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Economic Resiliency in Caledon: A Community Perspective
August, 2010
Prepared by: Holly Greenwood and Sylvia Cheuy
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Michael Slattery, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University
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Headwaters Communities in Action (HCIA) is a grassroots citizen coalition that supports innovative collaborative initiatives directed at improving community well-being in the Headwaters region. We do this by bringing together people from different sectors and municipalities to share ideas and information, and support the conditions for sustainable collaborative action.
Our Vision HCIA is guided by the following vision of community well-being: To engage the diverse citizens of the Headwaters region to work collaboratively in creating vibrant, resilient and sustainable communities which strengthen the prosperity, health and well-being of all.
Visit: www.headwaterscommunities.ca for more information
We welcome your feedback and questions about this report via email:
About Headwaters Communities in Action
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The Leadership Council of HCIA would like to thank the following organizations whose opinions and perspectives helped to shape this report:
• Town of Caledon Economic Development Department
• Town of Caledon Planning Department
• Caledon Chamber of Commerce
• Caledon Community Services
• Hills of Headwaters Tourism Association
• Caledon Countryside Alliance
• Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
We would also like to thank the Ontario Trillium Foundation for funding this report
Acknowledgements
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Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5
INTRODUCTION 8
A FRAMEWORK FOR ECONOMIC RESILIENCY 11
INDUSTRY MIX IN CALEDON 13
THE WORKFORCE 18
THE VULNERABLE WORKFORCE 27
ENTERPRISE 33
CONCLUDING REMARKS 41
APPENDIX 1 43
APPENDIX 2 45
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Executive Summary
During times of severe economic contraction, how well a community copes is central to what defines its economic resilience. This report examines Caledon’s performance on a range of measures in order to assess its degree of economic resiliency. It is intended to highlight some important issues, stimulate conversations and ultimately offer some opportunities for shared community action. It offers a poignant illustration of the impact of the current recession on the Town.
This information will be used in future communications within the community to build citizen awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of Caledon’s economy, and more importantly to profile opportunities for citizens to participate in strengthening their community’s economic resiliency. Below is a summary of key issues and opportunities for enhancing Caledon’s economic resilience addressed in this report.
ISSUES AFFECTING CALEDON’S ECONOMIC RESILIENCE:
1. Imbalance in Caledon’s Industry Mix: Caledon’s industry mix is skewed to a few industries. Thirty-eight percent of local employment is concentrated in only 3 sectors (manufacturing, retail trade, warehousing and transportation). These sectors have all seen significant recent job-loss and are considered vulnerable. At the same time, Caledon has few industries in emerging and more stable sectors. At the same time, a significant proportion of Caledon residents hold the skills needed in sectors that are considered emerging and stable. These residents currently commute out of the community to find employment.
2. Commuting: Commuting will always draw a certain percentage of the population to job opportunities outside of the immediate community. However, evidence shows that there are significant health, business and social benefits if this constitutes a minority of the total population. Currently, 50.4% of Caledon’s population commutes outside the community to work on a regular basis which suggests a large margin for improvement.
3. Staying Competitive in a Shifting Economy: - Ontario’s economy is in transition away from jobs largely dependent on physical skills or repetitive tasks to ones that require analytical and social intelligence skills. Caledon’s economic resiliency, in part, depends upon a local workforce that holds the skills required to meet these changes.
4. Workforce Shortages in General Labour and Skilled Trades – Caledon businesses have difficulty recruiting skilled tradespeople and general labourers. Few live locally and reasons for this include: limited housing choices; cost of housing and a lack of public transportation.
5. Lack of Affordable Housing and Public Transportation – When compared to five surrounding communities, Caledon registered the highest housing prices in 2009. This presents barriers to general labourers, skilled tradespeople and young people choosing Caledon as their “first-start.” Caledon’s limited public transportation system also presents barriers to youth, families with lower incomes and seniors.
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6. Hidden Poverty - While Caledon’s poverty rate was the lowest in the Region of Peel before the recession, there has been a 149% increase in EI recipients in Caledon between 2008 and 2009. Caledon also had a 515 percent increase in the number of personal bankruptcies between 2007 and 2009. The impact of poverty in Caledon is difficult to see. Families with lower-incomes tend to leave to find more affordable circumstances elsewhere. This intensifies their hardship as they are forced to uproot themselves from social connections and routines in times of stress.
7. Active Support for Entrepreneurialism in Caledon Needs to Continue and Expand - Caledon’s level of entrepreneurialism is a strength that requires continued active support. The majority of new jobs in both the U.S. and Europe are now found in small local businesses and local businesses tend to have “roots” within the community which mean they are less likely to leave.
OPPORTUNITIES TO ENHANCE CALEDON’S ECONOMIC RESILIENCE: 1. Caledon’s Skilled Workforce is a Competitive Advantage - While a significant proportion
of Caledon’s workforce leaves the community for employment, they represent an untapped skill base which could serve as a competitive advantage in attracting new businesses to Caledon.
2. Citizen Participation Can Improve Economic Resilience - Successful communities have demonstrated that the most creative and effective solutions emerge when citizens from diverse perspectives actively engage in initiatives to address local concerns. Opportunities for citizens to work together with government have a greater likelihood of resulting in solutions that more fully reflect the community’s dynamic, interests, and needs.
3. Provide Local Access to Education and Retraining: Through partnerships with colleges and universities, Caledon could create a range of locally-based education and retraining opportunities. Access to local education and training could also be enhanced by establishing an eLearning site. These sites – fully funded by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities – have been successful in assisting residents of rural and small communities to overcome access barriers to continuing education.
4. Encourage Diversity by Welcoming Newcomers: With an aging workforce and increasing demand for skilled workers, the ability to attract immigrants to small and rural communities will be crucial to the future growth of these regions. Regions that welcome diversity have the added benefit of being seen as communities that are receptive to new ideas, intellectual freedom and an entrepreneurial spirit, all of which are needed to successfully attract talented people.
5. Citizen Engagement in PPAG – Being aware of and supporting the efforts of the Peel Poverty Action Group (PPAG) can raise awareness of poverty in Caledon. PPAG brings together people on various forms of income support, with service providers and community activists to raise concerns and generate constructive ideas for addressing poverty.
6. Support Persons with Disabilities in Their Employment Efforts – Local employers could be more proactive in learning how to successfully integrate individuals with disabilities as productive employees in their workplaces.
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7. Develop More Social Enterprises – Social enterprises apply an entrepreneurial approach to addressing social issues and creating positive community change. Caledon Community Services coordinates a few but more such initiatives need to be considered as part of the Town’s overall effort to enhance its economic resilience.
8. Establish Additional Innovation Incubation Strategies - Innovators need support to bring their ideas to the next stage of development. In addition to existing innovation hubs like Caledon’s RIC Centre, venture forums, peer-to-peer mentoring networks and innovation funding are opportunities to further support local innovation.
9. Recognize the Role of For-Profit Service Providers in Supporting Local Entrepreneurs - Private-sector service providers – accountants, lawyers and the like -- play an essential in supporting local entrepreneurs. Specifically, these individuals and organizations must be informed, aware and responsive to the unique challenges that small entrepreneurs face.
10. Cultivate an Entrepreneurial Mindset in All Sectors – Entrepreneurialism is not only the prevue of a small group of local businesses. It also reflects an attitude or way of thinking that must be cultivated in every sector of the community. Our secondary and post-secondary education systems have key roles to play in this by ensuring that entrepreneurial skills are integrated into the curriculum for all secondary and post-secondary school students.
Meaningful solutions to the issues highlighted throughout this report will require more than just a government effort. Every economic actor in the Headwaters region must be involved in contributing their thoughts, ideas and perspectives. Similarly, dialogue and collaboration are needed to translate the opportunities identified throughout this report into initiatives with positive impact. This will require industry, private businesses, citizens and local government working together. The challenge lies in creating mechanisms for the meaningful involvement of a wide variety of stakeholders and requires us to strengthen our collective capacity to learn how to “learn together.”
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Introduction
Headwaters Communities in Action (HCIA) first approached the subject of economic resilience in response to general concerns raised by local citizens about their personal economic situation. In an on-line survey conducted in the fall of 2008, 33% of respondents said that they were concerned with at least one of the following: their personal economic sustainability, the lack of diversity of employment opportunities, or not enough locally-available, above-average income jobs. In subsequent community focus groups, individuals spoke about the struggle of small businesses and family farms to remain viable, stressing how these operations are not only important to the local economy, but are intrinsically tied to community identity. Another major concern was ensuring that area youth could access meaningful post-graduate employment opportunities that allowed them to remain in the community when their education was complete. Finally, participants said that they hoped to see municipalities begin to strategize at a regional level on issues of economic development. To further our understanding of the issues raised in the 2008 community consultations, in 2010 key community stakeholders were interviewed for their opinions regarding the current economic situation of and economic development plans for Caledon. Below is the list of stakeholders whose opinions and ideas have helped shape this report:
o Town of Caledon Economic Development Department o Town of Caledon Planning Department o Caledon Chamber of Commerce o Caledon Community Services o Hills of Headwaters Tourism Association o Caledon Countryside Alliance o Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
Drawing from this consultative process, the following sections explain what is thus far known about Caledon in relation to the five domains of economic resilience.
A community’s capacity has been defined as: “the combined influence of a community’s commitment, resources and skills that can be deployed to build on community strengths and address community problems and opportunities.”1 There is a very clear relationship between a community’s capacity and its effectiveness in developing its local economy. John Molinaro of the Aspen Institute’s Community Strategies Group refers to this as the community’s “sweet spot” – The place where the community’s passion, competence and economics coincide.2 John and his colleagues describe community capacity in this way, “...the real importance of “living in community” is that people – and groups of people – develop the ways and means to care for each other, to nurture the talents and leadership that enhance the quality of community life, and to tackle the problems that threaten the community and the opportunities that can help it.
1 Measuring Community Capacity Building, Aspen Institute, 1996, pg 1
2 (Source: Economic Development in Rural America: An Outcome-Focused Approach, Aspen Institute Presentation, 2007
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When people do these things, communities become healthy; when they do not, communities deteriorate. Communities that have the ways and means to undertake challenges demonstrate “capacity.”
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From their extensive work in rural regions, the Aspen Institute has developed what they refer to as the Development Triangle (see below) to illustrate how three important components of rural development – economic development, community capacity building and stewardship – relate to each other. Within their model the three components of rural development are described on the following page:
1. COMMUNITY CAPACITY BUILDING – The purpose of community capacity building is to enable people in a community to work together, make well-considered and collaborative decisions, develop a vision and strategy for the future, and act over time to make these real—all while tapping and building the individual skills and abilities of a ever-increasing quantity and diversity of participants and organizations within the community.
2. STEWARDSHIP – A community must steward its natural resources and way of life—and nurture its
culture and people – if development is to be maintained at a healthy and sustainable level over time. Community stewardship is made possible when rural citizens acknowledge the value of their resources and engage in civic dialogue to determine, as a community, how and which resources should be developed or preserved.
3 Measuring Community Capacity Building, Aspen Institute, 1996
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3. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT – In today’s global economy, economic development in small communities has become increasingly focused on growing entrepreneurs from within the community. This approach builds upon the community’s existing core competencies of resident people and firms – taking advantage of and strengthening what they are already good at. As well as focusing on finding and pursuing the market opportunities – places to sell their existing products and skills, new ways to sell them, and ideas for developing new products and skills – that complement these core competencies.
We are coming to believe that leaders and communities must attend to each side of this triangle if they wish to achieve healthy, sustainable development, and that there is an advantage to addressing the three areas simultaneously. Nonetheless, paying attention to the base—that is, community capacity building—can only strengthen a community’s future economic development and stewardship efforts. Believing that objective information is a crucial first step to meaningful citizen involvement, Headwaters Communities in Action initiated this report to build community awareness about our local economy. Our hope is to begin of a dialogue amongst community members to address issues and opportunities in a representative, knowledgeable and effective manner. This report will provide information about how Caledon is faring in attending to the various determinants of economic resiliency. It will highlight opportunities that will create the conditions for innovative problem-solving, identify promising areas of collaborative action and pose questions for further dialogue.
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A Framework for Economic Resiliency
During times of severe economic contraction, such as during the recent recession, how well a community copes and adapts in response to it is central to what defines its economic resilience. Resilience is defined as, “the ability to create a positive world for ourselves, often in the face of stressful life experiences, and the ability to resist being overtaken by negative experiences when they seem to be overwhelming.4” Understanding what makes an economy more resilient is a key strategic tool for directing economic development policy and regeneration activity. However, economic resilience is not a fixed recipe. It involves a complex interplay of social, cultural, environmental, and economic considerations. Furthermore, it is influenced by the history and local context of a community5. It is worth noting that the most resilient economies are not necessarily those that have the highest growth rates or productivity levels; rather, they are the economies that under pressure from difficult circumstances are able remain stable or to quickly recuperate6. What follows below is the framework for identifying Caledon’s economic resilience. The framework was primarily pulled from three sources: Ekosgen’s Index of Economic Resilience, The Berkeley Institute’s research on regional economic resilience, and The Martin Institute for Economic Prosperity’s report on Ontario in the Creative Age. Ekosgen is a consultancy practice based in the United Kingdom that holds expertise in the areas of policy and economics. The Berkeley Institute of Urban and Regional Development is a US based academic institution that conducts collaborative, interdisciplinary research and practical work that reveals the dynamics of communities, cities, and regions and informs public policy. Finally, The Martin Institute for Economic Prosperity is is linked with the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and conducts research on economic prosperity that includes the importance of quality of place and the development of people’s creative potential. The framework that outlines the discussion in this report consists of four dimensions: Industry mix, Workforce, Vulnerable Workforce, and Enterprise. Industry Mix: This dimension examines the degree of employment diversification in a community. One of the major issues facing municipal economies over the past forty years has been an over-dependence on industrial sectors, particularly manufacturing. As global production transfers abroad, this over-representation can lead to localized job losses. The key thrust for this dimension is to develop more competitive and balanced local economies, with an emphasis on: • Lower or more balanced levels of specialization; • Lower levels of vulnerable or declining sectors, such as manufacturing; • Higher levels of stable and less volatile sectors such as the public sector; and • Higher proportions of employment in growing industries such as knowledge intensive industries. In terms of the current recession, those economies most at risk are ones with high levels of vulnerable sectors and low levels of public sector and knowledge-intensive jobs.
4 Resilience: Health in a New Key, 2003, St. Luke’s Health Initiatives
5 Exploring Regional Economic Resilience, June 2008, Edward W (Ned) Hill, Howard Wial, & Harold Wolman, MacArthur Foundation
Research Network on Building Resilient Regions, Berkely Institute of Urban and Regional Development. 6 Southwest Index of Economic Resilience, 2009, ekosgen, www.ekosgen.co.uk
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The Workforce: This dimension focuses on the ability of the local labour market to respond to changing economic conditions. In particular, it looks at the quality of human capital, and the effective functioning of the local labour market. Human capital refers to the health, education, and stock of skills that people in a community bring to their employment. The higher the human capital, the more attractive a community is to businesses who may consider moving into the area7. The Vulnerable Workforce: This dimension focuses on the extent to which the local economy is affected by that portion of the labour force that is characterized by unemployment, benefit dependency, and low employment skills. While the workforce dimension focuses on higher level skills, this domain focuses on the opposite end of the skills spectrum. It captures the length of time vacancies remain unfilled, as well as levels of employment insurance claims, and long-term benefit dependency to round out an understanding of the health of the local labour market. Enterprise: This dimension captures the extent of the entrepreneurial spirit in a community. A dynamic business base is central to a successful local economy. Communities that support creativity, innovation, and start-up enterprises are often more able to adjust rapidly to changing economic conditions. In the following sections, we will explore how Caledon’s performance in each of these four dimensions and identify areas and opportunities for further community dialogue and engagement in moving those opportunities forward.
7 Ontario in the Creative Age, February 2009, Martin Prosperity Institute.
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Industry Mix in Caledon
Caledon residents are concerned with the lack of diversity in local employment opportunities and the low number of above-average income jobs.8 This section highlights the concentrated nature of Caledon’s industry mix which influences these particular concerns directly, as well as reduces the municipality’s ability to weather economic shocks and downturns. While little post-census data specific to Caledon is available, it is reasonable to expect that Caledon’s experience of the recent recession is not much different than that reflected in the data for the Region of Peel as a whole. Significant job losses have been experienced in Peel in manufacturing, construction and trade. These industries account for 38% of employment within Caledon. Conversely, employment in professional, scientific and technical services were among the few industries in Peel that has steadily grown since 2004. This sector presently accounts for 7% of employment in Caledon.9
It is anticipated that Peel’s labour market is likely to continue to register weak growth in employment into 2010 given the ongoing challenges in key sectors such as construction, and manufacturing, as well as other sectors with close linkages to manufacturing activities, such as trade, transportation and warehousing.10
Manufacturing employment has been on the decline in Peel since 2004. In the two year period, 2007-2009, more than 33,000 Peel residents lost jobs in the manufacturing sector.11 Since 2003, the construction sector has led a downward trend in employment. Employment declined by 36% per cent during the April – June quarter of 2009, the lowest level since 2004. Peel’s Employed Labour Force in Key Industries (Source: Peel Labour Market Backgrounder, Feb 2010, Region of Peel)
8 Citizen Opinion about Community Well-being and Proposed Well-being Reports, Winter 2009, Headwaters
Communities in Action 9 Peel Labour Market Backgrounder, February 2010, Region of Peel
10 Peels Economic Pulse, Peel Data Centre, Region of Peel
11 Peel Labour Market Backgrounder, February 2010, Region of Peel
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ISSUE #1: IMBALANCE IN CALEDON’S INDUSTRY MIX Caledon employment rests heavily within industries that were considered vulnerable prior to the recession and have seen significant employment reductions during the recession. Statistics show that there has been a 27 percent increase in business bankruptcies in the Region of Peel between 2007 and 2009.12 Vulnerable sectors in Ontario include manufacturing, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, all of which experienced declines in employment in the recent recession. In Caledon, 38 % of employment is concentrated in these vulnerable sectors. Further difficulties within these sectors could significantly impact the local population. Caledon’s economic resilience would be enhanced by attracting employment opportunities in knowledge-intensive industries and the public sector.13
Major Sectors of Employment in Caledon 2006 Sector Number of Employed Percentage
Employed Status of Sector
Manufacturing 4,135 22% Retail Trade
1655 9%
Transportation & Warehousing
1360 7%
Vulnerable
Educational services 1390 7% Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
1280 7%
Health Care and Social Assistance 995 5% Public Administration 495 3% Finance and Insurance 330 2%
Emerging or Stable
Construction 1255 7% Wholesale Trade 1175 6% Accommodation and Food Services 1155 6% Information and Cultural Industries 160 1% Mining, Oil and Gas Extraction 95 0.5%
Strong
Definitions: Vulnerable: sectors that have experienced employment decline across the province in recent years. Emerging: sectors that have demonstrated growth on a province-wide basis in recent years, and show promise for future growth. Stable: industries that tend to weather economic shocks over both the short and long-term. Strong: industries that are showing employment growth both provincially and locally. Source: Statistics Canada, Census of the Population & REDDI analysis, reddi.gov.on.ca)
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Region of Peel, Planning Department 13
Sustainable Community Indicators Program, www.ec.gc.ca
The Issues:
Imbalance in Caledon’s industry mix Commuting
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The table on the previous page outlines the distribution of employment across a variety of industries that have been categorized by their growth potential. This categorization is based on performance of industries between 2001 and 2006 (see Appendix 1). The recent recession impacted many industries negatively. As noted earlier, the construction industry in Peel has been severely hurt in the recession, yet demonstrated strong performance prior to it. From the perspective of economic resiliency, time is needed to see if the status of this industry will change.
ISSUE #2: COMMUTING A large proportion of local labour force works outside of Caledon as many can not find local employment opportunities that match their skill base (see Labour Flow Analysis table). While commuting will always draw a certain percentage of the population to job opportunities outside of the immediate community, the community benefits if this constitutes a minority of the total population. In Caledon, this is not the case with 50.4% of the population commuting to work on a regular basis14. The impacts of commuting have come to affect communities in several ways, most of them detrimental. From a health perspective, commuting is correlated to increasing rates of obesity and stress for the commuter, as well as contributing to air and noise pollution. For local businesses, it can result in reduced local spending as people tend to spend money in close proximity to their place of work. And from a social perspective, time spent commuting reduces the amount of time residents have to connect with their community through volunteerism, social events, and community projects15. With this and the potential health, business, and social benefits produced by a reduction in commuting activity, there is a large margin for improvement in Caledon.
Labour Flow Analysis – Local Jobs vs Employed Resident Labour Force
NAICS # - Industry Labour
Force # Local Jobs Net Labour % Export Labour
52 -Finance and Insurance 1130 330 -800 71% 91 -Public Administration 1330 495 -835 63% 23 -Construction 3060 1255 -1805 59% 41 –Wholesale Trade 2620 1175 -1445 55% 62 –Health care & Social assistance
2045 995 -1050 51%
44-45 –Retail Trade 3310 1655 -1655 50% 54 –Professional, scientific, technical services
2460 1280 -1180 48%
48-49 –Transportation & Warehousing
2080 1360 -720 34%
61 -Education 2035 1390 -645 31% Definitions: Labour Force – # local residents employed in the sector; whether or not they work in Caledon; total labour force for Caledon = 31,755 # local jobs - # people employed by local industries, workers may or may not be residents of Caledon Net Labour – negative values indicate that residents commute outside Caledon to work % Export Labour – percentage of residents employed in the sector that commute outside Caledon to work (Source: Labour Flow Analysis, REDDI, reddi.gov.on.ca)
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Town of Caledon Competitive Analysis, December 2006, urbanMetrics inc. 15
Draft Headwaters Community Well-being Report, 2010, Headwaters Communities in Action, www.headwaterscommunities.ca
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OPPORTUNITY #1: CALEDON’S SKILLED WORKFORCE IS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE While a significant proportion of Caledon’s workforce leaves the community for employment, they represent an untapped skill base which could serve as a competitive advantage in attracting new businesses to Caledon. As noted earlier, Caledon’s economic resiliency would be improved by strengthening employment in emerging and stable industries. Yet, 28% of residents who are skilled in emerging and stable industries must find work outside the community given the lack of local employment opportunities that reflect their professional capacities. The following sectors represent a best match between Caledon’s untapped labour force and industries needed to improve Caledon’s industry mix:16 � Professional, scientific, and technical services; � Health care and social assistance; � Educational services; and, � Finance & Insurance.
The Town’s Economic Development department has taken this information into consideration in the development of its economic development strategy for 2008- 2012. The town is actively pursing business investment in the professional, scientific and technical services, and advanced manufacturing that depends heavily upon new technologies. Industries targeted in the Town of Caledon Economic Development Strategy 2008 to 2012 Manufacturing industries, in particular: Professional, Scientific & Technical Services: Advance Manufacturing & Industrial Machinery Management, Scientific and Technical Services Fabricated Structural Metal Products Specialized Design Services Plastic Products Engineering Services Food & Beverage Auto Parts Source: Town of Caledon Economic Development Strategy, Sector Profiles, Town of Caledon Website
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REDDI, reddi.gov.on.ca, Competitive Advantage – Sector Classification 2001 – 2006,
The Opportunities:
Competitive Advantage in Caledon’s Skilled Local Workforce Citizen Participation To Improve Economic Resiliency
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Further Dialogue: How can citizens and businesses be meaningfully engaged in the investment attraction activities outlined in the Economic Development Strategy for Caledon? The Economic Development Strategy ends in 2012. However, over the next ten years, Caledon will be guided by its Community-based Strategic Plan that includes actions related to economic vibrancy. What kind of businesses do we want to see thrive in Caledon to support the vision in the Strategic Plan? What are the opportunities to enhance employment in the more stable and emerging industries such as the public sector and knowledge-intensive sectors?
OPPORTUNITY #2: CITIZEN PARTICIPATION TO IMPROVE ECONOMIC RESILENCE Successful communities have demonstrated that the most creative and effective solutions emerge when citizens from diverse perspectives actively engage in initiatives to address local concerns.17 Although the desire to hand responsibility of these matters wholly to the local, provincial, or federal government is a natural reaction, as industry diversification relates to official policy. That being said, allowing government to work in isolation results in solutions that will not fully reflect the community dynamic, interests, and needs, and so compromise the end result. Natural starting points for enhanced citizen engagement exist in structures put in place by the Town of Caledon, such as the Economic Development Strategy, the newly formed Economic Development Committee, and the emerging Community-based Strategic Plan18: Set within the Economic Development Plan are actions that invite citizens to contribute their time, talent, and resources to attract business investment to the area. These include: � Establishing a Business Ambassador Program – key business leaders in the community work with
the Town to promote the community as a premier location in which to live, work and play. � Engaging in Business Attraction programs – develop sector profiles that promote investment in key
target sectors; increase involvement in associations related to key target sectors; participate in trade shows & exhibitions related to target sectors.
� Building relationships with businesses and those affiliated with site selection development & investment community – create local networking events & attend external events with the site selection community; develop a cooperative marketing partnership.
� Community member involvement in an Economic Development Committee that holds a mandate to provide recommendations to Council on economic matters.
The Town of Caledon has engaged citizens in the process of developing a Community-based Strategic Plan with a ten year horizon. The plan lays out a strategy to maintain and improve the attractiveness and competitiveness of the community, and is grounded in citizen involvement. The plan holds much promise for the future of Caledon, but to fully realize its potential will require that local government finds meaningful ways to engage citizens in its implementation. Headwaters Community in Action is interested in engaging community members in dialogue around the issues identified in this report. Following are a set of questions that may provide useful insights and enhanced community engagement when explored through more dynamic forms of community dialogue.
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Tamarack Institute, http://tamarackcommunity.ca 18
Town of Caldon Community-Based Strategic Plan, June 2010
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The Workforce
This section examines the capacity of Caledon’s local workforce to weather economic shocks or to meet changing economic conditions. In essence, this capacity represents the ability of the workforce to adapt to a dynamic and changing work environment. The ability of a local workforce to adapt to changing conditions is enabled by building human capital and diversifying the local labour market. The impact of the current recession on Caledon’s economy indicates that opportunities for improvement exist in terms of enhancing these two specific areas.
Employment Losses: In the citizen survey and focus groups conducted by Headwaters Communities in Action in 2008, residents reported concerns with their personal economic situations. The data below provides a basis for these concerns. Since 2008, a number of key sectors in the Region of Peel have experienced significant reductions in activity and employment losses. For example:
• Manufacturing: - In the second quarter of 2009, the number of persons employed in Peel’s manufacturing sector was down approximately 18 per cent relative to the same quarter in 2008;
• Construction: - Between January – March 2009,
average employment in Peel’s construction sector fell by 27.6 per cent relative to the corresponding period in 2008. This was followed by a decline of 36 per cent during the second quarter of 2009. His quarter also represented the lowest quarterly average employment for this sector since 2004.
• Transportation and Warehousing: - Throughout 2009, Peel’s transportation and warehousing sector lost 17,300 jobs.
• Finance, Insurance, Real Estate & Leasing: - This sector has registered relatively strong reductions in employment between the second quarter of 2008 and 2009, due in part to the declines experienced in the construction sector.
Altogether these four sectors account for 47% of employment for Caledon’s workforce.19 Accordingly, the number of residents in Caledon collecting Employment Insurance (EI) regular benefits has dramatically increased since the start of the recession. In the twelve month period from August 2008 to July 2009, the number of Caledon residents receiving EI increased by 149 per cent.20
19
Peel Data Centre: Dashboard of Economics -Labour Market 20
Peel Labour Market Backgrounder, February 2010, Region of Peel
Human Capital: Human capital refers to the health, education, and stock of skills that people in a community bring along with their employment. The higher the human capital, the more attractive a community is to potential businesses and industries considering investing in the area. What supports the enhancement of human capital is the availability of educational opportunities, skill retraining, and health and social services. In turn, a workforce characterized by its broad set of skills and good health is far better able to accommodate changes in the economic climate. Labour Force Diversification: Adequate diversification means that local employers are able to locally acquire the skills they need for their businesses. Source: Ontario in the Creative Age, Feb 2009, Martin Prosperity Institute
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The annual unemployment rate for Peel reached 10.8 per cent in December 2009. This represents an increase of 5.8 per cent since the rate registered in 2006. Similar deteriorations in the labour market were experienced throughout the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) and Ontario.21
2009 Unemployment Rates Region of Peel Toronto CMA Ontario
Dec 2009 Dec 2008 Dec 2009 Dec 2008 Dec 2009 Dec 2008 10.8% 6.6% 9.5% 7.5% 9.2% 7.2% Source: Peel Data Centre: Dashboard of Economics -Labour Market
Three key issues have emerged from an analysis of Caledon & Ontario’s workforce trends that impact the future stability and adaptability of Caledon’s labour force. These issues are related to the Town’s skewed industry mix which is overly dependent on the manufacturing sector. While Caledon’s manufacturing businesses are good and valuable employers, because they currently employ the majority of Caledon’s workforce – either directly or indirectly – any continued downturn in this sector will have a significant negative impact on the lives of Caledon workers and, in turn, the community as a whole. These issues are:
Ultimately, a plan of action needs to be created that, on the one hand, accommodate the current make up of the community’s workforce and, on the other, prepares Caledon for the upcoming years by attracting industries that will enable us to diversify the range of sectors represented by our local employment base. Each of these issues is examined in more depth below and offers a starting point for further discussion. ISSUE #3: STAYING COMPETITIVE IN A SHIFTING ECONOMY Ontario’s economy is in transition. Research conducted by the Martin Prosperity Institute suggests that communities in Ontario are currently facing a shift away from jobs largely dependent on physical skills or repetitive tasks to ones that require analytical and social intelligence skills.22 In this new economy, the ability to mass produce goods will be subordinate to the ability to generate new ideas, concepts, and products.23
21
Peel Data Centre: Dashboard of Economics -Labour Market 22
Ontario in the Creative Age, February 2009, Martin Prosperity Institute. 23
Ontario’s Small-Sized Regions’ Performance on the 3Ts of Economic Development, Benchmarking Project: Ontario Competes, April 2009, Martin Prosperity Institute.
The Issues:
Staying Competitive in a Shifting Economy Workforce Shortages: General Labour and Skilled Trades
Lack of Affordable Housing and Public Transportation
Analytical skills: This includes determining how a system functions and how changes in operating conditions affect the system outcomes; developing rules and methods to solve problems; and rapidly and accurately comparing and contrasting patterns or sets of numbers. Social intelligence skills: These generally comprise abilities in understanding, collaborating with, and managing other people, in combination with strong oral and written communication skills. Specifically, these skills include the ability to assess the needs and perspectives of others to facilitate negotiations, sales, and teamwork. A priority is placed on complex thinking skills essential for assessing ambiguous human situations, such as deductive reasoning, applying general rules to specific problems, and achieving objective judgment for effective decision making. Source: Ontario in the Creative Age, February 2009
20
By extension, Caledon’s economic resiliency, in part, depends upon a local workforce that holds the skills required to meet these changes in the economy.
The following section will explore this issue from three vantage points: � Attainment of higher education � Skills development through workplace training � Attraction of creative and talented people
Attainment of Higher Education: University attainment is a well accepted indicator of the quality of human capital, and provides the necessary training to build the type of skills needed to meet emerging economic opportunities.24 From this perspective, Caledon’s level of high school and trades certification/diploma attainment is comparable to municipalities within the broader GTA. However, Caledon falls behind the GTA by 6 percent in terms of higher levels of educational attainment. When one compares the level of university education of Caledon residents to that of the rest of Peel, the gap is 10 percent. That being said, Caledon residents face tangible roadblocks to accessing post-secondary education. First of all, Caledon lacks a university or college within its boundaries. Research has shown that high school graduates are less likely to attend post secondary institutions if the commute to these institutions is considered unreasonable to them. This issue is especially relevant for students who come from low-income families.25
Second, where commutes are reasonable, students are more apt to rely on public transportation as a way to economize on expenses. While post secondary institutions are available within a reasonable commuting distance from Caledon, the availability of public transportation to these schools is inadequate and therefore diminishes accessibility for some Caledon youth.
24
The 2008 Composite Learning Index: Measuring Canada’s Progress in Lifelong Learning, 2008, Canadian Council on Learning. 25
The 2008 Composite Learning Index: Measuring Canada’s Progress in Lifelong Learning, 2008, Canadian Council on Learning.
Educational Attainment Caledon Ontario Peel Canada
Total Population 57,050 12,160,282 1,159,405 31,612,897
Total population 25 years and over 64.7% 67.4% 64.3% 67.9%
Percentage 25+ with high school certificate or equivalent 27.2% 24.4% 24.6% 23.4%
Percentage 25+ with university certificate, diploma or
degree 23.5% 27.6% 32.6% 25.3%
Source: Peel Data Centre, 2006 Census
21
These issues are not unusual for small communities, and so many universities and colleges are improving access to their programs for students in rural or remote communities by offering an increasing array of on-line distant learning opportunities. However, high speed internet connection is essential to access these courses and a percentage of Caledon residents currently lack access to high speed internet service. Although the Town of Caledon is uncertain what percentage of the population is in this situation, it is a known barrier to on-line educational opportunities for a portion of the community. Workforce Training & Retraining: Workplace training has been shown to be an effective way for workers to improve and retain their job-related skills, and the availability of such training is considered key to keeping a workforce competitive. Research shows that a key factor in the overall availability of workplace training in Canada is the relative size of a company. Less than half of small firms (those with fewer than 20 employees) offer workplace training. More advanced training, such as managerial, supervisory, and literacy and numeracy training, is offered by a relatively small number of employers.26 Given that outside of the manufacturing sector, small and medium sized businesses predominate in Caledon, it is reasonable to extrapolate that workplace training is minimal, particularly in those areas of higher skill development. With the upcoming changes predicted in the economy, it is likely that high-paying – but not highly-skilled jobs – will not exist as they have in the past. With the decline in routine-physical jobs, older workers who have enjoyed long tenure with a single employer will face significant levels of unemployment followed by decreased wages at their next job.27 This result is painful for workers and their families, and the wider impact on Caledon’s community will also be significant given that a high percentage of Caledon’s workforce is employed in declining industries. Attention to workforce retraining and skill development is therefore critically important, and should be complemented by targeted approaches to support the transition of workers forced to move into lower paying occupations.
In Caledon, the following efforts are underway to support skill development of the local workforce: � the Caledon Business Centre in collaboration with the Small Business Enterprise Center in Brampton
offers seminars to keep entrepreneurs abreast of new developments in business; � the Caledon Chamber of Commerce offers seminars on emerging business issues and provides access
to business resources for its membership; � Jobs Caledon offers workshops on job related skills; and � the Town of Caledon reaches out to educational institutions to encourage the provision of programs
focused on priority areas in manufacturing such as applied technology, production management, and apprenticeships to support skilled trades.
26
The 2008 Composite Learning Index: Measuring Canada’s Progress in Lifelong Learning, 2008, Canadian Council on Learning. 27
Ontario in the Creative Age, February 2009, Martin Prosperity Institute.
“A recent study by Statistics Canada indicates that male workers between the ages of 25 and 49 who lost their jobs during the years 1983 to 2002 through firm closures or mass layoffs with the firm and subsequently found new jobs, were earning on average between 9 and 22 percent less five years later. The average earnings reduction for females was between 12 and 35 percent. Earnings losses by displaced workers with five or more years of seniority were higher than for other workers, with losses ranging from 18 percent to 35 percent for among men and 26 to 35 percent among women.”
Source: Ontario in the Creative Age, February 2009, Martin Prosperity Institute
22
What is not readily apparent in reviewing the overview of workshops being offered in Caledon, is whether or not these workshops are sufficiently focused on supporting the necessary skill development to prepare the local workforce for the future. A more focused investigation of the availability and adequacy of skill development resources in order to substantially upgrade Caledon’s workforce is a strategic action that is worth pursuing in the future. Attracting Talented People As mentioned earlier, creativity-oriented jobs that put a premium on analytical and social intelligence skills are fast becoming the core of economic competitiveness in Ontario (Ontario in the Creative Age, 2008). Technology, Arts & Culture, Professional, Education and Health occupations are examples of such jobs. These occupations also tend to be higher paying, with an average total income of $64,100 compared to an average of $42,600 for all occupations in Ontario.28 Tapping into nascent industries requires success in attracting and retaining the necessary workforce. Those regions that are able to do so are best positioned to succeed in the future. Quality of life factors are a core consideration in the decision-making of creative and talented people when choosing where they will live and work. In 2007, the Town of Caledon conducted a survey through Ipsos Reid, which confirmed that Caledon residents experience a rewarding quality of life and feel that they are serviced effectively by the municipality. In 2010, Headwaters Communities in Action will publish a Community Well being Report that builds upon the Ipsos Reid survey. The report will provide a set of indicators – with comprehensive commentary –that provide a snapshot of quality of life in the Headwaters area.
What attracts talented people? Talented people are attracted to the following qualities in a community:
� attractiveness of place � social cohesion � high-performing institutions � strategic government � high quality cultural and educational opportunities � environmental responsibility � diversity of amenities � opportunities for creative occupation � investment in human capital � environmental responsibility
Source: MetroOutlook Live, January 2007; The Creative Class: The Key to Rural Growth
Draft results from the Headwaters Community Well-being report provide evidence that many of the factors that make a place attractive to talented individuals are present in the Town of Caledon. This includes: a high level of community safety; proven emphasis on environmental responsibility; a commitment to strategic decision-making; and, social cohesion.29 However, there are areas for improvement in the region’s quality of life, such as: access to health and social services; availability of affordable housing; and, public transportation. Proximity to these services was identified as a core concern by citizens in HCIA’s 2008 community survey and has been further confirmed in the 2009-2010 Caledon Community-based Strategic Planning process.
28
Ontario’s Small-Sized Regions’ Performance on the 3Ts of Economic Development, Benchmarking Project: Ontario Competes, April 2009, Martin Prosperity Institute.
29 Draft Headwaters Community Well-being Report, 2010, Headwaters Communities in Action
23
Caledon is part of the Central West Local Health Integrated Network (LHIN) which is responsible for making decisions related to funding for health and social services. The Central West LHIN is one of the most underfunded in the province. Area mental health and addiction services are identified as a specific priority because these services are the most poorly funded by a considerable margin when compared to the rest of Ontario. Approximately 30 percent of Bolton residents do not have a primary care physician;30 only 38 percent of Caledon residents needing mental health services receive them within the Central West LHIN – with very few of these services being offered within Caledon itself.31 This is particularly worrisome given that Canadians’ rating of their health status has declined in recent years, particularly among teenagers (our future workforce). Whereas over 80 percent of Canadian 12 to 19 year-olds reported excellent or very good health in 1998, only 67 percent did so in 2005. This is matched by a steadily increasing share of Canadian teenagers who report problems with everyday functions (memory, thinking and mental wellbeing) – an increase of 6.4 percentage points.32 Population growth threatens to intensify this problem over the long term unless it is addressed and solutions are appropriately implemented. Caledon is projected to reach a population of 108,000 by the year 2031, which represents a doubling of population levels from 2001. The phased approach to growth taken by the Town of Caledon is a positive step towards ensuring that population growth doesn’t come at the expense of quality of life. ISSUE #4: WORKFORCE SHORTAGES: GENERAL LABOUR AND SKILLED TRADES Caledon businesses that require general or technically-skilled labour have suggested that they are encountering difficulties recruiting for these positions locally, and as a result, are drawing their employees from neighboring communities. Lack of diversified housing choice, the cost of housing and lack of public transportation within Caledon are among the most significant barriers to living in Caledon identified by this employee base. Difficulty attracting skilled tradespeople to Caledon may be due, in part, to the fact that fewer youth are interested in pursuing trades as a viable career option. The lack of available apprenticeship opportunities for students of the trades may be another factor.33 Predictions are that shortages in skilled trades will continue. If this happens, Caledon employers will likely struggle to convince general labourers and skilled tradespeople that it is worth commuting to Caledon34 if fuel prices continue to rise and job opportunities become available closer to home. ISSUE #5: LACK OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION Bottom line, Caledon is an expensive community to live in. In comparison to five surrounding communities, Caledon registered the highest housing prices in 2009. To reiterate an earlier point, a lack of affordable housing makes Caledon inaccessible to general labourers; those in the skilled trades; and, young people making a first-start in the community. Although higher-density housing options are more affordable, there is a limited supply in Caledon since the town’s housing stock is primarily concentrated in single detached family homes. Of the 17,894 homes identified in 2005 by the Town of Caledon Planning & Development Department, 87.2% of them fell into this category. The alternative and higher density options of semi-detached homes, town/row/link housing, and apartments each evenly represented the remaining alternatives.
30
Primary Health Care Needs in Bolton, 31
Physician Search Committee/ Dufferin Mental Health & Addictions Plan 2008 32
How Are Canadians Really Doing? A Closer Look at Select Groups, December 2009, Canadian Index of Wellbeing 33
ToP Report: Jan 2008, Peel Halton Training Board. 34
Town of Caledon Competitive Analysis, December 2006, urbanMetrics inc.
24
Although household income in Caledon suggests that residents tend to be more affluent, the mainstay of the Town’s employment base in manufacturing, transportation and construction is more likely to recruit new workers at the lower income range.35 Given this, unless one inherits property or enters Caledon with substantial capital, there are few housing options for young people. Overall, a lack of affordable housing options means that employers in Caledon also need to rely on in-migration of workers, a situation that has its risks. As noted earlier in this report, Caledon has very limited public transportation, necessitating dependence upon personal automobiles for
commuting to and from work. As fuel prices rise, Caledon may be seen as a less than desirable option for many workers in these occupations. For Caledon’s youth, the lack of public transit options poses barriers to accessing post secondary institutions and makes it difficult for youth to access jobs in an independent way.36
OPPORTUNITY #3: PROVIDE LOCAL ACCESS TO EDUCATION AND RETRAINING Caledon has the opportunity to address local educational needs by working with colleges and universities to support labour market gaps. Strategically, it has been found that training at the local level is one of the best ways to develop and maintain a local labour force,37 and this could take the form of arrangements with post secondary institutions to offer courses within the community, or to offering virtual training opportunities using advanced technology. An example of virtual training is the Shelburne based eLearning site. The Shelburne site is one of 18 elearnnetwork.ca centers across Ontario. As an offshoot of Ontario's Reaching Higher Plan, eLearning sites are aimed at giving residents in small and rural communities across Eastern, Central and Western Ontario a way to further their education and skills training through eLearning courses and programs. An eLearning site is equipped with computers, high-speed internet, a full-time eLearning Coordinator. The Coordinator assists students in learning; helps them access the more than 10, 000 courses and programs to choose from Ontario’s Colleges and Universities; and, provides information about financial options for tuition. The services and resources of elearnnetwork.ca are fully funded by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, and are supported by community partnerships. Students can use eLearning sites to complete their high school diploma; earn post secondary education; and, access education online through the Second Career Program 38.
35
Town of Caledon Competitive Analysis, December 2006, urbanMetrics inc. 36
ToP Report, January 2008, Peel Halton Dufferin Training Board 37
One Vision, Many Voices: How to Build a Sustainable Rural Canada, July 5-8, 2008. 38
elearnnetwork.ca
The Opportunities:
Provide Local Access to Education and Retraining Encourage Diversity by Welcoming Newcomers
Year to Date (December 2009) Location Median
Price Average
Price W18 Malton $255,052 $267,000
W23 Brampton-E $320,009 $307,000
W24 Brampton-W $337,356 $320,000
W27 Halton Hills $362,706 $334,000 W28 Caledon $450,415 $408,000 W29 Orangeville $296,771 $271,500
Source: Brampton Real Estate Board
25
The Town of Caledon has detailed an action plan in its Economic Development Strategy to initiate outreach to post-secondary institutions in order to encourage t locally-based training opportunities to supply a skilled workforce for employers in targeted manufacturing industries. An opportunity exists to expand this focus to include other emerging training needs in partnership with key stakeholders and interested citizens in the community. For example, there are a number of promising niche markets in Caledon, such as culinary tourism; arts and culture; and, the equine industry which could be further supported through the coordination of local training opportunities. An example of this is the recent support provided to Headwaters Arts by the Town of Caledon to create a student bursaries and scholarship program to encourage youth to pursue studies in the arts. Another emerging opportunity for collaboration is with a grassroots group called Grown in the Hills that is interested in creating the conditions for the development of coordinated niche markets related to local, sustainable food production. This is an example of a community group that with the right partnerships could support effective training opportunities for those interested in a career linked to agriculture and to the culinary arts. OPPORTUNITY #4: ENCOURAGE DIVERSITY BY WELCOMING NEWCOMERS With an aging workforce and an increasing demand for knowledge workers, it is predicted that there will be a shortfall of available workers and, as a result, an inability by a large number of companies to fill employment positions.39 By 2026, Canada’s demographic growth will largely be attributed to immigration, as the number of deaths begins to exceed births (except in First Nations populations.) For this reason, the ability of rural areas to attract immigrants will be crucial to growth in these regions. This may be challenging to accomplish as the majority (93.7 %) of new immigrants to Canada choose to live in metropolitan areas.40 As the data in the table below demonstrates, Caledon presently attracts a very small percentage of newcomers to Canada in comparison to surrounding areas (0.9% of 2006 population). A benefit of embracing diversity is linked to tolerance, one of three key drivers of economic success for the future, because it is a core community quality sought by talented people. Regions that welcome differences are seen as communities that are receptive to new ideas, intellectual freedom and an entrepreneurial spirit, all of which are needed to set the context for innovation.41 Without coincidence, a standard measure for tolerance is the percentage of foreign-born population in a community.42 Although Caledon ranks much further behind the Region of Peel in its ability to attract foreigners, it can work towards improving conditions that signal it as a more welcoming community and therefore, be better able to draw upon this demographic resource located close to its borders.
39
Ontario facing critical shortage of skilled workers, Posted By David Cohen On February 23, 2010, CIC News 40
Factors Driving Canada’s Rural Economy, February 2007, Ray D. Bollman, Statistics Canada – Agricultural Division 41
Ontario’s Small-Sized Regions’ Performance on the 3Ts of Economic Development, Benchmarking Project: Ontario Competes, April 2009, Martin Prosperity Institute. 42
Ontario’s Small-Sized Regions’ Performance on the 3Ts of Economic Development, Benchmarking Project: Ontario Competes, April 2009, Martin Prosperity Institute
Newcomers (recent immigrants)
2001-2006
Caledon: 0.9% of population Peel: 10.2% of the population Dufferin: 1.2% of population
Ontario: 4.8% of population
Percentage of Foreign Born
Population 2006 Caledon: 21% of total population Peel: 49% of total population Ontario: 28.3% of total population Source: Statistics Canada, Census 2006
26
The Town of Caledon has set actions in the Economic Development Plan to build relationships with Peel Employment and Immigration, and to work with agencies to assist newcomers in adjusting to the labour market. Noted in the 2008 ToP Report was a lack of awareness amongst local employers of the skills and qualifications that internationally trained immigrants bring to the workplace.43 This misunderstanding could translate into potential employees being overlooked in the hiring process. To improve Caledon’s performance in attracting foreign talent and becoming a community that demonstrates tolerance, Caledon needs to put some energy into exploring the barriers immigrants face in moving to this community, and then create a strategy that will coordinate a community commitment to taking action to address those barriers.
43
ToP Report, January 2008, Peel Halton Dufferin Trainig Board
Further Dialogue:
What innovations can Caledon put in place to improve rates of higher education and prepare our workforce for the skills required in the future? How can we capitalize upon current partnerships and assets to embrace new approaches? An action within Caledon’s Community-based Strategic Plan is to develop a strategy to create viable public transportation options. What can community members contribute to this strategy? The affordability of housing in Caledon and the need for a greater range of housing options are key to enhancing Caledon’s economic resilience. However community members have often been resistant to the intensification of Caledon’s villages. What would support the community in exploring this tension further? How can we be supported to find possible solutions together? Caledon’s economic resiliency depends upon embracing diversity. What can be done to proactively embrace diversity, especially with new immigrants?
27
We all agree that the moral imperative for reducing poverty is clear: children should have the opportunity to succeed in life, and people facing challenges should be given the tools they need to get ahead. We have another equally compelling rationale for reducing poverty: it’s the smart thing to do for our economy. An educated, healthy and employable workforce is critical to the economic future of this province. Source: Breaking the Cycle, Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy
The Vulnerable Workforce
The resiliency of a local economy or its ability to adjust is negatively impacted by a labour force that is characterized by high levels of unemployment and low skills. Communities that are working towards improving their economic resiliency must include specific strategies aimed at increasing participation in the labour market. This is done by identifying and tackling barriers that prevent people from finding and maintaining employment and by supporting those who are crowded out of employment in an economic downturn as better qualified people access lower skilled opportunities.44 The following dimensions were examined to provide some insight into the status of the more vulnerable segments of Caledon’s local labour force: � Adult Unskilled: the proportion of the adult population with qualification levels at or below high school
diploma � Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP): the proportion of the adult population enrolled in ODSP
and receiving income support benefits � Long Term Ontario Works Claimants: This includes the portion of the working population who have
been Ontario Works claimants for more than 12 months � Unfilled Vacancies: unfilled vacancies by duration (over 3 or six months) at job centers
Adult Unskilled: People who are employed in lower wage positions often lack the skills acquired through post secondary education, and are therefore at higher economic risk. In Caledon, 14.7% of the population has not achieved any certificate, diploma or degree, and 27.2% of the population have achieved a high school level of education (see chart on the following page). Caledon’s educational achievements in these categories are slightly better than the Region of Peel.
Evidence would suggest that low literacy may also play a contributing factor within Caledon’s unskilled adult population. It is estimated that “nine million working age Canadians – including one in three people aged 26 to 35 and over 40 percent of people aged 36 to 45 - have low literacy skills. While we were unable to find Caledon-specific data on low-literacy rates, the estimate above would suggest that more than 6,200 of Caledon residents would have low literacy skills. This would mean that they lack the reading, writing and numeracy skills needed to
deal with the challenges of daily life in a modern economy. The majority of Canadians with low literacy skills were born and educated in Canada and most have a high school certificate but not the Level 3 literacy skills that should go with it. 70% are employed, but 60% earn less than $25,000 a year.”45
44
Southwest Index of Economic Resilience, 2009, ekosgen, www.ekosgen.co.uk 45
Time to Reboot Education for Adults with Low Literacy Skills, 2010, Judith Maxwell
28
Low levels of education can lead to a lifetime and inter-generational cycle of low income and poverty, as access to post secondary education is clearly related to family income. In Canada, 46 percent of children from the top income quartile attend university compared to 29 percent from the bottom quartile.46 As noted in the chart above, Caledon’s prevalence of poverty is lower than in other municipalities in the Region of Peel. However, remaining in the community is fairly difficult on a low income given the cost of housing and lack of public transportation. As mentioned in an earlier section, people in lower wage jobs, such as general labourers, tend to choose not to live in Caledon due to the high cost of living.
Source: Peel Data Center, 2006 Census Caledon Ontario Peel Canada
Total Population 57,050 12,160,282 1,159,405 31,612,897
% Total population 25 years and over 64.7% 67.4% 64.3% 67.9%
No certificate, diploma or degree,
Percent of total population 25 and over
14.7%
18.7% 16.1% 20.6%
High school certificate or equivalent,
Percent of total population 25 and over 27.2% 24.4% 24.6% 23.4%
Long Term Ontario Works Claimants The recession has resulted in increased unemployment and an increased need for social assistance in the Region of Peel. In 2009, the average monthly Ontario Works caseload in Peel increased by 28.5% reaching 12,821 cases by year’s end, while Peel’s unemployment rate is expected to remain above 10% in 2010. The increase in Ontario Works caseloads is prevalent across municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area. Even with the end of the recession in 2009, it is anticipated that the level of Ontario Works caseloads will continue to remain elevated, as the negative effects of the recession take a lagging effect on more vulnerable workers in the labour market.47
Staff at Caledon Community Services (CCS) has observed that families tend to leave Caledon once employment insurance benefits have been drained following a job loss because the cost of living is prohibitive to families on income support programs. There are no shelters, there is a lack of affordable housing, and there is no public transportation. Without adequate public transportation, getting to job interviews and to a new employment situation becomes an added barrier for workers who can no longer afford to retain a personal vehicle. Given this, Caledon- specific data on the proportion of the population on income support benefits has limited usefulness as an indicator of the vulnerability of the local labour force.
46
Ontario in the Creative Age, February 2009, Martin Prosperity Institute. 47
Peel’s Economic Pulse, Peel Data Centre, Region of Peel
29
Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) According to Statistics Canada’s 2006 Participation Activity Limitation Survey, the Ontario disability rate is at 15.5%, which is slightly higher then the national rate of 14.3%. The unemployment rate for persons with disabilities within Ontario is 10.2% compared to 7% for persons without disabilities. From these statistics, it is apparent that there is an unequal distribution of employment between persons with disabilities and persons without disabilities.48 The Ontario Disability Support Program offers income and employment supports to people with disabilities who are in financial need. The employment support program offers people with disabilities who want to work the supports they need to find and maintain a job. From 2003–2009, there has been a 46.98 percent cumulative increase in ODSP caseloads for the Region of Peel. This growth outstrips all GTA municipalities with the exception of the Region of York. The primary factor impacting rates of ODSP claimants is not the state of the economy, but the state of overall population health. With an aging population, the likelihood that people will acquire disabilities also increases.49
Rates of poverty are expected to increase as a result of Canada’s current recession. According to the Canadian Index of Well-being projections, nationally, we can expect an increase of about 4 percentage points in the after-tax poverty rates in 2010; and, it will probably take up to a decade for poverty in Canada to return to its 2007 level.50 Statistics Canada's low-income rate measures the percentage of persons below the low-income cutoff (LICO). The LICO is defined as the after-tax income below which most Canadians spend at least 20 percentage points more than the average on food, shelter and clothing. 51 Using the LICO measure, Caledon’s poverty rate was the lowest in the Region of Peel prior to the recession, at 4.4 percent on before tax income. For a family of 4, this equates to living on an income of approximately $41,000 a year. However, it is likely that poverty has devastated more families in this community than is captured in this statistic. As was stated above, low-income families tend to leave the community. The tragedy for Caledon families in this situation is therefore intensified by the necessity to uproot their families away from social connections and routines to live in more affordable circumstances.
Total persons
in private households
Prevalence of low income before tax in
2005 % (LICO)
Prevalence of low income after tax in
2005 %
Total persons below LICO BT
Total persons below LICO
AT
Peel 1151445 14.5 11 166960 126659
Mississauga 663830 15.7 12.1 104221 80323
Brampton 430810 13.9 10.3 59883 44373
Caledon 56800 4.4 3.5 2499 1988
Source: Region of Peel, Peel Data Center, Dashboard
48
Employment Barriers Facing Persons with Disabilities, Region of Peel, Toronto District School Board 49
2010 Ontario Disability Support Program Budget Overview, Region of Peel 50
The Economic Crisis through the Lens of Economic Wellbeing: Special Report, June 2009, Canadian Index of Wellbeing
51 Source: The Daily, Wednesday, June 3, 2009, Statistics Canada
The Issue:
Hidden Poverty
30
Caledon Community Services: Jobs Caledon Uptake
# of clients served - All Locations
(2008) # of clients served - All Locations (2009)
% of change between 2008 & 2009
Quarter 3 total 1323 1727 30.5%
Quarter 4 total 1356 1445 6.6%
Semi annual total 2679 3172 18.4%
Annual Total 5895 7458 26.5%
Source: Community Recession Indicators Initiative, April 13, 2010
2007 2008 2009
20
83
123
The Incidence of Personal Bankruptcies Within Caledon (# of
Households)
Most people in Caledon who are in need of crisis housing (shelter) are referred to Orangeville and Brampton, as Caledon does not have a shelter of its own. Those who choose to stay in Caledon under desperate circumstances do so by couch surfing, sleeping in their vehicles, or camping. On average, Caledon Community Services is aware of 6 homeless people a month in Caledon.52 Since measures of poverty are limited in providing a true picture of the extent of vulnerability in the labour market in Caledon, more useful measures may be utilization rates for crisis supports, such as food bank use; use of employment services; heat subsidy programs; and personal bankruptcies. In Caledon, half of the people who frequent the food bank are on Ontario Works or ODSP, and the other half are people categorized as working poor. Use of food banks in Caledon has increased by 53 percent between 2007 and 2008. Increases in food bank use continued between 2008 and 2009 in Mississauga (24.9 %) and Brampton (31%), however it dropped by 32 percent
in Caledon. Since use of other supports increased in Caledon, it begs the question whether a number of vulnerable families were forced to leave the Caledon community last year. The number of people accessing employment-related services and supports increased considerably. Jobs Caledon saw a 26 percent increase in its program usage from 2008 to 2009. Also, the heat subsidy program in Caledon saw an increased uptake of 12 percent between 2007 and 2009. An alarming statistic is the number of personal bankruptcies which increased by a startling 515 percent between 2007 and 2009.
52
Communication with Caledon Community Services
315%
Low Income Cut-off (Effective until December 31, 2010)
Size of Family Unit Minimum necessary
income
1 person (the sponsor) $22,171 2 persons $27,601 3 persons $33,933 4 persons $41,198 5 persons $46,727 6 persons $52,699 7 persons $58,673 More than 7 persons, for each additional person, add
$5,974
Source: Financial Evaluation, Citizenship and
Immigration Canada, IMM 5482 E (01-2010)
48%
31
Mental health statistics are another indicator of distress. There has been a substantial increase in the use of mental health services in the Region of Peel since 2008. Working to Your Full Potential Program (Family Services of Peel) is an employment-related program that provides one-to-one support designed to address factors which may impact upon the future employment of participants including but not limited to: anxiety, depression, self esteem, anger, and related social/emotional issues. Demand for this program increased by 29 percent between 2008 and 2009. Also, several agencies are reporting substantial increases in numbers of people using their counselling services for issues related to finances, unemployment, addictions and mental health related issues. Family Services of Peel serviced 25 percent more people in the second half of 2009 as compared to the same period in 2008, and they had a 77 percent increase in the use of their walk-in counseling services. Catholic Family Services of Peel had an 81 percent increase in clients citing mental health related issues between 2008 and 2009.53 With regard to persons with disabilities (PWD), a research study of needs in the Region of Peel indicated that there was a shortage of employment and skills training programs that met the individualized needs of persons with disabilities. The study also found that the current education system did not adequately support the transition of persons with disabilities to work from the school environment. Other issues faced by individuals with disabilities include: lack of transportation; physical barriers on job sites; lack of on the job supports; and, misperceptions by employers of the capacities and costs related to hiring someone with a disability. The issues facing people living with low incomes equally face PWDs on income support benefits.
In focus groups conducted by HCIA in 2008, citizens expressed concern with what they perceived as a lack of awareness in their communities that poverty was a reality for many families. Lack of affordable housing and public transportation were cited as key considerations in addressing this issue, as well as ensuring that local mental health services were made available. Other ideas included providing grants for vulnerable youth so that they could access a higher education.54 The opportunity for citizen engagement in furthering an agenda to promote affordable housing and public transportation is discussed under the Workforce section. OPPORTUNITY #5: CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT IN PPAG Citizens can contribute additionally by supporting the efforts of the Peel Poverty Action Group (PPAG). Peel Poverty Action Group aims to raise awareness and lobby for interests of people living in poverty. PPAG brings together people on various kinds of income support, including the Ontario Disability Support Program and Ontario Works with social workers and community activists of various income levels. The organization is a sounding board for their concerns, complaints, and constructive ideas. In addition, PPAG advocates for the needs of low income people with federal, provincial and municipal governments. More information about this group is available at http://ppag.wordpress.com/.
53
Community Recession Indicators Initiative, Semi-annual (July – December 2009 and Annual 2009) Update, April 13, 2010 54
Citizen Opinion about Community Well-being and Proposed Well-being Reports, Winter 2009, Headwaters Communities in Action
The Opportunities:
Citizen Engagement in PPAG Support Persons with Disabilities in their Employment Efforts
Develop More Social Enterprises
32
OPPORTUNITY #6: SUPPORT PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN THEIR EMPLOYMENT EFFORTS - Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) became law on June 13, 2005. Under this legislation, the government of Ontario will develop mandatory accessibility standards that will identify, remove and prevent barriers for people with disabilities in key areas of daily living. The standards will apply to private and public sector organizations across Ontario. The standards will be phased in over time, and include the following: � accessible customer service standards � accessible built environment standards � employment accessibility standards: Standards to address paid employment practices relating to
employee-employer relationships, which could include recruitment, hiring, and retention policies and practices
� accessible transportation standards55 Local employers could choose to be proactive in learning more about how to successfully integrate PWDs as productive employees in their workplaces. The study for the Region of Peel noted that better collaboration is needed between all stakeholders, such as PWDs, community-based organizations, employers and citizens, to reduce the difficulties experienced by PWDs in their employment efforts. OPPORTUNITY #7: DEVELOP MORE SOCIAL ENTERPRISES Social enterprises apply “an entrepreneurial approach to addressing social issues and creating positive community change.” 56 These community driven and citizen-led initiatives have proven to be successful mechanisms for addressing social issues at the local community level. Across Canada, social enterprises are helping communities achieve social and economic objectives such as job creation and skill development, social supports, sustainable environments, economic growth and neighborhood revitalization.57 An example of a best practice in social enterprises is the Community Employment Innovation Project (CEIP) in Cape Breton. Participants in CEIP are offered paid work on community projects for up to 3 years in lieu of their Employment Insurance and income assistance benefits. CEIP was part of a 3-year research study. Results of the study demonstrated that individuals developed job skills, gained valuable work experience, and expanded their network of contacts. Caledon Community Services coordinates a few social enterprises. For example, sales generated from Chez Thrift and the ReUstore are reinvested into community based programs. And more recently, the Life for Youth program offers vulnerable youth with the opportunity to build employment and life skills through paid employment at these enterprises.
55
Employment Barriers Facing Persons with Disabilities, Region of Peel, Toronto District School Board 56
Research Brief: Social Enterprise, The Ontario Trillium Foundation, 2008 57
What We Need to Know About the Social Economy, July 2005, Policy Research Initiative
Further Dialogue: Caledon has been served well by social enterprises coordinated through Caledon Community Services. What opportunities exist to build on these successes? What would it take to put these ideas into action? What do local businesses need in order to feel more prepared to hire persons with disabilities? Poverty is a hidden issue in Caledon, especially since many people leave the community when they find themselves in desperate financial situations. What is unique about poverty in Caledon, and how does this shift our understanding of what needs to happen to effectively address it?
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Caledon’s Rate of Self Employment* – 2001 & 2006
For Labour Force age 15+, Source: StatsCan via Community Information Database
Enterprise
This domain examines the level of entrepreneurial spirit within the Town of Caledon. A dynamic and entrepreneurial business base is a key contributor to a community’s economic resilience and a central element of a successful local economy. Communities that support creativity, innovation, and start-up enterprises are often more able to adjust rapidly to changing economic conditions. Entrepreneurs are individuals who… “...use resources in new ways to produce new goods or services, and they own their methods and products.” Successful entrepreneurs skilfully “combine innovation, control, risk-taking and investment.” Source: Developing Entrepreneurial Economies in Rural Regions, The Aspen Institute, 1996 pg 12
Support for local entrepreneurs aligns with citizen values. Local citizens highly value small, family-run businesses and farms and want to see them thrive in the future. In addition to the economic contribution made by these businesses, citizens recognize the significant social contributions they make through their involvement in local efforts to support overall community well-being.58 The strength of an entrepreneurial business base can be measured through growth in the rates of self-employment and the numbers of small and medium sized businesses within the community. Caledon is in a strong position in relation to these measures prior to the recent recession. Future efforts to monitor recovery from the impacts of the recent recession on small business owners will be needed to appreciate the degree of resilience of entrepreneurism in Caledon. Self Employment
In 2001, approximately 30 percent of all people who were employed in Caledon identified themselves as “self-employed” while for Ontario overall, the rate of self-employment was at 24 percent. By 2006, Caledon’s rate of self-employment had had dropped slightly to 29 percent while Ontario’s rate of self-employment remained constant at 24 percent.59 Although the decrease in Caledon’s self-employment rate during this period is marginal, the measure warrants close observation in the future.
58
Citizen Opinion about Community Well-being and Proposed Well-being Reports, Winter 2009, Headwaters Communities in Action 59
StatsCan via Community Information Database
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Small and Medium Sized Businesses According to the government of Canada, substantial changes are occurring in rural labour markets. Whereas traditionally rural employment has been dependent upon large scale, resource-oriented enterprises, business growth has begun to shift to small and medium-sized enterprises.60 Small and medium enterprises are defined as those with fewer than 500 employees and less than $50 million in revenue. In 2004, rural-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represented 28 percent of the estimated 1.4 million SMEs in Canada, even though only 20 percent of Canada’s population lives in rural areas.61 These figures suggest that Canadians residing in rural areas are more likely to be engaged in entrepreneurial activities than those living in urban centres.62 This bodes well for Caledon’s entrepreneurial spirit as Caledon has a significantly higher proportion of its population in rural settings when compared to Ontario overall. Of the 5,740 businesses registered in Caledon in 2007, almost all of them are small or medium sized enterprises.63
Percentage Rural and Urban Populations* – 2006
Source: StatsCan via Community Information Database
According to the Martin Prosperity Institute, the vast majority of creative businesses are small and medium-sized enterprises. What often supports these creative small enterprises are opportunities to build short-term collapsible alliances similar to the Hollywood model where skilled workers come together to collaborate on a movie and then disband.64 Business networking is a requirement in the identification of these possible short-term alliances.
60
Rural Based Entrepreneurs, Government of Canada, October 2008 61
Rural Based Entrepreneurs, Government of Canada, October 2008 62 Business density measures the number of businesses in a population divided by the number of individuals in that
population. Based on 2006 Statistics Canada Census and Business Register data, 6 percent of people living in rural
areas owned an SME compared with a business density of 4 percent in urban areas. 63
Community Profile by Business Concentration, Invest in Ontario Website: http://www.investinontario.com/Default.asp 64
Canada’s Creative Corridor: Connecting Creative Urban and Rural Economies, Martin Prosperity Institute
The Issue:
Active Support for Entrepreneurialism in Caledon Needs to Continue and Expand
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ISSUE #7: ACTIVE SUPPORT FOR ENTREPRENEURIALISM IN CALEDON NEEDS TO CONTINUE AND EXPAND The nurturing and support of local entrepreneurialism needs to be a key strategy in efforts to strengthening the economic resilience of Caledon. Caledon’s rate of self-employment is slightly above the provincial norm. The fairly equal balance between rural and urban centres in Caledon also suggests greater opportunities for entrepreneurialism are likely to exist here than in more urban centres given that statistics suggests higher rates of entrepreneurialism in Canada’s rural communities. Caledon’s level of entrepreneurialism is a strength that requires continued active support. Research from the U.S. shows that in 2007, 95% of all new jobs are being created by local “small” businesses of less than 200 workers.65 Similarly in Europe, more than half of all jobs now exist in small businesses of fewer than 10 people.66 Other advantages in supporting local entrepreneurs include: the fact that it is cheaper and easier to support the retention and growth of existing local business; local businesses with “roots” in the community are less likely to leave; and, a strategy that relies too heavily on offering incentives to entice companies to come to a community leaves the community vulnerable when the company is offered more to go elsewhere. This section will explore four elements of providing support for entrepreneurialism and self-employment. They are:
• Fostering a Culture of Entrepreneurialism; • Information and Connections; • Supporting Microenterprise; and, • Innovation Incubation
Fostering a Culture of Entrepreneurism Creating an entrepreneurial culture includes providing the conditions where people are more likely to seek and exploit opportunities; in other words nurturing an ethos where people “see things that don’t exist and make them exist.”67
Researchers at the Aspen Institute have determined that an entrepreneurial culture is created through a combination of intentionally fostering the right socio-environmental conditions and cultivating the web of supports needed by prospective entrepreneurs, such as investors, attorneys, business schools, chambers of commerce, and family members .68
The Corporation for Enterprise Development provides further insight into the socio-environmental conditions that it believes are essential to nurturing an entrepreneurial culture. All of these are already present in any rural region: the trick is to foster them.69 These conditions include:
• RESPECT: The only way you build an entrepreneurial economy is by having faith in the people that are around. This includes those “unusual suspects,” such as those living in poverty. In the most unusual places there are people who are capable of doing amazing things.
• MICROENTERPRISE: Microenterprises are sole proprietorships and small businesses with just a few employees that provide part-time work to people for people also have to take care of families, as well as seasonal work in places where crops have to be harvested. These ventures require little capital, office space, or start-up capital. They can thrive in rural areas. Jobs in microenterprises are also accessible to immigrants and disenfranchised people who need to moonlight or share jobs and they are run by women at least as often as men.
65
Economic Development in Rural America: An Outcome Focused Approach, Aspen Institute, 2007 pg 9 66
Small Town Sustainability, Paul Knox and Heike Mayer, 2009 pg 119 67
Developing Entrepreneurial Economies in Rural Regions, Aspen Institute, 2000, pg 12. 68
Developing Entrepreneurial Economies in Rural Regions, Aspen Institute, 2000 69
Developing Entrepreneurial Economies in Rural Regions, Aspen Institute, 2000, pg 15
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• SAVINGS: We do not encourage savings as a culture, and it is time to change that. “Income may
feed people’s stomachs, but assets change their heads. When you have a little bit of savings, it buffers you from the everyday accidents and illnesses that otherwise become crises.
• INFORMATION: At the very least, spreading information about entrepreneurship helps infuse notions of its value through a given community or culture. Equally important is information about opportunity. “Entrepreneurialism is a process that begins well before people need to have capital or technical assistance. It begins with the recognition of an opportunity.
• CONNECTIONS: Communities that have rich connections to the world beyond their bounds, that know about shifting markets, new technologies and changing ways of doing business, are far more likely to be successful than those that remain isolated. Finding ways of tying rural communities one to another, and to urban areas, is vital.
Three of these conditions: information, microenterprises, and connections will be explored in relation to the current situation in Caledon. Other sections of this report have touched on the status of the remaining conditions. Information and Connections: Provision of information and competitive intelligence on customers, competitors and target markets is essential to growing small businesses; however, many entrepreneurs don’t typically have the resources to generate these insights on their own.70 Providing these resources to entrepreneurs lowers the amount of energy they require to start and sustain a business. This information also helps to improve the quality of the entrepreneur’s venture.71 Therefore, keeping abreast of broader economic developments and building strategic alliances is strongly associated with supporting local economic vitality. Caledon’s involvement with the Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance (GTMA) supports this thrust. The GTMA serves as a key point of contact for businesses exploring opportunities in the Greater Toronto Area. As a partner in the GTMA, Caledon benefits from their international marketing and promotion programs and networking opportunities. Other local efforts to connect businesses with broader markets are the Business Alliance Program and the Business Ambassador program,72 and trade shows sponsored by the Town’s Economic Development department. The Caledon Competitive Analysis Report identified the provision of support services and information to local businesses as a key opportunity and recommended that a local business retention and expansion program be established as well as creating a “how to” guide regarding what a business needs to know in order to set up shop in Caledon.73
70
Small Town Sustainability: Economic, Social and Environmental Innovation, 2009 pg 119 71
Developing Entrepreneurial Economies in Rural Regions, The Aspen Institute, 1996 72
Economic Development site, Town of Caledon Website, www.town.caledon.on.ca. 73
Caledon Competitive Analysis Report, urbanMetrics Inc., 2006
37
The Town of Caledon has subsequently responded by creating the Caledon Business Directory, a monthly Economic Development e-newsletter, and a website. The Business Directory CD contains contact information, and company descriptions for more than 1,700 Caledon-based businesses, the e-newsletter highlights local economic development news, and the website includes a vast array of information about doing business in Caledon.74 The Corporate Visit Program provides a process for the Town of Caledon’s Economic Development department to connect with local businesses on a more personal level and collect information about emerging trends that can be considered in future economic planning. The Caledon Business Center is another source of information on business start-up, marketing, technology, and financing. Entrepreneurs can access trade indices, directories, and online materials as well as free business consulting/mentoring services. Supporting Microenterprises In Caledon, business networking opportunities are made available through functions sponsored by the Caledon Chamber of Commerce, and the Town of Caledon. In addition to these strategies, other communities have begun to find positive results by setting up hubs where people from different sectors and perspectives work in a shared spaced, and have access to their infrastructure needs at nominal costs. Two successful examples of this are the Center for Social Innovation in Toronto, and 10 Carden Street in Guelph which will be explored further under the discussion of opportunities. Innovation incubation is another worthwhile consideration. Innovation incubation involves providing technical assistance to local innovators, giving them access to consultants (from inside or outside the community) with field-relevant expertise and experience in developing concepts and prototypes, implementation, and scaling up.75 A local example of such a resource is the Research, Innovation and Commercialization Center (RIC) that has partnered with the Town of Caledon (see sidebar on the following page). RIC supports small and medium enterprises (SMEs) focused in aerospace, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, and emerging technology sectors in order to commercialize their innovations.
The centre provides coaching on how to best channel an innovation to market as well as access to resources, knowledge, and networks.
74
Economic Development Annual Review, 2009 75
A Framework for Place based (Community) Innovation, August 17, 2009, nuPolis, John Cleveland & Peter Plastrik
Caledon’s Research, Innovation & Commercialization Centre (RIC)
The Research, Innovation and Commercialization Centre (RIC) is a non-profit organization that provides business and technical services to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to commercialize their innovation. RIC Centre – in partnership with the Town of Caledon – helps new entrepreneurs and seasoned business people take the next great idea to market in the fields of advanced manufacturing, aerospace, life sciences and ICT/ digital media. RIC also provides the local entry-point to The Ontario Commercialization Network (OCN) whose role is to support companies that are working to bring new innovation to market. RIC guides entrepreneurs to mentoring and resources to accelerate their time to market. It provides “a virtual incubator, where ideas are the currency of innovation.” The Centre offers advisory and coaching services; along with various programs to assist growing businesses in establishing a successful tract in a highly competitive market.
Please visit www.riccentre.com for more information.
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Examples of two other two other successful hubs in Ontario – the Centre for Social Innovation and 10 Carden Street – are outlined below: The Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto provides members with access to a fully functioning office environment, including high-speed internet, meeting rooms, photocopy and fax machines, kitchen facilities, audio-visual equipment, mail boxes and more at nominal costs. Members pay for the services that they need, which would align well with entrepreneurs beginning microenterprises. The centre also builds in opportunities for networking through lunch & learns, guest speakers and a website for sharing information and ideas. At Guelph’s 10 Carden Street, cross-sector partnerships are being encouraged between not-for-profit and for-profit entrepreneurs by bringing them together in a shared work environment. Established in January 2009, 10 Carden has quickly become a hub for local not-for-profit and social purpose entrepreneurs working to address the social, cultural, environmental and economic challenges faced in the community.
OPPORTUNITY #8: ESTABLISH ADDITIONAL INNOVATION INCUBATION STRATEGIES “Entrepreneurialism is a process that begins well before people need to have capital or technical assistance. It begins with the recognition of an opportunity.”76
Innovators benefit from an in-depth examination of their ideas and work so that the concepts are strengthened enough to move to the next stage of the development process. In addition to exploring the viability of innovation hubs as described above, some strategies that can deliver this assistance to innovators include: • Venture forums in which innovators pitch their ideas to panels of experts and investors;
• Peer-to-peer exchange in which innovators critique each other’s ideas: connect innovators to each other
through meetings, events, Web sites, projects, and other tools for the purpose of sharing their war stories and enthusiasm; to coach each other and enter into promising collaborations.
• Innovation funding: a prize process that enables innovators to apply for resources through a competitive process that reviews and assesses multiple plans for innovation and selects the best candidates for support.77
OPPORTUNITY #9: RECOGNIZE THE ROLE OF FOR-PROFIT PROVIDERS IN SUPPORTING LOCAL ENTREPRENEURS The Survey on Financing of Small and Medium Enterprises explored the perceived obstacles to business growth and development for small and medium-sized businesses in both rural and urban Canada. The figure below outlines the core areas that were problematic to SMEs.
76
Developing Entrepreneurial Economies in Rural Regions, Aspen Institute, 2000 77
A Framework for Place based (Community) Innovation, August 17, 2009, nuPolis, John Cleveland & Peter Plastrik
Opportunities:
Establish Additional Innovation Incubation Strategies Recognize the Role of For-Profit Service Providers in Supporting Local Entrepreneurs
Cultivate an Entrepreneurial Mindset in all Sectors
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Source: SME Financing Data Initiative, Statistics Canada, Survey on Financing of Small and Medium Enterprises, 2004
While much of the technical assistance and/or information and training required by small business owners and entrepreneurs is provided by government and/or not-for-profit sector, the figure above illustrates the essential role that private-sector service providers – accountants, lawyers and the like -- play in supporting local entrepreneurs. Specifically, these individuals and organizations must be, “sophisticated enough to meet the needs of their most forward-thinking clients.” This means, for example, “banks that are comfortable not just making loans against typical kinds of collateral, but that provide a variety of lending products. It means accountants who go beyond simple audit accounting to management accounting techniques that help business owners control cash flow and exert close control over every aspect of their business. It means legal and accounting consultants who launch initial public offerings and marketing specialists who do sophisticated market analysis and research.”78 The benefit of ensuring that local professional service providers are responsive to the needs of local entrepreneurs is mutual. As was noted earlier in this section, research on Canadian small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) has demonstrated that, “more than one third of rural-based SMEs do their day-to-day banking with credit unions and Caisses populaires compared with only 15 percent of urban-based SMEs; and, rural-based SMEs are more likely to deal with one financial institution for longer periods of time than urban-based SMEs. While partnerships have been established between the town and various not-for-profit groups to offer resources and technical supports to Caledon entrepreneurs, attention also needs to be paid to ensuring that for-profit professional service providers – such as banks, accountants and lawyers – are informed and aware of the unique challenges that small entrepreneurs face. One possible strategy to accomplish this could be to create an informal entrepreneurial service-providers network made up of individuals who would be willing to work with entrepreneurs to better understand what they need but may not be getting when these professional services are provided only in traditional ways.
78
Developing Entrepreneurial Economies in Rural Regions, Aspen Institute, 1996, pg 19
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OPPORTUNITY #10: CULTIVATE AN ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET IN ALL SECTORS A core message emerging from an exploration of entrepreneurship in small and rural communities is that everyone – governments, for-profit & not-for-profit organizations, education and ordinary citizens – has a role to play in supporting and encouraging local entrepreneurs. This concept is well articulated in the following quote taken from Developing Entrepreneurial Economies in Rural Regions which examined lessons from rural Kentucky, “If an entrepreneurial economy is to come to this state or to develop from the entrepreneurial economy that’s already here, it will come from lots of places all at once, not from any single institution,” asserts Bob Friedman. “No single player holds the key to an entrepreneurial Kentucky—not state or local government, not the business community, not the banks or the schools or even the state’s ordinary citizens; rather, all of them do.” 79
Linked to the opportunity to create a Framework for Citizen Participation identified in the Industry Mix section of this report, there is a need to utilize a community capacity building approach to help to foster an entrepreneurial mindset within all citizens of Caledon. The education sector can also play a role in supporting the creation of a culture of entrepreneurialism by ensuring that entrepreneurial skills are integrated into the curriculum for all secondary and post-secondary school students. Students with “entrepreneurial skills,” would not only know how to balance a cheque book and understanding capital and returns, they would also:
• Be better able to manage change and risk, and be comfortable dealing with such notions as continuous improvement and the constant change that is a feature of this era’s economic landscape;
• Know how to think creatively about problems and their solutions; and • Be able to find the opportunities inherent in problems
79
Developing Entrepreneurial Economies in Rural Regions, Aspen Institute, 1996, pg 26
Further Dialogue: Enterprise How could a culture of innovation and enterprise be further developed in Caledon? How do cultivate and support entrepreneurialism for youth?
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Concluding Remarks
Meaningful solutions to the issues highlighted throughout this report will require more than just a government effort. Every economic actor in the Headwaters region must be involved in contributing their thoughts, ideas and perspectives. Similarly, dialogue and collaboration are needed to translate the opportunities identified throughout this report into initiatives with positive impact. This will require industry, private businesses, citizens and local government working together. The challenge lies in creating mechanisms for the meaningful involvement of a wide variety of stakeholders and requires us to strengthen our collective capacity to learn how to “learn together.” Although Caledon is serviced by Peel-based organizations such as the Social Planning Council, the LHIN and the United Way, the Town’s unique needs as a rural community are difficult to attend to within strategies that often cater to the realities of the urban contexts of Mississauga and Brampton. HCIA offers an opportunity to tend to this by bringing people from a variety of sectors together across the Headwaters to explore how best attend to community needs within a rural context. HCIA's work on economic resiliency will attend to health, social, environmental, and cultural aspects within the community, as research proves that this is the most effective way to ensure a vibrant economy. As a grassroots, citizen-led group we are committed to taking a long-term view to community resiliency, and ensure that actions are not reactive band-aids but build towards a solid vision for the future. Our approach is to build the capacity of those who are passionate and commited to the actions identified through the community engagement process, and to facilitate partnerships within the community that make sense to support these actions. These efforts will lead to efficiencies and more effective outcomes for existing organizations that engage in the actions addressing economic resiliency. A first step in this process is to provide information and raise citizen awareness of the issues and opportunities present in Caledon. This report is a starting point. However, HCIA recognizes that the density of this report makes it less likely to be accessed by the general public. It is our intention to provide the wealth of information presented in this report in a series of briefs that are more digestible for public consumption. Appendix # 1 outlines the strategy for producing and publishing the briefs over the next year. A second step in the process is to bring people together to have meaningful conversations on the questions raised in this report. HCIA is currently exploring a variety of mechanisms for holding these conversations with the public – from the use of social media, study circles and the more traditional forums such as focus groups. The purpose of these conversations is to determine Caledon’s “sweet spots”, and to begin to build grassroots leadership that will drive change efforts. This step in the process has already begun in focused ways with the beginning of a grassroots collaborative to develop new markets linked to agriculture in Caledon (see Grown in the Hills below)
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An Emerging Sweet Spot: Grown in the Hills
Our region’s recent designation as a “culinary tourism” destination, combined with growing citizen interest in “eating local” creates strong opportunities to further profile Caledon’s rural heritage and beauty; continue to develop “agri-tourism” experiences; and the potential for a collaborative “food-to-fork” initiative within the Headwaters region. This opportunity coincides with the emergence of “a new food economy,” described by Richard Florida as being “driven by a very different set of assumptions: markets and economic power are more diffused and decentralized and depend on small entrepreneurial producers selling specialized products.” Caledon can succeed in this new food economy due to factors such as its expanding ethnic diversity, interest in healthier food options and growers and distributors being centrally located in the “GTA Mega Region.”
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Appendix 1
Competitive Advantage - Sector Classification 2001-2006
Region: Caledon
Industry (NAICS) Prov. Sector
% Growth #jobs2001 #jobs2006
Local %
Growth LQ 2006 Prov. SRG Local SRG
11 - Agriculture, forestry, fishing
and hunting -9.18 800 615 -23.13 1.89 (high) Lagging(-) Lagging(-)
21 - Mining and oil and gas
extraction 18.05 60 95 58.33 1.36 (high) Leading(+) Leading(+)
22 - Utilities 4.6 50 20 -60 0.14 (low) Lagging(+) Lagging(-)
23 - Construction 8.15 995 1,255 26.13 2.19 (high) Leading(+) Leading(+)
31-33 - Manufacturing -9.15 4,155 4,135 -0.48 1.53 (high) Lagging(-) Leading(-)
41 - Wholesale trade 9.08 990 1,175 18.69 1.32 (high) Leading(+) Leading(+)
44-45 - Retail trade 5.62 1,600 1,655 3.44 0.77 (medium) Lagging(+) Lagging(+)
48-49 - Transportation and
warehousing 5.96 1,120 1,360 21.43 1.85 (high) Lagging(+) Leading(+)
51 - Information and cultural
industries -0.43 150 160 6.67 0.32 (low) Lagging(-) Leading(+)
52 - Finance and insurance 7.62 275 330 20 0.34 (low) Leading(+) Leading(+)
53 - Real estate and rental and
leasing 14.51 250 380 52 1.02 (medium) Leading(+) Leading(+)
54 - Professional, scientific and
technical services 8.97 885 1,280 44.63 0.94 (medium) Leading(+) Leading(+)
55 - Management of companies
and enterprises 2.53 0 10 NA 0.4 (low) Lagging(+) NA(NA)
56 - Administrative and support,
waste management and
remediation services 19.22 695 665 -4.32 0.93 (medium) Leading(+) Lagging(-)
61 - Educational services 13.95 1,135 1,390 22.47 1.1 (medium) Leading(+) Leading(+)
62 - Health care and social
assistance 14.57 820 995 21.34 0.54 (low) Leading(+) Leading(+)
71 - Arts, entertainment and
recreation 13.6 520 575 10.58 1.51 (high) Leading(+) Lagging(+)
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72 - Accommodation and food
services 6.55 870 1,155 32.76 0.96 (medium) Leading(+) Leading(+)
81 - Other services (except public
administration) 9.18 575 800 39.13 0.92 (medium) Leading(+) Leading(+)
91 - Public administration 13.39 480 495 3.13 0.46 (low) Leading(+) Lagging(+)
NAICS Classification - NAICS stands for the North American Industry Classification System. It is a hierarchical classification system, with a number
assigned to each sector and sub-sector. The major sectors have fewer digits in their number (typically 2 digits), while sub-sectors have increasing
numbers of digits as the degree of specificity increases.
Provincial Sector Employment Growth - is the percentage change provincially in the sector between the two time periods.
#jobs2001 - Number of local jobs in this sector in the year 2001.
#jobs2006 - Number of local jobs in this sector in the year 2006.
Local Sector Employment Growth - is the percentage change locally in these sectors between the two time periods.
Location Quotient (LQ) - is a measure of employment specialization or strength, based on the concentration of employment as compared to the
provincial norm. The LQ calculation is: % of local employment in the sector, divided by % of provincial employment in the sector. LQs are described as:
Very High if over 5.0, High if between 1.25 and 5.0, Average if 0.75 to 1.25 and Low if less than 0.75.
Provincial Sector Relative Growth (PSRG) - this value indicates whether the sector's growth at the provincial level was higher or lower than the overall
provincial growth rate. A (+) sign beside the descriptor indicates that the sector grew in employment, while a (-) sign indicates that the sector declined in
employment and (0) indicates that employment stayed constant during the period of the analysis.
Local Sector Relative Growth (LSRG) - this value indicates whether the local sector's growth was higher or lower than the sector's growth at the
provincial level. A (+) sign beside the descriptor indicates that the sector grew in employment, while a (-) sign indicates that the sector declined in
employment and (0) indicates that employment stayed constant during the period of the analysis.
(Source: REDDI, reddi.gov.on.ca)
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Appendix 2
Outline for Economic Resiliency Briefs
The Purpose Headwaters Community in Action intends to build awareness and to stimulate meaningful conversation about opportunities for citizen engagement in improving Caledon’s economic resiliency. As identified by the Martin Prosperity Institute, economic vibrancy requires involvement by all citizens, and not simply governments and business owners.* Along with HCIA’s Headwaters Well-being Report, these briefs will be used to stimulate citizen conversation about issues of shared concern and to identify common priorities across Caledon. Audience Citizens and business owners living and working within Caledon What action do we want the briefs to stimulate? � Community conversation � Consensus building on shared values & priorities � Citizen involvement in improving Caledon’s economic resilience
How will we do this? � Produce 12 briefs that define and explore various dimensions of economic resiliency animated with
local data � Profile the linkages between the economy and various other facets of community life (integrate work
from the Headwaters Community Well-being report) � Provide forums for community conversation (social media, community meetings) � Core consumer insight (what will the readers say to themselves because of the briefs): “I have a better
understanding of the complexity of factors that impact our local economy, and I want to do my part.” Outline for the Briefs � 12 briefs; each focusing on one topic related to economic resiliency � Briefs are no more than 2 pages in length � Briefs sent out monthly, the first week of the month � Briefs are created with input from community stakeholders � Each brief will be connected to an internet generated quick poll; feedback that is elicited from the polls
will be shared in subsequent briefs Distribution plan for briefs: � HCIA database (over 500) � Databases of key stakeholders in Caledon � Purchase a space in the Caledon Chamber of Commerce newsletter � Provide press releases to local newspapers to provide opportunity for citizens not on electronic
distribution lists to join the HCIA database � Caledon Media, and Radio Caledon: Rick Sargent
