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York Region leads Canada in technology businesses, chambers hear

Yorkregion.com
June 1, 2016
By Lisa Queen

It’s not easy being invisible.

Although York Region has a $3-billion annual budget and provides a number of crucial services, it’s the level of government many people don’t give a second thought about, regional chairperson Wayne Emmerson said at the first regional chair’s lunch, hosted by the Aurora, Newmarket and King chambers of commerce May 30.

Ask residents what their local municipalities do and many will be able to rhyme off parks and recreation, fire services, libraries, local planning and dog licences.

But ask those same residents what the region does and you’re likely to get blank looks, even though the upper-tier municipal government is responsible for police, paramedics, public transit, regional roads, water and sewage, regional planning, emergency planning, court services, public health and waste management.

“However, I have made it a personal priority to inform everyone about what we do at York Region,” Emmerson said at the event at the Manor in Kettleby.

“It’s not only good to know, it’s important. Consider this: approximately 50 per cent of every local tax dollar goes to funding regional services. The region’s overall budget is just shy of $3 billion. That’s billion with a ‘B.’ It is significant.”

Speaking to the business crowd, Emmerson said the region is focused on promoting York’s economic interests.

“Economic vitality is a strategic priority of regional council. Business growth and job creation are common threads that are weaved through everything we do,” he said.

“As political leaders, we support business development in four ways: by fostering an environment that attracts, grows and maintains business, by supporting the development and retention of a regionwide workforce, by focusing on networks and systems that connect people, goods and services and by ensuring optimal locations for business and employment growth are available.”

The region is a magnet for technology companies, Doug Lindeblom, the region’s director of economic strategy, told the audience.

“Our claim to fame in York Region is that we are the Toronto area’s and, in fact, one of Canada’s leading technology hubs. We know that tech-savvy businesses are located throughout this region,” he said.

“On a per capita basis, York Region has more information and communications technology (ICT) firms than anywhere else in Canada, and that includes Toronto and places like Waterloo that we’re always hearing about.

“And, in fact, we’re on par with some of the biggest technology clusters in North America, particularly in the United States.”

Across the region, there are more than 4,400 ICT firms.

“(That includes) start-ups, small and medium-sized businesses and some of the biggest and best known global brands. Our companies, they sell all over the world and we export more than $4 billion in goods and services annually,” Lindeblom said.

“What makes our economy strong is the diversity of business clusters. It’s not just about information and communications technology. We’re very strong in life sciences and health care, finance, insurance and business services, clean technology, automotive and auto parts, consumer products, agri-business and engineering and construction.

“Many of these businesses, though, are here and flourishing because they’re supported by that strong information, communications and technology cluster.”

While there are many big name companies in the region, the largest portion of the business community is made up of small and medium-sized enterprises of fewer than 100 employees, Lindeblom said.

“That’s the real strength of our economy, where we’re seeing innovation and growth really happening,” he said.

Overall, the region’s top priorities include securing approvals and funding to extend the Yonge subway north from Finch station in Toronto to Richmond Hill’s Langstaff urban growth centre, completing the final four Viva rapidway public transit bus routes, increasing the region’s range of housing options, developing new affordable housing, building the Upper York Sewage System to accommodate growth in East Gwillimbury, Newmarket and Aurora until 2031 and expanding public sector broadband initiatives throughout the region, Emmerson said.
“I have an idea what you might be thinking at this point. These are very expensive projects and what sort of tax increases can we expect in the future?” he said.

“We are pushing the federal and provincial governments to pick up 100 per cent of the costs of these projects or as close to 100 per cent as possible. Time will tell if we are successful.”

When it comes to regional property taxes, the region’s first four-year budget has meant tax hikes of 2.97 per cent last year and 2.85 per cent this year and projected increases of 2.69 per cent in 2016 and 2.35 per cent in 2017, Emmerson said.