Planning
Bid-readiness sprint
Watch CanadaBuys and APC, build a capability profile, run daily briefs and bid/no-bid. Read RFP packages, draft compliance checklists, and support estimating and scheduling — without submitting bids for you.
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Canmore · Calgary corridor · On-site
Desk Literacy: AI training for Alberta shops.
A 3-hour, phones-away class for owners and office managers who need AI on real work — bids, briefs, and the office pile — not another awareness webinar. Our training is built on Claude.
Up to 3 people · Phones away · Live CanadaBuys + APC triage · 30-day workspaceAlberta Pro trial path
Ottawa is launching free entry-level AI literacy for Canadians. This class is the paid, applied next step for shops. We are not the Government of Canada’s National AI Literacy Initiative.
01Why now
A vendor to the vendors.
Warre & Vavasour delivers AI corporate training and AI deployment to Alberta businesses that plan and build things: trades, heavy civil, engineering, survey and environmental consultants, fabricators, suppliers, and contractors.
That covers planning work — finding and triaging public tenders on CanadaBuys and Alberta Purchasing Connection, bid/no-bid, reading RFP packages, compliance checklists, estimating, scheduling — and building work: field reporting, safety documentation, progress reports, invoicing.
On 28 September 2026, Alberta said it will run a request for proposals for a private partner on a Calgary–Airdrie–Red Deer–Edmonton high-speed rail line, with selection targeted by April 2027. The federal government committed to refer the corridor to its Major Projects Office. (CBC; Calgary Herald.) Alberta’s Passenger Rail Master Plan recommends right-sized contracts so local contractors can take part.
No route, budget, or builder exists yet. The corridor is a reason to get the desk ready — not the only one. Public work is already posted on CanadaBuys and APC. We help corridor firms get AI-ready to find, win, and deliver that kind of work.
02The problem
Free literacy won’t catch your closing date.
Most AI “training” teaches people to chat politely with a model. Alberta shops lose money a different way:
- Public work scattered across CanadaBuys and Alberta Purchasing Connection
- Bid/no-bid decisions that take too long or never happen
- An office inbox that eats the coordinator alive
- Tools tried once on a phone between jobs — then abandoned
Canada’s National AI Literacy Initiative will help a lot of people get started. Good. If you already run a shop, you need something narrower: AI wired to the desk you actually sit at.
03What you get
Three hours. Systems, not chatbots.
- Setup that survives Monday — projects, files, habits, data rules
- Owner workflow — messy notes → decision brief
- Office workflow — threads → next actions with owners and dates
- Live desk demo — workspaceAlberta on real public opportunities
- Bid triage practice — a 5-line owner brief on a live posting
- Desk Charter — who owns what, weekly cadence, what never goes into a model
- Take-home pack — prompt pack, triage checklist, Pro trial path
Responsible AI, in writing. Every shop leaves with a one-page Desk Charter written in the room: who owns each AI workflow, who checks the output before it goes to a client or a buyer, and what never goes into a model. It is the AI policy a 5–40 person shop can actually keep. See what runs where for how our own tools handle your documents.
Not included, on purpose: building custom servers from scratch, six-week transformation theatre, or bid submission on your behalf.
04Who it’s for
Built for the people who keep the lights on.
Yes
- Owners of 5–40 person trades and supply businesses in Alberta
- Office managers, estimators, and coordinators who run the real queue
- Shops that touch public procurement — or should
No
- Students looking for free literacy — use the federal Initiative when available
- Enterprises shopping multi-month “AI transformation” programs
- Anyone who needs to keep Slack open during class
Format rule: phones and messaging apps away. Laptops only. That’s the product.
05The 3-hour map
You leave able to do the work.
| Time | Module | You leave able to… |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00 | Contract with the room | State what “done” means for your shop |
| 0:10 | What these machines are | Tell chatbot thinking from system thinking |
| 0:35 | Setup on Claude | Run a safe workflow on a real file |
| 1:15 | Silent practice | Improve your own artifact without a phone |
| 1:25 | workspaceAlberta desk | Triage CanadaBuys + APC with a written brief |
| 2:10 | Wire the week | Fill Mon / midweek / Fri cadence |
| 2:40 | Close | Walk with Charter + trial path |
Exact timing flexes to the room. Outcomes don’t.
06Beyond the class
AI deployment for planning and building.
The class gets the desk standing. Deployment wires it to the week’s work.
Building
Field and safety sprint
Daily logs, progress reports, and invoicing support from the notes and photos you already take. Safety documentation and evidence binders that stand up when a prime asks.
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Primes
Supplier-readiness program
For primes assembling an Alberta bench: AI bid-readiness workshops for prospective subcontractors, plus reporting habits primes actually ask for. Built for the corridor teaming window — not a slide deck.
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07Why Warre & Vavasour
Independent. Canmore. Built for the desk.
- Independent AI lab based in Canmore, Alberta
- Builders of workspaceAlberta — a bid desk over CanadaBuys and Alberta Purchasing Connection. Free to search; Pro is $85 CAD/month. Hosted in Canada.
- Member of the Claude Partner Network. Our training is built on Claude.
- Founder Christian Cooper builds for real work, not help-desk theatre
Add workspaceAlberta to Claude →
We don’t claim to be the Government of Canada’s National AI Literacy Initiative. We ride the same moment with a complementary offer for operators.
08One number
Shop Seat — $1,950 CAD
Up to 3 people · 3 hours on-site · Canmore–Calgary corridor
Beyond corridor: +$350 travel add-on
Included: workbook / Desk Charter · prompt pack · triage checklist · 30-day workspaceAlberta Pro trial path · 14-day follow-up
09Pay half
The Canada-Alberta Productivity Grant covers 50%.
Alberta employers can have half the cost of training their staff paid by the Canada-Alberta Productivity Grant, up to $5,000 per employee each fiscal year. On a $1,950 Shop Seat, that brings your share to about $975.
- Pick a date with us. We send the course outline, hours, cost and our provider details the application asks for.
- Apply before the class. The employer applies to the program, and the application has to go in before training starts.
- Take the class. Three hours on your floor, phones away, on your own work.
- Close it out. Send the program proof of completion and payment, as its guidelines require. It pays its share to you, the employer.
Hiring someone who was unemployed? The program can cover up to 75%, to $10,000 per trainee. Funding decisions are made by the program, not by us; read the applicant guidelines for the current rules.
10Questions
Ask it plainly.
Can a government grant pay for this?
Often, yes. Alberta employers can apply to the Canada-Alberta Productivity Grant, which covers 50% of eligible training for current staff, up to $5,000 per employee per year. Apply before the class date; we supply the course details the application needs. See Pay half.
Is this the federal National AI Literacy Initiative?
No. That is a Government of Canada program offering free entry-level AI training for Canadians. Desk Literacy is a paid commercial class from Warre & Vavasour for Alberta shops that need applied setup and procurement/productivity workflows. We are not the Government of Canada’s National AI Literacy Initiative.
Why pay if free literacy is coming?
Free programs are for getting started at scale. This class is for owner + office on your floor, phones away, with live tender triage on CanadaBuys and APC.
Do we need to be technical?
No. You need a laptop and one real work sample. We train operators, not researchers.
Is workspaceAlberta required?
No to attend. Yes if you want the desk after. Free search is available; Pro is optional ($85 CAD/month). Booked shops get a 30-day Pro trial path. workspaceAlberta runs on Canadian infrastructure. Add it in Claude from the Claude connector directory.
Can you come to our shop?
Yes in the Canmore–Calgary corridor at the flat rate. Beyond that, the $350 travel add-on, or we host.
What’s the phone rule?
Zero phone / Slack during the three hours. That’s how the setup sticks.
Is this only about the high-speed rail line?
No. The Calgary–Airdrie–Red Deer–Edmonton announcement is a reason to act now. The class is for the public work you can already bid, and for the office pile that does not wait on a rail alignment. No route, budget, or builder is set yet.
What does deployment cost?
Contact us. Deployment sprints and the prime supplier-readiness program are scoped to the shop. We do not publish a price until we have seen the work.
11Book the Shop Seat
Ottawa can fund literacy for a million students.
You still need a desk that works on Monday.
Warre & Vavasour Ltd · Canmore, AB · Independent AI laboratory · Not a Government of Canada program