The City of Calgary is investing up to $5.5 million via the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund (OCIF) toward an arts production hub at Bow Valley College to support business development and job creation within the creative industries sector.

The Calgary Entertainment Arts Production Hub (CEAPH) is designed to offer training and upskilling programs across various sectors, including 3D animation and VFX, post-production, augmented and virtual reality, motion capture, podcasting, game development, and esports.

The hub is also expected to support “business incubation, applied research, community-building, and youth engagement,” as well as attract more investment to the arts sector in Calgary, according to a news release.

The CEAPH is expected to train approximately 675 individuals between 2024 and 2028, support more than 125 companies, and create more than 300 jobs, said the release.

The OCIF is a $100-million initiative, launched in 2018, to provide strategic investment toward Calgary’s economy.

“Disruptive technologies are transforming the way content is produced, distributed and monetized around the world,” said Brad Parry, CEO of OCIF and President and CEO of Calgary Economic Development, in a statement. “By investing in talent development and boosting entrepreneurship, we can capture the economic growth and investment attraction potential these changes bring.”

Dr. Misheck Mwaba, president and CEO of Bow Valley College, added that the investment is a “game changer” for students, and that the CEAPH is expected to be “a world-class hub for the next generation of creative minds.”

Image courtesy of Bow Valley College; pictured (L-R): Brad Parry, Dr. Misheck Mwaba, and Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek.