Jobs and Prosperity

The Ontario government's economic strategy puts people first.The best jobs go to the places that invest in their people.

That starts with education and training. It means building roads from rural Ontario to the world's marketplaces. It's about attracting investment like the new Honda engine plant in Alliston and the Kellogg's plant in Belleville. It is also about stimulating innovation such as new rural windfarms generating green power. Above all, it means working together. In 2006, the Ontario economy generated 95,000 new jobs.

Economic success is best pursued through a mixture of large and small, urban and rural projects. This government knows that it needs to contribute to a diverse collection of incentives and investments which will keep our economy strong. Since 2003, the Ontario government has been partnering with Ontarians to build home-grown successes and attract investment from abroad.

Local Economic Development

Successful rural economic development starts with a big-picture perspective. That's why the Ontario government works closely with communities to bring resources and market intelligence to local doorsteps. It's also an effective way of sharing experiences between communities which allows good ideas to be replicated.

Building rural Ontario's economy takes many avenues. We helped existing businesses expand. We helped innovative ideas become new businesses. We developed export markets and we attracted off-shore companies to set up shop in rural Ontario.In 2006, the food processing sector alone invested more than $400 million in facilities throughout rural Ontario and bought over 70 per cent of the food grown by Ontario's farmers.

We've also helped many rural communities assess their strengths and opportunities so they can focus their economic development efforts where they have the greatest potential and biggest return. For some towns, that meant focusing efforts on waterfront revitalization or brownfield redevelopment ...for others, it was taking advantage of their proximity to Highway 401. In the City of Stratford, it was turning a historic school next to the Festival Theatre into a tourist attraction. In Renfrew, it was a high-tech industrial opportunity to convert waste wood chips into renewable construction resins and electricity.

Goal

• Local economies that are diversified, innovative and support well-paying, high quality jobs.

Strategies

• Support community revitalization
  
  
• Promote economic development in Northern Ontario and Aboriginal communities
  
  
• Promote diversification and strengthen innovation capacity
  
  
• Encourage sustainable resource-based industries including economically viable agriculture, mining and forestry sectors
  
  
• Promote sustainable resource use and maximize the potential of tourism as an economic driver.

Our Progress

• Thirty-nine economic development projects were initiated through the Rural Economic Development (RED) Program in 2006. These 39 projects received $11.1 million in provincial support. Funding was provided in support of a broad range of economic development initiatives, such as strategic planning, community asset appraisal, tourism development and support for the creation of niche markets. Innovation in agriculture was also recognized and supported, through assistance to new and alternative on-farm technologies. Since 2004, the RED program has provided a total of $28.2 million to help communities complete local projects.
  
  

  When Ferrero Canada built its new chocolate and confectionary plant, the City of Brantford became host to the largest facility of its kind in North America. As Ferrero ramps up employment, it will need 1,200 specialized workers. The Ontario government's Rural Economic Development Program is contributing $1.7 million to the recruitment and specialized training of Ontarians for these careers.

• Recognizing the economic development needs of rural Ontario, the government announced $9.6 million in additional funding support for local projects in 2006.

• Agriculture and the green economy got a major boost when Canada's largest ethanol plant opened in Sarnia with support from the Ontario government. 

• Forestry contributes $9 billion to our exports and an equal amount to sales within Canada. In 2006, $140 million in energy rebates were established by the province to help our forestry sector cut energy costs by 15 per cent over the next three years. We also reduced stumpage fees and helped build forest access roads with a three-year investment of $220 million.
  
  
• Farmers' Markets bring Ontario-grown food to local consumers and they make shopping a fun experience the whole family can enjoy. The Ontario government is helping Farmers' Markets Ontario develop new markets and upgrade our existing ones through a three-year grant of $270,000.
  
  
• Getting innovation to market can be a financing challenge even after the hard work of developing new technologies is done. With a $2 million grant for job creation and skills training from the Rural Economic Development Program and a repayable loan of $3 million under the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Strategy, Proctor and Gamble completed a $30-million expansion of their Brockville facility, which secures 720 jobs, and they trained staff at their Belleville plant for new product lines.
  
  
• In support of our mining industry, we've invested $10 million in the new Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation at Laurentian University and we're investing $15 million in a Far North geological mapping project.
  
  
• $110 million has been added to the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization Program to provide transitional funding as we move to a better method of valuing inventory and continue the Self-Directed Risk Management Program for many producers of edible horticulture products in 2006 and 2007.
  
  

  The Chippewas of Georgina Island have been working on a strategy to increase tourism. In 2006, their plan got a boost from an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant of $193,000 over three years, which will help them establish a management structure to develop, manage and market tourism initiatives.

Ingersoll challenged itself to give new life to a three-story downtown school that the school board no longer needed. Due to its location, the historic building became part of the town's downtown revitalization strategy. Under a new name, the Thames Centre, the former school became a multi-tenant facility which is home to the Fusion Youth Centre, day programs for the elderly and a strategic cluster of social service agencies who benefit from proximity to both age groups. The Fusion Centre is a teen's dream-come-true. It has a robotics class thanks to local auto maker CAMI (Suzuki), as well as a dining room where the chef teaches you how to cook. If you want help with your homework, that's on-site too. The town received more than $547,000 in support through the Rural Economic Development Program to help fund the initiative.

• To help our farmers, we changed land transfer taxes. Now family farms can be transferred to our next generation of young farmers more easily.
  
  
• Today's young farmers are important to Ontario's future. That's why we have assistance like the Farm Business Assessment Service, which helps new farmers assess their business and financial plans.

• In eastern Ontario, the provincial government helped four communities develop a joint marketing and branding campaign to improve their appeal to visitors. The towns of Marmora and Lake, Stirling-Rawdon, Tweed and Centre Hastings have also begun rejuvenating their picturesque downtowns under the marketing campaign. The province contributed $100,000 to the campaign.
  
  
• On-the-job experience and coaching is the goal of the First Nations Natural Resources Youth Employment Program. The five-week program is funded by the Ontario government and the forestry industry. "It opened my eyes to a whole new world of careers. I really look forward to coming back next year," said one of the program's 33 participants.
  
  
  

Strong Local Leadership

Leadership builds the capacity of a community and cultivates a "roll-up-our-sleeves" approach to turn ideas into tangible results.

The Ontario government recognizes the contributions of local leadership. That's why we have invested in programs and facilities which help develop rural leadership.

We also support the development of local leaders by making tools available to get the job done. We're proud of the comprehensive way we've provided communities with programs and partnerships to support their aspirations and build their future while building community pride and a unique sense of place.

Goal

• The capacity to develop vibrant local economies through strong leadership.

Strategies

• Provide tools and resources to build local community and economic development capacity
  
  
• Provide employment opportunities and leadership development to youth in rural areas
  
  
• Build the capacity of the voluntary sector
  
  
• Provide support to municipal staff and enhance the fiscal capacity of municipalities.

Our progress 

• Sharing ideas is fundamental to building strong communities. That's why Ontario's Rural Development Conference was an effective meeting of minds in 2006. The 3-day event in Collingwood brought innovative community development ideas to the doorsteps of our rural leaders. More than 320 people participated in the conference entitled "Community Building through Innovation: Celebrating Today's Rural" which was a partnership between the Ontario and Canadian governments and The Ontario Rural Council (TORC).
  
  

  "See More than the Leaves" was the message shared across the province thanks to a tourism marketing campaign in the fall of 2006. The $290,000 Great Fall Drives Campaign was a partnership between the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation and 33 Destination Marketing Organizations from across the province. Together with industry partners, the Destination Marketing Organizations developed a variety of day and overnight experiences from autumn paddling daytrips to outdoor art classes and overnight culinary harvest getaways.

• In 2006, the Ontario government invested $152,000 in the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program (AALP) which is dedicated to developing rural leaders. Leaders benefit from training and mentoring. AALP brings rural leaders together to learn, explore and test their abilities.
  
  
• The First Impressions Community Exchange Program provided the vehicle to bring rural community leaders and volunteers together in 30 different towns and villages to take stock of the first impression their community makes on tourists, potential investors and people looking for the right place to put down roots. For many it's the spring board to community improvement initiatives.
  
  
• In partnership with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, we established the Agricultural Management Institute - a $5-million business management and skills development initiative for farm families, managers and advisors.
  
  
• The 2006 Outlook Conference brought the ideas of the world to the doorsteps of Ontario's leaders in the agriculture and food sector. The conference advanced innovative ideas for Ontario's economy.
  
  
• Small and rural communities benefited from 760 grants valued at $50.2 million through the Ontario Trillium Foundation. These grants went to help small municipalities, libraries and not-for-profit community-based organizations.
  
  
• In 2006, the Business Retention and Expansion Program (BR+E) equipped rural community leaders with information about issues and challenges faced by their local businesses. Following training sessions, 29 rural communities initiated BR+E projects. The Greater Peterborough Area was one community which used the program to build a community-based team and develop a local economic strategy.
  

  Developing volunteers is the goal of a collaborative project in Eastern Ontario. The Health Centres in North Leeds and North Lanark are working together on a variety of volunteer recruitment and management strategies. They are receiving $140,000 over three years from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to help them with this project.

• Ontario's libraries are community hubs for literacy. In 2006, the Ontario government invested $15 million in the Library Family Literacy Initiative, the Ontario Digital Library and the Northern Ontario Public Library Technology Initiative. More than 550 rural, northern, francophone and First Nations libraries serving small communities benefited from the Library Family Literacy Initiative.
  
  
• Cultural resources benefit economic development and community building. In 2006, we continued holding municipal cultural planning forums across the province to showcase the possibilities and promote cultural planning.
  
  
• Summer employment provides a learning environment for youth. That's why the Rural Summer Jobs Service was offered again in 2006. The program helped more than 3,600 students, aged 14 to 24, gain valuable experience and work skills from community employers.
  
  
• Leaders lead by example. In 2006, the Premier's Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence was created to showcase these examples and share new ideas across the industry. $2.5 million is being provided for this program over five years.
  

  The Premier's second annual Summit on Agri-Food brought leaders together to focus on the future of agriculture and food in Ontario. "Our agri-food sector is a key contributor to our economy, a huge employer of people and exporter of goods, and an anchor in our smaller communities. It's important that we look beyond today to ensure that the sector --- and the people in it --- are positioned for long-term success," said Premier McGuinty

• The new Aboriginal Youth Work Exchange Program gives Aboriginal youth the opportunity to work with the Ministry of Natural Resources in their local communities. The program established 18 work assignments in Northern Ontario which will span a three-year period.
  
  
• In many cases, success starts with a strong community network which mentors our young people. In 2006, the Ontario government annouced funding for renovations to 19 Indian Friendship Centres which assist young Aboriginal people in small cities and towns. These centres are venues to help build a strong community fabric through youth interaction and community engagement.
  
  
• Hands-on business training and mentoring - together with awards of up to $3,000 - are hallmarks of the successful Summer Company Program which helped young entrepreneurs set up student-run businesses in 2006. 
  

  Thunder Bay Testing and Engineering Ltd. believes in providing opportunities for employment and leadership development to youth. Thanks to their participation in the Northern Ontario Youth Internship and Co-op Program, Adam Rose was able to put his civil engineering degree into practice right after graduation and he was coached by experienced engineers at the company. Adam has done so well that he'll help to oversee the construction of a 55-kilometre road in 2007.

• In 2006, rural communities received $464 million in Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund and transitional support --- more than half of the total funding province-wide. This funding will help rural municipalities address their local challenges and respond to policing and social program costs.

The government created training and pre-apprenticeship opportunities for communities in the James Bay Lowlands area to help people gain the skills they need to be successful in apprenticeships and to be eligible for work at the new De Beers Victor Diamond Mine.

• The province invited its municipal partners to undertake a wide-ranging review of the provincial-municipal relationship. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and the City of Toronto joined this initiative to improve the delivery and funding of services for Ontarians.
  

Two new green-fuel plants started construction in Ontario with support from the Ontario Ethanol Growth Fund.  The new plants in Aylmer and Hensall are a boon to jobs, green energy, healthier living and agriculture.  "The Ontario Ethanol Growth Fund is exactly what our industry needs," says Tom Cox, Chair of the Integrated Grain Processors Co-operative. 

A Skilled Workforce

The best jobs go to the places that invest in their people … rural and urban.

A strong labour market in Ontario requires workers with the right skills to do their jobs well.

That starts by helping more teenagers earn their high school diplomas. It means restoring up-front grants to help young people further their education and training. It means recognizing the particular access challenges that exist for rural colleges and universities in Ontario. It means working with employers like the Eastern Ontario Manufacturing Consortium to connect job opportunities with people interested in obtaining apprenticeships and certification in skilled trades. It means helping Ontario's workforce to continuously upgrade and supporting community-based labour market partnership initiatives.

The Ontario government is doing all of these things and more to give Ontarians a competitive advantage in the global marketplace. 

Goal

• Skilled workers able to take advantage of diverse employment opportunities. 

Strategy

• Invest in skills development

Our Progress

• Ontario's new integrated employment and training system, Employment Ontario, was launched on November 6, 2006. Employment Ontario will benefit rural communities by providing comprehensive training, apprenticeship and labour market services to more people in more places. Service locations will grow from approximately 470 at present to 1,200 in all regions of the province.
  

  GE Canada and the Ontario government teamed up in 2006 to develop a Centre for Manufacturing Innovation in Cobourg to turn polymer discoveries into marketable technology. The facility will keep the local workforce at the cutting edge of new science-based product development.

• The new Youth Entrepreneurship Partnerships Initiative was launched in 2006 to help Ontario's youth build essential entrepreneurial skills. Three rural groups from central and northern Ontario obtained funding for projects.
  
  

  Each year we celebrate success stories through the Apprenticeship Employer Recognition Awards. In 2006, three rural-based companies were honoured for their outstanding participation in the apprenticeship training system: Harvan Engineering of Woodstock; Benedict Electrical Contracting of Owen Sound; and 401 Trucksource of Maidstone.

• The Ontario government created close to 800 pre-apprenticeship spaces across Ontario in 2006 to help people qualify for skilled trades training. The career path for today's skilled trades often begins with pre-apprenticeship training, which helps Ontarians develop technical and academic skills they need to succeed in an apprenticeship.  

• The new Apprenticeship Training Tax Credit rewards employers who invest in their people. Employers can obtain tax credits of up to $15,000 over three years if they hire and train an apprentice in designated skilled trades. In 2006, we held 45 information sessions in rural Ontario and attracted more than 750 business owners interested in apprenticeship opportunities. 
  
  
• During 2006, the Ontario government worked with Navistar to bring the company's hi-tech, $270-million Research & Development Centre to Chatham and retain more than 500 production jobs on-site as well. Overall, Ontario's auto strategy has leveraged almost $7 billion in investment since 2003. Skills training is an important component of this investment.  
  
  
• The communities of Simcoe, Brantford and Cayuga launched an ambitious workforce development strategy for the food processing industry in their region in 2006. With financial assistance from the Rural Economic Development Program, business, educators and community leaders are developing a forward-looking plan to develop and attract the skills needed to advance local industry. 
  
  
• Six skills-training projects, valued at $23.25 million, were initiated in 2006 through the Rural Economic Development Program with $4.26 million in provincial support.
  

  The world is a stage and leaders in Stratford know that they are investing in their stage's future and in their arts and culture community when they train directors, designers and artisans. In 2006, Stratford's efforts were supported with a new investment of $106,000 from the Sector Initiative Fund, to begin the process of establishing apprenticeship programming for theatre workers. "This program provides individuals who are young in their careers with a chance to learn alongside the Festival's accomplished and talented artists," says Antoni Cimolino, General Director of the Stratford Festival of Canada. The Stratford Festival has used this funding to develop and pilot five professional development programs.
  
  

Modernized Infrastructure

Infrastructure is critical to every Ontarian's health and prosperity. Safe roads, bridges, and water are foundations for every walk of life and business that we want to encourage in our communities. Modern hospitals and schools are an investment in everyone's future.

Improving access to affordable housing is part of building the social capacity of our communities.

In partnership with local municipalities and the federal government, we launched an ambitious program in 2004 to upgrade rural infrastructure with the $900-million Canada-Ontario Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund (COMRIF). In the spring of 2006, the commitment continued with concrete examples throughout rural Ontario.

Recreation and cultural facilities have also been improved in rural Ontario to add to our quality of life and help rural communities attract new residents and tourists alike.

Our rural heritage is often reflected in the historic buildings which grace our streetscapes. In 2006, we continued to work alongside citizens committed to preserving our rural heritage.

Taking care of the environment is also part of the infrastructure strategy in Ontario. Green infrastructure investments such as wastewater treatment, alternative power facilities and recreational trails say a lot about the values of Ontarians. 

Goal

• Up-to-date and well-maintained infrastructure. 

Strategies

• Improve water quality and upgrade sewage treatment and waste management infrastructure
  
  
• Improve local roads and bridges
  
  
• Improve northern highways
  
  
• Provide municipalities with innovative financing tools to help fund infrastructure projects
  
  
• Repair and improve arts, culture, sports and recreation infrastructure
  
  
• Improve access to affordable housing

Our Progress

• Eighty-eight communities started work on rural infrastructure projects worth $341 million in the spring of 2006 through the Canada-Ontario Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund. These rural communities are pushing ahead on 19 new water and wastewater projects, eight waste management projects and 61 road and bridge projects. Since its inception in 2004, COMRIF has enabled rural communities to get building through a cost sharing arrangement which sees the province and the federal governments paying for two-thirds of the cost of approved building projects.

• At the beginning of 2007, more COMRIF projects were announced. Seventy-two communities will be able to start construction of infrastructure valued at $139 million.
  

  The Town of Lakeshore in Essex County is keen to upgrade the Belle River Maidstone Water Pollution Control Plant. The cost of the new plant, estimated at close to $6.5 million, will be shared by all three levels of government. The province and the federal government have allocated more than $4.2 million under COMRIF. "This is a very important project for the Town of Lakeshore," says Tom Bain, Mayor of the Town of Lakeshore. "We look forward to working with our federal and provincial partners to make these upgrades to our water pollution control plant."

• At the International Plowing Match in September, the province announced an additional $70 million investment to support more infrastructure building under the Rural Infrastructure Investment Initiative. Funding is being directed to local roads and bridges, clean water and wastewater treatment, solid waste management, sports, recreation and cultural facilities and community energy projects.

• Roads take people to services, goods to market and tourists to destinations. In 2006, the province announced the Southern Ontario Highways Program which will invest $3.8 billion in highway construction over the next five years. The program has already invested $762 million in its first year to build 29 kilometres of new highway and three new bridges as well as repairing 34 bridges and 408 kilometres of highway.

• The Northern Highways Program is a five-year, $1.8 billion investment in highway construction across Northern Ontario. Since its launch in 2006, $357 million has been invested to repair 420 kilometres of highway and 43 bridges including work on Highways 11, 17, 144 and 69 in the northeast and Highways 11-17 and 584 in the northwest.

• Local roads are an important part of the province's transportation system. In 2006, our Move Ontario program provided rural municipalities with $188 million to assist with road and bridge maintenance and construction projects.
  
  
• Sometimes communities need access to secure, low-cost financing. That's why the Ontario government assists in long-term financing for municipal infrastructure through Infrastructure Ontario's loan program. In December, we expanded this program to provide financing for all capital infrastructure expenditures by municipalities and universities.
  

  Seniors in Bonnechere Valley now have 24 units of affordable housing. Construction of the units got the go-ahead through local fundraising efforts, municipal support and the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program. The project is sponsored by the Eganville and Area Long Term Care Corporation which is involved in planning for the needs of seniors in their community. "This project is a reminder to everyone that great things are possible through partnerships," says Bob Sweet, Renfrew County's Warden in 2006.

• Agriculture needs up-to-date science. That's why the government provided $25 million to the University of Guelph to enhance the province's ability to prevent and respond to animal disease threats.

• Affordable housing is an asset to our communities. During 2006, we funded 224 new affordable housing units, as part of 14 projects in rural communities.

• When the province launched its ambitious ReNew Ontario Strategy, the average age of hospital buildings was 40-plus years. Our plan to modernize health facilities is a $5 billion commitment by 2010. We are moving forward with more than 100 hospital projects to serve Ontarians where they live. Rural projects were undertaken in places like Grimsby, Woodstock, Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay and other centres.

• As we move forward on infrastructure renewal, we need a reliable way to manage our assets, both financially and physically. That's why we instituted the Asset Management Program under COMRIF in 2006. Ontario and Canada will collectively invest up to $5.96 million to help eligible municipalities and Local Service Boards with asset management planning.
  

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