CEDC unveils strategic plan for five years of growth
Thunder Bay’s Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC) is focusing on business, community, and tourism as three key pillars for producing economic growth over the next half-decade.
At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, CEDC CEO Jamie Taylor presented the commission’s new strategic plan, which is meant to align with the goals of the city’s new Smart Growth Action Plan.
The five-year mission calls for growing the city’s population, improving the city’s attractiveness for migrants from both inside and outside of Canada, making the city more appealing for business investment, and creating a more consistent output for tourism events and destinations across all four seasons.
When it comes to business investment, Taylor calls for the city to take a precise approach by focusing on specific fields, such as critical minerals.
She wants Thunder Bay to “make sure that we are the hub of northwestern Ontario for mining,” which means having the necessary business infrastructure in the city to make it appealing to set up shop in the region.
Along with much of northern Ontario, Thunder Bay finds itself in a position unique to the region, with significant labour shortages that make Canada’s reduced immigration targets problematic.
Taylor says the CEDC wants to see a continuation of the Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP) program, which offers residency pathways for skilled workers who are willing to settle in smaller locales.
She explains that the RCIP helps ensure that people who come to Thunder Bay stay in Thunder Bay:
“We don’t just want people to be here for a few years. We want them to establish themselves in our community and be here for the long haul.”
The final pillar of the CEDC’s plan is tourism, which calls for Thunder Bay to position itself “as Canada’s premier outdoor city,” in the plan’s own words.
Taylor suggests the city look at sporting events, conferences and conventions as ways to bring travellers to the city in slower months, which she says “helps us to have a full, robust, year-round tourism sector.”
The new strategic plan can be viewed on the CEDC website.
