Board Announces Five Policy Priorities Ahead of Local Elections, The Canadian Business Journal

TORONTO, Sept. 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, the Toronto Regional Trade Commission announced Hit Go on Growth Toronto: 2022 Municipality platform Ahead of the Oct. 24 election, we called on incoming leaders to #HitGo on five key areas for growth in the region. The platform highlights the urgency to act now and provides policy recommendations for mission-critical projects that can revitalize local economies and improve our quality of life.

“These local elections come at a critical time for our region. The challenges we face today are the same as those we faced before the pandemic, but now, in many cases, more. It’s getting serious.” Jan de Silva, President and CEO, Toronto Regional Trade Commission. “The keys to unlocking our economic recovery and growth increasingly lie beyond individual city boundaries. We need to address the upcoming need for mobility and land use solutions for businesses and workforces not operated in.”

As elected officials win seats on the Toronto City Council this fall, they will call for community cooperation and bold action on the root cause issues affecting growth, competitiveness and quality of life in the region. I ask you to

“There is ample evidence that tangible progress is made when decision makers boldly collaborate and reject inertia.” Giles Garson, Toronto Regional Trade Commission, Vice President and Chair of the Economic Blueprint Institute. “This proactive stance is critical if our region is to meet the intractable public policy challenges that have lagged its global peers.”

Here are five key priorities the City of Toronto can #HitGo today to unlock critical economic growth tomorrow.

1. Think like a community

Today’s economy is a local economy. Toronto’s major challenges are not contained within the local government’s geographic boundaries. The municipalities that make up the Toronto region lack formal mechanisms to ensure coordination of key priorities.

2. Build an extension

Over the next 10 years, GTHA will need an additional 140,000 high-rise housing units and 334,000 low- and mid-rise housing units to accommodate expected population growth.

However, Toronto is not building enough homes for families of all income levels to meet these projections.

3. Transportation acceleration

Although many catch-up projects are underway, the Toronto area’s underdeveloped and fragmented transportation system continues to impact the quality of service to passengers. At the same time, decarbonizing all forms of transport is essential to achieving Toronto’s net-zero goals.

4. Local technology support

The Toronto area is a world leader in advanced technology innovation, but these domestic companies face significant growth barriers as the technology is often not commercialized in Canada.

5. Cut the red tape

Starting, expanding and investing in our region remains a major challenge for businesses, made increasingly cumbersome by unnecessary and burdensome bureaucracy.

For more information on the specific policy changes the Board is advocating, please visit the 2022 Toronto City Council Elections webpage.

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