Thursday, December 13th, 2012 @ 12:30PM

Ontario’s dynamic and diversified economy is built on a solid foundation. We have a wealth of skilled workers and one of the best education systems in the world. Our tax environment is amongst the most competitive of all major jurisdictions. Crucial investments in health care, energy and infrastructure made over the last decade will produce dividends for many years to come. As recently as November 2012, the Conference Board of Canada projected that Ontario will rebound from weak economic growth of 1.8% this year to 2.1% in 2013 and 2.6% the year after.

Despite these strengths, there are still far too many Ontarians looking for work. The uncertain global economic outlook and fierce competition in world markets will prove challenging. We will proceed cautiously. After a thorough review of Ontario’s fiscal health, we will move our plan forward to build on Ontario’s economic strengths, focused on six key steps:

 

STEP ONE: Work locally, trade globally

With its relatively small domestic markets, Ontario relies on exports to create and sustain jobs at home. Today, about 77 per cent of Ontario exports go to the United States, followed by over 10 per cent to the European Union. Meanwhile, our exports to the growing economies of China and India comprise less than two per cent of the total.

The status quo is not an option when it comes to Ontario’s export efforts. We need to diversify our export markets, with an intense focus on the fast-growing emerging economies. We will:

• Boost efforts to support our exporters, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, to gain access to these emerging new markets.
• Align Ontario’s export efforts with those of Export Development Canada and other financing agencies.
• Work with the federal government to ensure trade agreements are beneficial to Ontario companies.
• Develop a plan to ensure our youth can gain greater global experience from an Ontario base.

 

STEP TWO: Keep Ontario open for business

The Open for Business process has driven the modernization of Ontario’s regulatory framework. Over the last decade, Liberal governments have made great progress on lifting the regulatory and tax burden on businesses. Today, our corporate and small business tax rates are very competitive worldwide. We’ve also eliminated more than 80,000 unnecessary regulations, while also protecting the public interest.

Government and business must continue to collaborate to eliminate barriers to economic growth. We will:

• Continue to remove regulatory and other impediments to speed the investment process.
• Benchmark best practices for investment attraction from other jurisdictions and focus on sectoral strategies and incentives.
• Leverage the strengths of Select Ontario, the province’s award-winning GIS-based site selection tool for investors.
• Enhance workplace training programs to meet both employer and employee needs.
• Align government resources to provide simple, easy access and timely responses for businesses.
• Offer investors options like shovel-ready sites, a coordinated approach for expansion and investment in Ontario, and a 24/7 live help desk.

 

STEP THREE: Boost Ontario’s lead in innovation and entrepreneurship

With strong support from its economic development ministries, Ontario has produced many of the world’s best innovators and entrepreneurs. As just one example, Canada’s world-renowned information and communications technology (ICT) sector is concentrated in Ottawa, Kitchener-Waterloo, and the Greater Toronto area. Each cluster focuses on specific areas of ICT, creating prime conditions for R&D collaboration, synergy, and spin-off companies.

Ontario is also home to a budding digital media sector, accompanying other cultural industries in the film, television, music and publishing sectors. Combined, over $20 billion annually is pumped into the province’s economy through our vibrant cultural industries.

To leverage these strengths, we will:

• Create entrepreneur hubs for easy access to programs, mentoring and incubators. Leverage regional innovation centres across Ontario to provide opportunities for collaboration and for innovators to work with seasoned business leaders.
• Ensure the flow of global capital to Ontario start-ups, by removing regulatory barriers and seeking new global venture capital funds to participate in the Ontario market.
• Foster entrepreneurship through Ontario’s education system.
• Encourage the development community to incorporate more clean technology in their businesses, while helping Ontarians become more environmentally sustainable.
• Nurture our vital cultural industries through programs like those run by the Ontario Media Development Corporation to support book and magazine publishing, film and television, interactive digital media, and music industries.
• Offer incentives to build sustainable communities by incorporating planning that supports renewable technologies, public transit, energy efficiency and conservation so that more clean technology gets built into our communities making Ontario environmentally sustainable.

 

STEP FOUR: Build stronger support for jobs and growth in rural Ontario.

Our government must ensure that its business support programs are tailored to the specific needs of regions in rural Ontario. Programs should give fair consideration to projects of all sizes, as long as they have a meaningful impact on the local community. In a small town, as few as five new or lost jobs can mean the difference between a healthy or unhealthy economic environment. We must:

• Continue to strengthen rural economic development funding programs.
• Expedite the infrastructure needed for economic growth in rural areas.
• Create a specialized attraction model for rural communities (with local governments) to encourage more investment.

 

STEP FIVE: Turbocharge the energy economy to enable more investment

A “Best Practices, Best Price” policy will serve us best, allowing us to blend our long-term energy mix for effective environmental and economic policy.

• Energy plans must be both sustainable and affordable for residents and industry.
• We will continue to phase out coal-fired generation, while phasing in cleaner sources in an affordable fashion.
• We will reaffirm our commitment to contracted Power Purchase Agreement holders, to enable the investment in their projects and send the message that Ontario will keep its obligations.
• The economics of government procurement, even with the use of private generation, benefit from economies of scale. Best practises means learning from those jurisdictions that paid and paved the way to more efficient results.
• We will insist on open, competitive processes to get best pricing on future partnerships with power generation and transmission companies.
• The responsibilities of government agencies implementing energy policy must be simplified for overall planning and efficiency.
• Under this leadership, proponents will seek early municipal support for energy generation projects.

STEP SIX: Strengthen urban and regional communities

Vibrant urban and regional centres are the heart of a strong provincial economy.

Generating 20 per cent of Canada’s GDP, the Greater Toronto Area is home to 40 per cent of Canada’s head offices, and the world’s best banking system, according to the IMF. In a 2012 study, Toronto ranked as the 2^nd most business competitive global city.

There is an urgent need to unify and combine the various agencies that now serve the GTA. We must:

• Take steps to strengthen cooperation between regional bodies, including economic marketing agencies.
• Eventually combine these resources in one body, to speak with one voice to market the region to investors and business leaders worldwide.
• Create an integrated public transit system that seamlessly serves commuters across the region.
• Take advantage of the many benefits which would flow from a private/public development of a high-speed rail line to serve the people in the Windsor-Quebec City corridor, while retaining public ownership of the infrastructure.
• Push for annualized transit funding from the federal government to supplement Ontario’s $12 billion+ investment in GTA public transit and reflect Toronto’s status as a global city.

Image: Toyota

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Categories: Jobs and the Economy, The Plan Forward