One item that was not addressed was the status of the proposed City of Vaughan Hospital, which I would submit represents a significant economic issue as much as a social one....
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Good afternoon,
Welcome to 2010. We’re entering an exciting new time in Vaughan. It’s hard to believe that we have completed an entire decade of the new millennium.
Think back to ten years ago. The entire world was poised for the end of the 20th century and everyone was holding their breath over Y2K – the Year 2000 Problem. I remember my mother bringing home a massive binder filled with information to prepare her for the worst. All over the world there were dire predictions of massive global infrastructure failures – everything from elevators to air traffic control systems – and there was real fear that business would be paralyzed.
And then it was over. January 1, 2000 came in just like any other day. All the hard work and preparation by IT departments had paid off. There were no major failures or problems anywhere. We survived. In the 10 years since then, the City of Vaughan has been transformed. We are a true urban centre now. Our population has grown to 280,000 and our businesses now number more than 9,000. We have achieved a lot in the past ten years and I know even greater achievements are yet to come.
Tornado
2009 in Vaughan will best be remembered as the year of the tornado – a terrifying incident that affected many lives while at the same time demonstrating how supportive and caring our community is. On Thursday August 20, shortly after 6 p.m., an F-2 tornado touched down in our City. While it caused widespread damage and destruction, miraculously, no one was killed or seriously injured.
The tornado was a catastrophic event that touched the lives of many people. I’m very proud of the way the City and our partners responded. It showed how capable we are, as a City, of responding to an emergency and doing a good job that was universally praised by all levels of government, businesses and residents alike.
Economic Development
Our businesses stepped up when the tornado hit, offering a variety of services and supplies to those affected. We understand that a strong business sector makes a ‘complete’ community and that’s why we work hard to make Vaughan the most business friendly municipality in Ontario.
It's why Vaughan has one of the strongest local economies in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. For the past decade we have consistently led the way in attracting new business and investment. Millions of dollars are being invested in our community every day. In 2009 the City of Vaughan broke the billion dollar mark for issued building permits.
Despite the economic challenges of a difficult year, we surpassed the amount issued in 2008. Congratulations to you, our business community, for continuing to invest in Vaughan. As Vaughan grows, so too does its business base, attracting new and dynamic enterprises every year. If we are to envision a strong economic future for Vaughan, then we must pursue economic growth and continue to diversify.
We are achieving this as more and more businesses choose Vaughan as the home base for their global enterprises. I’m always amazed when I attend the annual Vaughan Chamber of Commerce Business Achievement Awards at the diversity of the businesses in this City.
Canada's newest and fastest supercomputer is now located in Vaughan. This incredible piece of technology can perform more than 300 trillion calculations a second. It's about 30 times more powerful than the next fastest research computer in Canada and one of the world’s fastest computers.
I knew that we were the media capital of Canada – however, did you know that Vaughan is also the newspaper printing centre for Canada? In addition to printing the Toronto Star papers, we are also printing the National Post and the Globe and Mail after Transcontinental Printing located their printing centre here in Vaughan last July.
Vaughan is also the place where many of your favourite national magazines are printed. When you turn the lights on to read your morning paper, think of RuggedCom. This company, located in Vaughan, has grown to be a global market leader capturing 40% market share in communications networking technology used to enable the Smart Grid.
The next time you’re buying the latest video game or technology gadget, a company called Ideazon might come to mind. This Vaughan-based company is the first in the world to design and manufacture keyboards for PC gaming. And if it’s delivered overnight, chances are it went through the City of Vaughan. UPS Canada invested $72 million in 2009 in their main sorting package operation hub – an expansion that will create hundreds of jobs. It is now the largest UPS small package hub in Canada.
These are just an example of some of the amazing businesses that are choosing Vaughan. Vaughan has been taking proactive steps to protect its great economic potential and plan for growth, both in population and employment.
What are we doing? First, we are keeping taxes low.Not only do we work hard each year to maintain a low tax rate for business, we also have the lowest tax ratios in the GTA. Tax ratios determine how the tax burden is shared between the residential and business community.
Many communities put a far greater tax burden on their business community than Vaughan does.This translates into reduced costs to the business community in Vaughan. For example, did you know that if you built an identical business on Steeles Avenue – one on the north side in Vaughan and the other on the south Side in Toronto – in fact directly across from each other – that the business on the Toronto side would pay almost double the property tax?
Second, the City is engaged in two key studies focused on economic development. The Employment Sectors Study is nearing completion. I would like to thank those of you who have participated in the workshops and forums over the past year. This study has identified our current business landscape and our employment base. It also highlights the business sectors we need to focus on to continue to expand and diversify our economy.
The second is an Economic Development Strategy. It is set to begin in the next few weeks and will be completed this June. One of the main goals is to engage the entire Vaughan community – businesses, institutions, organizations, associations, and other stakeholders – in the process. This strategy will serve as the City's road map for our economic development activities for the next 10 years.
And, we are completing the Official Plan Review. This three-year project, the largest in the City’s history, is anticipated to be approved by Vaughan Council in June. It will clearly define how Vaughan will manage growth over the next 25 years including how to best utilize our employment lands. Vaughan has the largest amount of greenfield employment land in the GTA and it's going to be so important that we have the policies in place to guide us on its use. This means 114,000 new jobs in the next 20 years. The new Official Plan will make sure that the employment we attract will continue to build our great City.
Employment
Vaughan prides itself on being able to offer tremendous opportunities for business expansion and quality employment.We will continue to work with our partners in the business community to grow our business base and create even more jobs in our City.
A decade ago, the City of Vaughan’s labour force stood at just over 100,000. Today that number is almost 160,000 – a 55 per cent increase. When it comes to job growth – Vaughan is a leader, not just in the GTA, but in Canada. Why are we a leader? Because of people like you. People like you who had a dream to start a business – whether it was a hair salon, a restaurant, a clothing store or a factory – you are the reason Vaughan is what it is, today.
You are the reason we can continue to attract an educated and skilled labour force. You are the reason we led all Canadian municipalities in job growth according to the 2006 Census. You are the reason Vaughan is a business leader and why we continue to attract new business. You are the reason why other businesses choose to stay here and expand. You are the reason we continue to be a leader among Canadian municipalities.
The City’s employment base is diversifying and new sectors are emerging – such as the green building industry – an area where Vaughan has an opportunity to emerge as a leader in green development. Manufacturing continues to be the largest employment sector in Vaughan. Construction and wholesale trade are also still strong.
Infrastructure
Most of us have heard that there are two seasons in Ontario – winter and the construction season. With the challenges of the economy it has been a positive to see so much construction going on in our City. Some of this is a result of infrastructure stimulus funding that Vaughan has received from the provincial and federal governments. This has meant improvements to roads, bridges, water systems and public transit, to name a few.
The City of Vaughan acted quickly – we submitted a list of Shovel Ready Projects and went after the funding aggressively. We wanted to move forward on projects that focused on the rehabilitation of existing infrastructure, ones that would also create jobs and stimulate the local economy.
Staff worked incredibly hard to get a significant portion of the available infrastructure funding, giving Vaughan the lion’s share of the money allocated to York Region municipalities. Vaughan had $30 million in projects approved. Ten million from the provincial and federal levels, combined with ten million at the local level.
These projects would otherwise have been funded by the taxpayer and instead are being funded by the province and the government of Canada. The City was able to fast-track many planned construction projects because of this funding. These projects are creating jobs which, in turn, drive the economy.
Subway extension - Spadina and Yonge
One of the biggest infrastructure projects in the City of Vaughan is the Toronto York-Spadina Subway extension. I was pleased to participate in the groundbreaking ceremony this past November where the shovels finally went into the ground.
In five years, subway trains will be rolling into Vaughan. As for the Yonge Street Subway Extension, we are continuing to work on this project. In December, I was in Ottawa with other Mayors to meet with the federal government to continue the dialogue for extending the Yonge Street Subway line from Finch Station to Richmond Hill Centre.
Economy and the Budget
Vaughan has accomplished a great deal in the past decade, and even in the past year, when the economy was in recession. Consumer confidence hit new lows and many people were concerned about their jobs as businesses reduced spending and layoffs grew across the country.
The City of Vaughan remains in a strong financial position thanks in part to our long standing dedication to financial management through progressive best practices and prudent policies. We passed our 2010 Operating and Capital Budgets this past Monday night. It features a modest 2.6 property tax increase.
The focus for this budget is:
Job creation – through economic stimulus projects;
Environmental Stewardship – by building environmentally sustainable facilities, such as our new City Hall;
Community safety – hiring firefighters for a new fire station and making major road repairs; and,
Community facilities – opening the North Thornhill Community Centre.
The City is focused on a minimal cost to the taxpayer and a minimal cost to the business community. We have achieved that with this budget.
Awards and Achievements
Vaughan is a well-managed City. The Minister for Municipal Affairs and Housing has recognized that Vaughan is well-run and is fiscally sound. In 2009, the City of Vaughan became the first stand-alone water distribution system in the Province of Ontario:
to have an on-site visit;
be accredited by the Canadian General Standards Board; and,
receive a Municipal Drinking Water License and Drinking Water Works Permit from the Ministry of Environment.
We also received two perfect scores for water quality. Last fall, the City was recognized for its efforts in engaging the public and involving them in the planning process. We received an Excellence in Planning Award for Communications and Public Education from the Ontario Professional Planners Institute for our Official Plan Review.
Earlier this week, the City received a prestigious international award for excellence in budgeting from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada. Again, this award recognizes that Vaughan is a well-managed municipality. And I will be on hand next month when our Economic Development Department receives an award from the Economic Development Council of Ontario.
Before I conclude, I would like to thank the Board of the Vaughan Chamber of Commerce, the Chair of the Board, Gerald Searles, and the President and CEO Deborah Bonk, for the invitation to speak today. As we stand here now at the beginning of a new decade we can look back with pride and a sense of accomplishment at the changing face of Vaughan, and look forward with great confidence to what lies ahead.
Everything begins with a dream. Every business in this City began with a dream – an idea inside someone’s head that slowly took shape and turned into a plan. For example, the dream of putting a weather station on Mars is now a reality. Thanks to a Vaughan business we are now learning more than we ever knew about the red planet.
What was once someone’s vision, someone’s dream, is now a reality. I know there are many more dreams just like that in this room and across our City. The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Vaughan. And we’re here to help you realize it and to help make all your dreams come true.
Thank you.
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