Alberta’s economic development and trade minister sees some recruitment opportunities in California, thanks to some visa policies in Donald Trump’s administration.
Deron Bilous has wrapped up the San Diego portion of his trip where agreements were signed with pharmaceutical companies. He has also traveled to San Fransisco to explore opportunities with Silicon Valley tech companies.
Now they’re fielding questions about employee recruitment and staff mobility.
“Talent is their number one priority and they draw talent from everywhere,” he continued. “They’re interested in what’s going on in Alberta, the number of graduates that we have coming out of our post secondaries.
“The amount of talent that we have in Alberta is absolutely appealing to them.”
One of the deals signed in San Diego is with Merck for a $3.74 million Innovation in Health Fund agreement that will leverage research with the University Hospital Foundation.
“This is the largest fund that we have participated in as far as with international companies. That partnership is also with the University Hospital Foundation.”
Bilous said the oil slump is proof the trade mission they’re on will one day be beneficial to Alberta’s bottom line, because it’s a way Rachel Notley’s government is diversifying the economy.
Oil dropped below $43 Wednesday and he conceded it may force them to re-evaluate their economic forecasts.
“That is something that we will have to revisit depending on how long prices stay lower than what were originally forecast.”
Bilous, along with Mayor Don Iveson, were promoting Edmonton’s Health City initiative at the 2017 BIO International Convention in San Diego.
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