July 2022

Your monthly news & updates
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Western Ontario Regional Data Sources

173, 000 new housing units required by 2041.  214, 000 jobs to be filled by 2030.


These are just some of the numbers that are available on the Workforce Microsite.  


Winning strategies are based on a solid understanding of the current situation, trends and tools available to drive desired change. On the site you will find a collection of regional and municipal demographic and economic data, housing trends and projections.


Visit the Data Centre

Save the Date: 2022 Agri-Food Forum

The County of Brant is co-hosting the 14th annual 2022 Municipal Agriculture Economic Development and Planning Forum with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.


This year’s theme is 'Tradition, Innovation and Regeneration'. At the forum, explore County of Brant farms and agricultural businesses that embrace technology, new crops, entrepreneurship and environmental stewardship. This is a great opportunity to learn, network and share experiences. 


The 2022 Agri-Food Forum will be hosted at the Town Place Suites Brantford and Conference Centre 


Registration openiing soon, for more information visit www.brant.ca/AgriForum

Rural Housing Information System

The Rural Housing Information System (RHIS) is underway with Beta version pages. Web developer, Itergy, has been collaborating with the ROI Housing Team to integrate crucial data sets into the RHIS platform and build comprehensive matrices for affordable housing data analysis. Data matrices will show community comparison tools across upper and lower tier municipalities; housing market data; and development costs data that include development data, zoning, and information to assist in development grant applications.


User Acceptance Testing for the RHIS will commence in August and will gather final input used to develop the tool. This will give stakeholders a chance to interact with a prototype for the platform and provide feedback on the user interface before final development.



Anyone interested in taking part in the User Acceptance Testing should contact Iain Storosko, Housing Program Specialist, at istorosko@ruralontarioinstitute.ca.


Further information on the RHIS project, and the Housing Data Survey, can be found through the ROIConnect project page.


Click here to learn more

EDCO's Top Ten Announced

EDCO's Top Ten was a new project introduced in 2021 to celebrate members and their achievements over the past year. EDCO’s membership encompasses over 1,000 members and is Canada’s largest professional economic development association. The themes considered by the judges were leadership, dedication, innovation, and results.

 

Congratulations to all those who were honoured from Western Ontario.


Kate Burns Gallagher – Executive Director, Western Ontario Wardens' Caucus

Hannah Conroy – Senior Economic Development Officer, County of Simcoe

Brad Hammond – Development Officer, City of Woodstock

Cephas Panschow – Development Commissioner, Town of Tillsonburg

Nelson Silveira – Economic Development Officer, Town of Essex

Angela Smith – Community Improvement Coordinator, Municipality of Central Huron

Curtis Tighe – Manager of Development and Tourism, Town of Ingersoll


Regional Networking Events



Take advantage of these opportunities to meet peers in your region and learn about trends in economic development that are effecting your municipality.

 

Regional Event Topics:

* Current and Future Trends in Economic Development

* Talent Recruitment

* Bringing Connections to Downtowns

* Economic Strategic Development

* Current & Future Trends of FDI

* Community Improvement Plans

* Childcare, 'She-Covery'


Central Region: Whitby

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Learn More Here


Southwestern Region: London

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Learn More Here


Eastern Region: Gananoque

November 2, 2022

Learn More Here


Northern Region

Thunder Bay

November 24, 2022

Learn More Here

Ontario Providing More Supportive Housing In Simcoe


The Ontario government is providing over $1.1 million to help create 18 supportive housing units, 14 of which are barrier free in Simcoe to support people with disabilities. This investment is in addition to the over $3.4 million the government has already contributed to the project containing 51 units.

Residents will be close to public transportation, parks, grocery stores, pharmacies, the hospital, library, and employment opportunities.


The Ontario government is also investing an additional $25 million annually in a new Homelessness Prevention Program. The new program simplifies and streamlines operations so municipal service managers can spend less time on paperwork and more time working with their clients to help find housing and other supports and help those at risk of homelessness stay in their homes. The additional funding brings Ontario’s total yearly investment in the program to close to $464 million.


View the press release


Fed Dev Invests $3 Million for Lambton College


The Government of Canada announced an investment of $3 million for Lambton College of Applied Arts and Technology, in partnership with Fanshawe College (London), Mohawk College (Hamilton) and Loyalist College (Belleville), to establish the Canadian Bio-Cleantech Applied Research Network (CBARN).


The CBARN will provide research, technical and commercialization support to 65 southern Ontario-based early-stage SMEs in the bio-cleantech sector, leading to the development of 80 technologies, processes or products and supporting more than 110 jobs.


The CBARN network will provide companies with access to all partnering colleges’ applied research and technical expertise to develop and improve products and technologies that are commercially viable, grow their business and diversify the skillsets of their workforce.




View the press release