, Nutrimeals
Calgary, AB
Alina Turner
CEO, HelpSeeker Technologies
Calgary, AB
Christopher Micetich
CEO, Fedora Pharmaceuticals
Edmonton, AB
Reg Joseph
CEO, Health Cities
Edmonton, AB
Vince O'Gorman
CEO, Vog App Developers
Calgary, AB
Justin Sharp
Founder, CareCru
Edmonton, AB
Jay Gohill
CEO, Arcurve Inc.
Calgary, AB
Adam O'Brien
CEO, Bitcoin Well
Edmonton, AB
Steve Robb
CEO, AFTI (WatchDog)
Calgary, AB
Cameron Prockiw
Founder, Nerder
Calgary
Brad Zumwalt
President, Zinc Ventures
Calgary, AB
Aly Kanji
CEO, AZK Management
Calgary, AB
Harish Consul
CEO, Ocgrow Group
Calgary, AB
Robert Price
CEO, Bōde HQ
Calgary, AB
David Katz
CEO, Deep Surface AI
Calgary, AB
Sean Fynn
Co-Founder, StellarAlgo
Calgay, AB
Branden Sloane
CEO, Zugalu Entertainment
Calgary, AB
Dean Bittner
Founder, RUNWITHIT Synthetics
Edmonton, AB
Brigitte Legault
CEO, New Idea Machine
Calgary, AB
Quinn Goretzky
CEO, Rogue7
Edmonton, AB
Dornoosh Zonoobi
Founder, Medo.ai
Edmonton, AB
Shawnna Leonard
Founder, SimplicityKEY
Edmonton, AB
Angela Armstrong
President, Prime Capital Group
Edmonton, AB
Ryan Lewinson
CEO, All Skin
Calgary, AB
Kevin Edwards
CEO, SkipTheDishes
Winnipeg, MB
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