Addendum: June 24, 2021 Prosperity Roundtable Key Issues and Outcomes

Addendum: June 24, 2021 Prosperity Roundtable Key Issues and Outcomes

On June 24th, the Brampton Board of Trade held its annual Prosperity Roundtable. Approximately 80 business owners and representatives from Brampton’s major employment sectors participated.

The objective of the Roundtable was: • •

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To identify or re-confirm actions that private sector leaders will hold themselves accountable for to make Brampton the best it can be in the next 5 years.

To identify or re-confirm expectations that private sector leaders have of our elected public sector leaders, for which they will hold them accountable – particularly as we head into three elections in the next 16 months.

To identify actions and initiatives the private sector can initiate to strengthen the advocacy, connection and empowerment initiatives that the Brampton Board of Trade brings to Brampton’s business community.

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Family businesses and franchises, large and small employers, young entrepreneurs, and more seasoned ones, shared their perspectives. Business owners, Presidents, CEOs and other C-suite executives represented the following components of Brampton’s dynamic economy: • • • • • • • • •

food and beverage processing, technology, communications, and media, manufacturing, development and construction industries, hospitality, arts, tourism, restaurants logistics and distribution, business services including Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Legal, personal services and retail, academia and government

Together, those that attended the Prosperity Roundtable bring significant collective wisdom about the economy and advocacy power. Companies represented employ roughly 10,000 of the 45,000 jobs Board of Trade members provide in our city. Participants were invited because they have unique insights and have shared them in the past through a variety of channels including: • • • • •

At Brampton Board of Trade’s Policy and Government Relations Committee At one of the Brampton Board of Trade’s 8 Networks In conversations with Brampton Board of Trade staff or directors At one of Brampton Board of Trade’s Open Door Discussions or Brampton Board of Trade’s Annual General Meeting

As part of the pre-read for this roundtable, participants were provided reports including: • • •

The 2020 Prosperity Agenda The 2021-24 Brampton Board of Trade Strategic Plan The 2021 Pearson Area Employment Zone Pandemic Recovery Playbook

These documents helped guide the morning’s discussion. As part of the Roundtable, participants were asked to join a discussion group, led by a director of the Board of Trade, on one of six economic driver topics. They were encouraged to offer insight and thoughts on the relevant topics.

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Through the Board of Trade’s work over the past number of years, Brampton businesses have identified six pillars that drive the economy which form the basis of the Board’s advocacy efforts. A summary of discussions follows:

1) Innovation Establishing Brampton as an innovation hub is critical to our recovery and future strength.

Brampton Board of Trade is already involved in several initiatives to drive this forward. The Brampton Board of Trade is hosting Canada’s Innovation Corridor Summit (CICS) this September, and is engaged with stakeholders ranging from the City, Region, private sector and postsecondary sector to support the establishment of an Innovation District in Downtown Brampton.

Recent start-up support entries include ROGERS Cybersecure Catalyst; Ryerson Venture Zone and B-Hive, for example.

Discussion topics included: What is the largest barrier to developing an innovation economy in Brampton today? What is the greatest opportunity presented by the innovation economy for Brampton?

From your perspective, what are the issues, your expectations and the actions you think are required to foster more Brampton innovation. Lastly, what questions do you have on this topic?

Summary: Brampton has the tools needed to succeed in the innovation economy. There are many homegrown success stories, and telling those stories in a way that adds a human element beyond analytics/statistics is an important piece of the puzzle. Sharing stories can also help to break down barriers and pre-conceived ideas about Brampton, further opening the door to innovation opportunities. Our blossoming post-secondary opportunities are the fuel that can drive innovation here, but we need to make better connections between academia and the workforce. Above all, we have the raw material: a highly skilled and young workforce. The key is to bring all the elements together so that innovation in Brampton can thrive.

2) Talent & Next Generation Brampton is in the enviable position of having among the besteducated workforces living right here in the City. Over 60% of residents have a post-secondary degree or certificate. But there is a gap between the skills available among the workforce and the needs of employers. Every day, 152,000 residents travel outside of the City for employment.

There aren’t enough jobs for them in Brampton. Ensuring that the next generation of workforce 3

talent remains here in Brampton, and actively chooses to come to Brampton to live and work, is a key pillar of our future success.

Discussion topics included: How can we ensure better alignment between Brampton’s workforce and the needs of Brampton employers – so that businesses can find the talent they need right here in Brampton, and our highly educated youth find high-wage, high-value jobs that match their education here at home?

From your perspective, what are the issues, your expectations and the actions you think are required to foster talent development, recruitment and retention. Lastly, what questions do you have on this topic?

Summary: Attracting and retaining talent is an important pillar of the Prosperity Agenda – it often determines a business’s degree of success here in Brampton. This pillar is closely tied to several others.

Transit and transportation into Brampton is a challenge when trying to lure talent – the 407 is the easiest highway access, but expensive. Making it more convenient to work in Brampton is critical. For young, mobile and highly globalized workers, the lure of other jurisdictions like Toronto or the United States is strong – how can Brampton stand out? When it comes to making the workforce more accessible and inclusive, there need to be more options for childcare – not just daycare, but flexible options that reflect the reality that a lot of work in Brampton is not 9am-5pm.

3) Investment Attraction: Brampton ranks well for market access and connectivity due to our proximity to a major international airport and other large domestic markets. But we score less favourably when looking at factors such as Human Capital, Lifestyle, and Economic Outlook (source: American Cities of the Future Report by fDI). However, there are other positive signs.

Recently, MacLean’s magazine ranked Brampton high (13th) on its national best places to live ranking. FDI Intelligence, a UK magazine, named Brampton as a Top 10 Mid-Sized American City of the Future. Although improvements in technology have occurred as part of Brampton’s development approval and business-permitting process, Brampton businesses need regulatory, cost and timeframe certainty for growth of their companies and improvements to livability and lifestyle amenities for their employees.

Discussion topics included: What are the top 3 most urgent needs to address to make Brampton a more attractive destination for business investment?

From your perspective, what are the issues, your expectations and the actions you think are required to attract more commercial and industrial investment. Lastly, what questions do you have on this topic?

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Summary: Four themes emerged from discussion: Regulatory/Permit Environment Brampton businesses require greater certainty when it comes to approvals for development plans, building permits, utility hook-ups and more. In general, the City has a reputation for courteous and professional staff but processes are slower and more opaque than in other jurisdictions. It is hard to bring projects to completion. Uncertainty can complicate relationships with investors/funding sources and render timelines unreliable.

Comparative Advantage Brampton needs to be more aware of its advantages and disadvantages, when compared to other jurisdictions along the GTA to Waterloo Region corridor. With respect to attracting development, Brampton needs to take action on metrics such as time to complete, cost to complete, certainty of process and brand perceptions regarding ease of doing business and customer experience, compared to nearby jurisdictions.

Transparency and Confidence in the City Businesses looking to convince an ownership group or Board of Directors to consider a re-location to Brampton, or opening of an additional location in Brampton, often run into concerns about how much confidence the company should have in the City. Decisions at Heritage Heights, Brampton U and the LRT were cited. Businesses need more clarity as to what the City’s master/overall vision is; competing and shifting priorities leave businesses unsure of where they fit in.

Meeting Workforce Needs Before investing in Brampton, businesses need to be sure they can find and retain the talent they need to thrive. Increasingly, workers are reporting that they cannot afford to live in Brampton and are drawn to regions and cities that are more affordable and that also have a ‘cool’ factor and stronger lifestyle amenities.

4) Trade Canadian businesses rely heavily on trade to access lucrative markets outside of Ontario.

Current travel restrictions are problematic. While most of our exports go to the United States, COVID-19 and various geopolitical forces have resulted in a general thickening of the border.

That said, access to fast-growing markets is critical for Brampton businesses, and although Canada has free trade agreements with many, more local businesses could be taking advantage of them. At home in Canada, archaic inter-provincial trading rules make it more difficult for some businesses to sell products to customers in Vancouver or Halifax than to ship to far-flung 5

continents. Brampton Board of Trade continues to advocate for prompt trade agreements and relevant trade promotion for SMEs to increase our market access to the fastest growing economies in the world.

Discussion topics included: What is the largest barrier to international and domestic trade for Brampton businesses? What are some concrete and immediate steps that government can take to reduce those barriers and ease the flow of trade?

From your perspective, what are the issues, your expectations and the actions you think are required to facilitate convenient travel and more trade. Lastly, what questions do you have on this topic?

Summary: Brampton businesses rely heavily on trade opportunities with international markets. It would be great if domestic inter-provincial trade was an option for more businesses, but Canada has an outdated framework that makes it easier to trade internationally than domestically in many cases. There are several challenges when it comes to trade of late: shipping costs are unpredictable and increasing; raw materials are harder to access reliability; volatility in construction materials pricing makes contracts harder to lock in and rely on. Trucking is also a large factor, with a shortage of drivers and a high cost of entry. In short, the supply chain in almost every sector has been compromised by the pandemic. This means inflation is a concern and meeting customer expectations will take some time to recover.

5) Transportation & Transit It is hard to get around town. Brampton is better connected to other regions than many parts of the city are to each other. This makes it harder for customers to get to our city’s many businesses and shops, and it makes Brampton less desirable to work in for people with the option of picking where they will seek employment. Brampton Board of Trade is a longstanding supporter of immediate, sustained investment in transit options, including expanding the Hurontario LRT up Main St to the Brampton GO and ultimately to Mayfield. As well, it supports other Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), for example Queen Street, that connect our city’s arteries. But it’s not just people – moving goods is increasingly a challenge too. Brampton Board of Trade supports building the GTA West Corridor, Highway 413, in order to more efficiently move goods to market.

Discussion topics included: What is the largest negative impact, on your business, of Brampton’s current gaps in transit and transportation options? What transit and transportation projects would have the biggest positive impact your business?

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From your perspective, what are the issues, your expectations and the actions you think are required to better facilitate movement of people and goods within our city, our region, internationally. Lastly, what questions do you have on this topic?

Summary: Brampton is well connected to other regions, but getting around town can be a challenge.

While Vision 2040 was an aspirational painting of the future, Brampton businesses need a realistic market-based operating vision for the future of transportation and transit in our city. This includes prioritizing affordable rapid transit on our major arteries and presenting realistic, cost-effective proposals to higher orders of government for capital investments in legacy projects. It is also important to think of connectivity to the airport area not just in terms of how easy it is to get there when going on vacation, but for the thousands of people employed directly and indirectly at that employment zone – Canada’s second largest.

6) Civic Leadership Community leadership comes from both the private and public sectors. Brampton Board of Trade is proud to foster private sector civic leadership by promoting events like this Prosperity Roundtable, the Business Excellence Awards, Top 40 Under 40 and other initiatives that recognize and listen to our community builders. Businesses also look to City Hall to set an example. Too often, maintenance and repair on needed infrastructure such as road, water, waste-water upgrades are delayed. As well, inconsistent decision-making often changes the city’s infrastructure priorities. These changes seem to be based on political whims that frustrate the business community. Business owners would rather that elected leaders prioritize realistic, competitive, and business case-backed, city-building initiatives that align with the business community’s needs. More transparency and certainty would build the business community’s confidence for future investment.

Although there have been three consecutive years without a tax increase, there is a growing view that elected officials in Brampton could show more respect to taxpayers – for instance, the Hurontario-Main LRT could have been fully funded by the province 6 years ago, but Council rejected that and is now considering an unfunded, vastly more costly option. As another example, since 2010, nearly $38 million has been paid out in severance to past municipal employees, including nearly $10 million since 2018 alone. In addition to spending, missed opportunities in job creation are also a concern. Job creation at Heritage Heights is compromised because of unrealistic Council direction that is not aligned with provincial priorities or market realities. Another example involves Council’s recent decision to declare preference for an LRT extension on Main that includes a tunnel that will cost 3-4 times that of a surface route. Public criticism of city administration’s leadership from both staff and Councillors 7

does not bode well for business confidence or investment. Restoring trust in civic leadership is a key pillar of a prosperous Brampton.

Discussion topics included: What civic leadership signals should Brampton businesses expect and be proud of? How can, we work together, through Brampton Board of Trade, to help foster that?

From your perspective, what are the issues, expectations and the actions you think are required to build more business confidence and confidence in our civic institutions. Lastly, what questions do you have on this topic?

Summary: There is a lot of pride in Brampton among our residents and business community. It falls on both the private sector and public sector to foster and grow that sense of pride and spirit. Organizations like the Brampton Board of Trade help to further leadership through programs to recognize achievement.

City Hall is seen as professional, but certainty and clarity of decisions and outcomes can be uneven.

Branding Brampton for the future will be important. Participants asked each other to identify opportunities to better engage high school students and help them realize there is lifelong potential right here in Brampton.

Next Steps The Brampton Board of Trade will use the insights shared in the 2021 Roundtable to guide decisions for its 2021-22 policy development and programming. Its Board of Directors and Policy & Government Relations committee meet monthly. These key economic drivers form the basis of each meeting’s agenda. Policies that are developed are often shared with provincial and national chambers as part of their policy development process and then government relations strategies are developed to encourage elected leaders to make decisions that are consistent with Brampton’s business community’s point of view.

Throughout each year, Brampton Board of Trade organizes events and meetings that are consistent with the themes discussed at the Roundtable. The objective of these events is to bring more prosperity to our community and to generate wealth and success for our member businesses. In recent years, the Board of Trade has formed networks of like-minded businesses to further develop the actions and ideas discussed at roundtables such as this one.

In addition to meetings at the bureaucratic levels of local, provincial and federal governments, Brampton Board of Trade often visits Ministers at Queens Park and Parliament Hill and invites Ministers to speak and Board of Trade events. Topics discussed at this year’s Roundtable form the agendas for conversations with decision-makers. Looking ahead, three elections – federal, provincial and municipal are anticipated for the next 16 months. The 2020 Prosperity Agenda and this 2021 addendum will serve to inform questions that form part of our election debates and election strategies.

For more information about the Brampton Board of Trade’s policy development or event program, please visit bramptonbot.com. Lastly, this addendum will be added to the 2020 Prosperity Agenda so that members of Brampton’s business community can review and discuss with their employees and their many networks.

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