Ensuring the City’s economic prosperity
The City of Vaughan is moving forward with plans to ensure its continued economic prosperity. During these challenging economic times, it is important to stay on top of existing and emerging trends so that Vaughan can continue to compete in a global marketplace. As a growing City of more than 270,000, and the home of more than 9,000 businesses, Vaughan is well-positioned to compete for new investment and continue to grow its business base.
Council has approved the formation of two new committees, an Economic Development Committee and Economic Development Advisory Committee. The purpose of the Advisory Committee is to provide advice and support to the Economic Development Committee and Economic Development Department on matters relating to the attraction and retention of business and investment in the City of Vaughan.
One of the mandates of the Economic Development Committee is to complete the Employment Sectors Strategy (ESS). This study is looking at the current and future employment mix in the City to determine how Vaughan can meet the needs of a growing community and encourage good quality employment opportunities. The ESS study will analyze Vaughan’s current conditions and identify the existing and emerging economic sectors. It also will form the basis for a revision to the City’s Economic Development Strategy.
August 28, 2009 Update |
The ESS study is being done in three stages. The first phase provided an analysis of Vaughan’s role in the broader Greater Golden Horseshoe, Greater Toronto Area and York Region; a review of growth trends in Vaughan’s employment sectors; and identified employment growth sectors and opportunity areas.
Vaughan continues to perform very well. The City’s economy shows strength in industrial-type activities such as manufacturing, and transportation, logistics, warehousing and distribution; and also shows weakness in some services sectors. Changes are also occurring in the structure of employment in Vaughan, including restructuring in key segments of the manufacturing sector, particularly those associated with the automotive industry. At the same time, there has been growth in some services sectors such as professional services and tourism, which is expected to continue into the future. These changes present both challenges and opportunities for the City in terms of its economic development.
The second phase of the study is the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Analysis. A key element of this phase was a series of strategic workshops held over the summer with City Councillors, City staff, the business community and external agencies and organizations. These workshops focused on the five key factors that affect the competitive position of Vaughan – access to market, real estate and development economics, community amenities and resources, labour force, and broader economic forces. The input and feedback from these workshops is crucial as the information will be used to identify key target sectors.
The final phase of the process will include identifying the key target sectors and recommending policy directions. There also will be roundtable sessions with key stakeholders this fall, with a report on the Employment Sectors Strategy going to Council in November.