An artist's rendering of the new digs - Date/Artist unknown - Canadian Pacific Railway.

10 September 2013

CP Rail Begins Exodus from
Downtown Glass Tower to Ogden Yard

Calgary Alberta - Canadian Pacific Railway has started its exodus from downtown Calgary, moving an initial group of employees out of its Gulf Canada Square headquarters and into the railway's future home in the southeast.
 
Approximately 300 head office workers have moved within the last two weeks into a new $38 million building at the company-owned Ogden rail yard, said CP spokesperson Ed Greenberg.
 
The remaining 1,500 to 1,600 employees still working out of Gulf Canada Square will be moved before the end of the year.
 
"The plan is on track. In fact, in certain areas, it's ahead of schedule," Greenberg said.
 
CP announced in December 2012 that it would move its headquarters to Ogden, something that is expected to save the company $15 million a year.
 
The relocation is just one piece of an ambitious restructuring plan undertaken by CP's CEO Hunter Harrison, who has been cutting costs in an effort to improve efficiency at the historic railway company.
 
Harrison has said the railroad will reduce its workforce by 4,500 jobs by 2016, so far, about 3,500 positions have been eliminated.
 
But CP has also touted the move to Ogden as a "cultural shift."
 
Harrison is on the record as saying he's not sure "railroaders should be downtown in glass towers," and that being located closer to the operational side of the business just makes sense.
 
"This is a good fit for our company," Greenberg said.
 
"It makes economic sense for us, but as well, it takes us to the immediate location of our business, the rail yard."
 
The new headquarters, located at 7550 Ogdendale Road S.E., is a two-storey, 214,000-square-foot building, with a gym, running track, cafeteria, and outdoor seating area.
 
Construction crews remain on-site as some of the finishing work still needs to be completed, Greenberg said.
 
Parking is available for employees and CP is providing a shuttle from the 39th Avenue C Train station.
 
ConocoPhillips Canada, which already has 1,300 employees in Gulf Canada Square, has already announced plans to consolidate its staff there once Canadian Pacific vacate the building.
 
ConocoPhillips currently has 600 employees working out of Bow Valley Square, but will move them to Gulf Canada Square by the end of 2014.
 
Amanda Stephenson.

Vancouver Island
British Columbia
Canada