Economic Development

While we are proud that our city is home to two strong universities and several leading-edge technology companies, Council must work harder in collaboration with community partners to make sure that Waterloo attracts more innovations and jobs that can support the full diversity of people and skills in our city.

Economic development means more investment and more businesses, which provides the tax base for the critical public services we all enjoy, from public spaces and parks, to our social safety net, and a vibrant arts and culture scene. It also means more jobs and opportunities for the diversity of people we have in Waterloo, which is important to ensure that all of the residents in Waterloo have the opportunity to find meaningful work that pays the bills.

Waterloo was once the button-making capital of the Canada. Later, it became a central location for the distillery industry. Next, it was a national leader in the insurance industry, which continues today. And we are all familiar with our current global leadership in the wireless, digital media, and technology sectors.

As our long history has shown, success doesn’t come from assuming we’ve got the right formula, or from resting on our laurels. A city named “the world’s Top Intelligent Community” needs to act intelligently. We need to continually work with businesses and the larger community to shape both our present and our future, collaborating on how to best appeal to new businesses and industries to come to the area. Council needs to play an active role in encouraging the next great innovation or idea to grow and thrive in the Waterloo community.

We live in a City that has done some great investigation and planning on economic development issues, but the work cannot end there. We have great local organizations, such as Canada’s Technology Triangle, the Greater Kitchener-Waterloo and Area Chamber of Commerce, the Workforce Planning Board of Waterloo Wellington Dufferin, the Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation, the local United Way, and Communitech, and many others, which each brings its own expertise, perspective, and ideas.

I believe that the City must build on its economic development capacity and that Council must work to build consensus among community partners about the vision the City should have.

The City needs to move past information gathering and preparing reports, and set into motion a strategy to recognize our goals, targets, and continued growth and success. We need to create a city with a quality of life that is second to none, with opportunities to serve all our residents and that attracts talented doctors, artists, students, and entrepreneurs. A strong City Council can play a key role not only in helping to realize such a vision, but in playing a participatory role with the other key stakeholders in our region: business, industry associations, universities, community organizations, and others. I will be a strong voice on Council for moving forward on these initiatives so that we can begin leading and supporting the growth we need for the future.