Marketing the region - Toronto global

NRU
July 6, 2016
By Leah Wong

With a shared goal of attracting and encouraging multinational companies to set up shop in the Greater Toronto Area, the region’s municipalities are collaborating through a new regional investment attraction agency.

Launching later this year, Toronto Global merges the operations of the Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance and Invest Toronto. With new funding commitments from the federal and provincial governments it will have greater capacity to target foreign investments.

“By having the entire region under one mandate… when our team looks at an opportunity we can look at the assets available from Burlington to Clarington and Lake Simcoe to Lake Ontario,” Toronto Global interim CEO Toby Lennox told NRU.

Having 6.2-million people living in 7,100 km2 is the agency’s biggest advantage said Lennox. The region offers economic diversity, as well as individual lifestyle opportunities that are available in its 25 municipalities.

“You wouldn’t be able to do that if you were just focusing on one municipality,” said Lennox. Pickering mayor and Toronto Global interim board member Dave Ryan told NRU that selling Toronto as a region makes it more competitive in the global marketplace.

“Toronto is a world-recognized name, identity and locale. Expanding it to the broader region gives everyone in the GTA the opportunity to benefit,” said Ryan. “Regardless of where one of these multinational companies reside, the GTA as a whole has some benefit. There’s obviously host community benefits, but then the neighbouring communities benefit as well in terms of spin-off operations and broader economic involvement.”

Lennox said the new agency is taking the final steps to become fully operational. This includes receiving full support from its funding municipalities -Toronto’s executive committee endorsed the city’s participation in the organization last week and Mississauga and Brampton councils are expected to finalize participation later today.

Until the new agency is up and running, Lennox said the operations of the GTMA and Invest Toronto have been integrated to ensure there is continuity in existing eff orts. He added, “We are effectively working as one company.”

While the GTMA and Invest Toronto weren’t competing, Ryan said that having one agency will avoid confusion when marketing the region to companies around the world.

With the new agency comes a new governance structure. The mayors and chairs of each of the seven funding municipalities-Brampton, Caledon, Durham, Halton, Mississauga, Toronto and York Region-will participate as members of the Mayors and Chairs Strategy Council. The council will provide regional oversight, approve the agency’s strategic plans and annual business plans, and recommend appointments to the agency’s board of directors.

“This brings some synergy to the discussion when the whole region is sitting down together at the political level and agreeing on the strategies and having input into the operational board,” said Ryan. “It provides a degree of confidence and cooperation.”

The board of directors will comprise 10-12 members drawn from businesses and other organizations across the region. At least two members must live in the City of Toronto. The board will be responsible for ongoing operations and will recommend strategic plans, annual business plans and budgets to the council.

Toronto Global will also continue to seek feedback from its funding municipalities’ economic development staff through an Economic Development Working Group. This group has been working with Lennox on the operating model and branding for Toronto Global.

Toronto Global will have a larger staff complement and greater resources than the GTMA. When it’s fully operational, Toronto Global will have between 20 and 25 staff, as compared to GTMA’s four to six. Lennox said this will allow Toronto Global to be more proactive and target companies that have not yet considered the Toronto region.