Potential ‘boom opportunity’ awaits Northern Ontario

By Sandi Krasowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Source: The Chronicle-Journal

Northwestern Ontario needs to accelerate the harvesting of Canada’s resources that are needed on the world stage.

That was the message from David Pierce, the vice-president of government relations for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, who spoke at the Prosperity Northwest conference last Wednesday. Pierce brought to the gathering in Thunder Bay insight into how trade, tariffs and global competition are shaping Canada’s position and the impacts on the Northwestern Ontario economy.

“It’s optimism for the Northern Ontario economy,” he said. “We’ve got so many resources up here that the world needs for feeding the (artificial intelligence) boom and the tech revolution that’s upon us.”

He said the challenge now is to harvest those resources responsibly by working with First Nations and communities because the product will feed North American security and help secure Canada’s national security.

“Trade and tariffs have both created new opportunities and posed challenges for Canadian businesses and the resource sector,” he said.

“While the era of crisis is not over, Northwestern Ontario is significantly better positioned than a year ago to weather impending storms and even capitalize on emerging opportunities south of the border and beyond.”

As Canada continues to strengthen its independence and sovereignty, there is a time frame to be considered. Although the country’s resources are needed now, infrastructure such as roads and power transmission lines still need to be built.

And that takes time.

“The Ring of Fire was developed and discovered in the 2000s and we’ve been talking about a road there since,” Pierce said.

“The silver lining of the past year is that everybody is coming to the realization that we need to get there. The time for discussion is now, to get moving and get jobs going.”

He added that there are jobs building the roads and infrastructure, and then there are the long-term jobs and economic benefits of being able to harvest those resources.

“We have to do it, and this is a potential boom opportunity for Northern Ontario,” he said.

The geopolitical situation and the relationship between Canada and the U.S. are under stress and Pierce says U.S. President Donald Trump has many levers of control.

“The Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) trade deal between our countries is economically helpful for both sides. Companies can flourish using it,” he said.

“We’re able to have jobs and economic growth on both sides and because of it, there’s been tremendous growth since 2019 when it was renewed.”

Meanwhile, in Northwestern Ontario, he said policy leaders, politicians and business leaders appear to be aligned, with economic growth as key.

“We have the opportunity, for the first time in several years, to really focus on what businesses need to succeed and compete,” Pierce said. “A year and a half ago, we didn’t see ourselves competing with American companies. We’re now competing not just with Americans, but around the world, as we’re starting to diversify, and our companies.”

He added that these companies can no longer deal with the red tape they’ve had to deal with for years, and the country will likely see moves on that which will improve the economy overall.

Pierce added that “it’s great” to watch Prime Minister Mark Carney pushing trade deals.

“We’ve got a stack of trade deals at Global Affairs, dollars that are collecting dust,” Pierce said.

“Meanwhile, businesses don’t even know that they can do business overseas using some of these deals. Once these deals are signed, how do we educate businesses to start using those deals, to help grow, ultimately creating jobs and economic opportunity in Canada? That’s the big challenge for growing that pie.”