Fortinet unveiled a cybersecurity innovation hub in downtown Calgary on Sept. 16, describing a US$30-million investment in an eight-storey, 122,000-square-foot building that includes a training facility for hands-on security education.
The hub gives Alberta a third major Fortinet site in Canada, after its campuses in Burnaby, B.C., and Ottawa. For people looking to enter or move up in the field, the training space and a new university award are the most direct effects. The province's energy and industrial sectors are also a growing market for operational technology security skills.
What is in the building
According to Fortinet's announcement, the hub has four parts:
- A cybersecurity training facility meant to upskill the workforce through hands-on education.
- A community hub with a lab for demonstrating security for critical infrastructure, plus workspace for partners.
- A customer experience centre.
- A Fortinet Cloud point of presence, which the company says brings its cloud security network closer to Alberta organizations.
Fortinet bought the building in September 2024. It also announced a new annual Fortinet Award in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Calgary, a merit-based US$3,000 scholarship over five years for students in computer science, data science, computer engineering or software engineering.
Provincial support
The Government of Alberta, Invest Alberta and Calgary Economic Development supported the project. Joseph Schow, Alberta's minister of jobs, economy, trade and immigration, said investments like this "diversify our economy, build a stronger workforce."
BetaKit reported that research in Calgary will focus on AI-driven threats and risks to operational technology, the hardware and software that monitor and control industrial equipment. Gordon Phillips, Fortinet's regional vice-president for Western Canada, told BetaKit that Alberta's core industries are shifting toward connecting physical operations to the cloud.
What we don't know yet
Neither Fortinet nor BetaKit gave a number of jobs the hub will create or a hiring timeline. Fortinet referred only to supporting "workforce growth in Alberta." It is also not yet clear who will be able to use the training facility, or whether it will offer Fortinet's own certification courses to the public.
What to do
Students and job seekers in Alberta interested in industrial and OT security can watch Fortinet's careers page and the University of Calgary for the new award. Fortinet's Training Institute already offers free self-paced courses online, which can be a low-cost way to build vendor skills while hiring plans become clearer.
