The governments of Alberta and Canada will invest $3 million over two years to attract businesses to set up their head offices in Calgary.

The funding will go towards Calgary Economic Development's "headquarters' attraction strategy," which works to boost the presence of head offices in the city.

Deron Bilous, Alberta's minister of Economic Development and Trade, made the announcement on Tuesday afternoon at the Global Business Centre in downtown Calgary.

"While the current economic conditions are challenging, Alberta's offering to domestic and foreign companies remains exceptionally strong," said Bilous, adding that per capita investment in Alberta is more than double the national average.

The province will pitch in $2 million to Calgary Economic Development (CED), with the remaining funding coming from Western Economic Diversification Canada.

"Attracting more headquarters to Calgary will bring long-term economic benefits — not only to the municipality but to Alberta as a whole — through creating jobs, building stronger trade and investment relationships with our international partners and enhancing Alberta's reputation as a desirable place to work, live and play," Bilous said.

CED president Mary Moran said the timing of the funding is beneficial to attracting more head offices to the city.

"From our low taxes, to the cost of doing business, to our well-educated workforce and the economical office space, and the quality of life, Calgary has a great story to tell."

"Historically, during the downturn, that's when we see headquarter growth," Moran added.

Vacancy rate rising

With Calgary's commercial vacancy rate sitting at above 20 per cent, Moran said there is a lot of work to be done to encourage people to occupy downtown working spaces.

She said CED has created a list of ways to address the growing vacancies.

"There's no silver bullet in solving that problem," she said. "We're leaving no stone unturned."

"How can we convert big floor plates into smaller floor plates for incubation, co-shared space, accelerators. It's looking at older buildings to see if there's a conversion we can do to residential.... It's looking at things like greening empty buildings, being more lenient with permitting in the downtown core, and ... there might be some things that need to be demolished and repurposed," Moran added.

The $2 million from the provincial government is part of a previously-announced $5-million contribution to attract major new business investment or company headquarters to Alberta.