The Edmonton Research & Development Park (ERP) was established in 1979 as a partnership between the City of Edmonton and the University of Alberta with the support of the Alberta Government to support and attract research and advanced technology enterprises to the city. Spanning over 300 acres, ERP provides a place for innovators and entrepreneurs to connect and advance across multiple sectors, including clean energy, advanced technology, and life sciences.
Originally launched in 1979, the park was built in stages, with the Advanced Technology Centre for Entrepreneurial Businesses opening in 1988 as the final of three core buildings. The park’s primary facilities now include many more, with several multi-tenant facilities including: the Advanced Technology Centre, which office and central meeting spaces; Research Centre One, which offers fully equipped chemistry and research lab spaces; and the Biotechnology Business Development Centre (BBDC), a multi-tenant accelerator supporting biotechnology and life sciences scale-ups in product development before market commercialization. Enhancing the growth capabilities of the life sciences sector in Alberta, a new Critical Medicines Production Centre is also under construction as part of the Canadian Critical Drug Initiative.
Over the years, ERP has hosted globall and national companies such as Apple, IBM Canada,Telus, Dow Chemical, and Alberta Innovates, which have utilized ERP facilities for research and development. Recent graduates of ERP include Showbie, which grew and moved to a new headquarters downtown; Nanospeed Diagnostics, which built a new 11,000 sq ft manufacturing facility in 2021 in the research park; and Metabolomic Technologies Inc., which expanded into a new building in the neighbourhood to accommodate their production needs.
In 2022, the Edmonton Research Park Business Consortium (ERPBC) was created, and is a community of advanced technology and life sciences companies located in the park, aiming to leverage community expertise, access to programming, investment, and core facilities to encourage tech growth. The ERPBC now works together with API, the Park Steward, as its steering committee co-chair to foster innovation, collaboration, and commercialization throughout the ERP. In 2024, Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation (API) was selected to be the Steward of the Edmonton Research Park. The Park Steward is responsible for implementing programming and supports for the Park’s businesses, creating a communication strategy that raises the profile of the ERP locally and globally, and creating opportunities for further development or redevelopment within the Park.
ERP hosts companies across several technology sectors, including AI, construction, manufacturing, nanotechnology, renewable energy, healthcare, and life sciences. Innovative companies include EZ Enroute, which focuses on making school buses safer; NTWIST, which predicts material flow and production discrepancies in mining; Bio-Stream Diagnostics Inc. which has developed a highly sensitive pathogen detection platform to help build and commercialize tests to detect a variety of pathogens; and Discover Coding, which educates kids on coding and technology.
There’s renewed excitement with the future announced developments at the Edmonton Research Park. The new community-driven approach is expected to attract even more opportunities and businesses, driving further innovation and growth in the park. Stay tuned next month for more on the future of the Edmonton Research Park!
