Southeast Alberta propels aerospace and defence breakthroughs
Medicine Hat hosts 170 Canadian aerospace students in a drone competition
Apex Alberta facilitates a talent exchange between students and industry leaders
Stroud sees the event as a win‑win for both parties.
Students built, tested, and launched their UAS while meeting companies eager to hire.
Industry gains fresh talent, students access networking opportunities
- Built‑in skills meet employer hiring needs.
- Student innovators meet future employers in Medicine Hat.
Quiet hubs like Medicine Hat and Foremost prove regional innovation assets
While major cities dominate innovation talks, emerging hubs such as Medicine Hat offer unique testing facilities and direct talent pipelines, quietly demonstrating their worth to the aerospace sector.
The unique assets powering Alberta’s aerospace push
Foremost’s BVLOS Innovation Hub
Canada’s lone west‑Ontario Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) facility
The community of Foremost hosts the nation’s only BVLOS Innovation Centre west of Ontario. As one of only two spots in Canada where a drone can legally fly outside a pilot’s direct sight, it opens doors in agriculture, defence, and logistics.
Testing and strategic value
- Helps validate new commercial drone applications
- Provides a rare testbed for researchers and developers
- Acts as a strategic asset for regional innovation
The RIN perspective
“Because as a RIN, we don’t have large marketing dollars, it’s hard for us to get that awareness out,” says Stroud. “So we would love for people to help tell the story of some of those unique assets.”
Alberta Innovates 2025: Tracy Stroud Highlights Suffield
Tracy Stroud addressed Digital Journal attendees at Inventures 2025 in Calgary, drawing attention to an often overlooked asset in Western Canada: the Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) centre in Suffield.
Why Suffield Matters
- Exclusive Presence – Alberta is the sole Western province hosting a full‑scale DRDC facility.
- Unmatched Training – The centre runs specialized defence training programs that cannot be replicated elsewhere in Canada.
- Advanced Testing – Researchers gain access to cutting‑edge testing equipment, accelerating innovation across sectors.
Local Business Gains
Access to Suffield’s advanced testing and training infrastructure is already producing tangible benefits for Alberta’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
In 2021, Alberta Innovates funded a province‑wide drone strategy, which spurred a coordinated industry build‑out and culminated in a landmark conference. The ensuing momentum carried forward to a high‑profile student competition, giving local companies front‑row exposure to next‑generation talent and technology.
Key Takeaways
- Stroud showcased the unique role of the DRDC centre in Suffield, positioning Alberta as a defence training hub.
- The drone strategy has positioned Alberta as a leader in the evolving aerial technology sector.
- Local businesses are leveraging the competition to identify fresh talent and breakthrough tech.
Rural regions with specialized capabilities
RINs Bridge Rural Investing
Stroud highlights that Regional Innovation Networks build companies, yet their chief function is to connect sectors, institutions, and geographies. This networking draws in funding, which can be especially challenging in rural regions.
Investor Lacking Networks
“In rural areas we lack investor networks,” she observes. “Yet we have abundant capital from individuals eager to fund networks, yet unclear how. Grants from oil‑gas or agriculture are new to tech.”
Educational Collaboration
To bridge this gap, Alberta’s RINs partnered with ClassRebel to launch an investor education series focused on acquainting rural investors with the tech sector. Stroud views such partnership as integral to the RIN model.
Team Collaboration
“Our team thrives on collaboration,” she says. “We seek to fill gaps.”
Tracy Stroud Discusses the Rural‑Tech Paradigm at Inventures 2025
Jennifer Friesen, Digital Journal – Photo credit
Rural Regions as the New Innovation Engines
At the Inventures 2025 event in Calgary, Tracy Stroud delivered a compelling keynote about how Alberta and, more broadly, Canada are redefining the innovation landscape. Rather than relying solely on urban tech clusters, Stroud underscored the strategic value of rural areas that possess specialized technical capabilities.
Why Rural Capability Matters for Canada
Canada’s vast geography has historically favored urban centers as the sole growth arteries. Stroud’s perspective flips that narrative, placing rural regions at the heart of future infrastructure planning. This shift is pivotal for a country whose innovation infrastructure must accommodate a geographically dispersed population.
Key Takeaways from the Interview
- Inclusion of rural tech hubs as primary innovation pipelines.
- Emphasis on strategic role of specialized rural capabilities.
- Strategic alignment with Alberta and national policy initiatives.
To hear the full interview, watch the video embedded below.
Anchoring national innovation in regional strengths
Stroud Maps Canada’s Innovation Road Ahead
Unlocking Hidden Assets Across Southeast Alberta
Stroud stresses that Canada’s innovation future hinges on harnessing local strengths in regions such as southeastern Alberta. These areas house facilities that support beyond visual line of sight testing, specialized defence training, and national student competitions, providing a strong national edge in globally contested sectors.
“These Unique Assets”
She emphasizes the distinctiveness of these capabilities: “We’d love for people to help us share that story.”
Linking Local to National Goals
- Networks like APEX illustrate that a major city isn’t required to steer the future of autonomous systems, aerospace, and defence.
- These networks demonstrate how local capacity can align with broad national objectives.
Emerging Tech and Overlooked Regions
Canada’s quest to remain competitively sharp in emerging technology arenas may ultimately rely on the often-ignored regions that can forge a more resilient, distributed innovation economy.
Watch the interview:
Overview
Partnership Details
- The series has been developed in collaboration with Alberta’s Regional Innovation Networks.
- Insights: A network-driven approach enhances content relevance.
