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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - JULY 2014
LEADING NORTHERN ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
For Northern Ontario to realize
its full potential, all levels of govern-
ment must work together in a collabor-
ative manner. That is why our govern-
ment sees the benefit of participating
in dialogue with all levels of govern-
ment. For instance, on December 6,
2013,
municipal and Aboriginal leaders
from across Northern Ontario gathered
in Timmins for the Northern Leaders’
Forum where we were able to have a
very productive conversation on how
to benefit our Northern economy. We
agreed that the resource industry in
Northern Ontario is not just a driver
for our provincial economy but our
national economy too. We must con-
tinue to support these important natu-
ral resource based industries but our
vision for Northern Ontario shouldn’t
be limited. Building on people’s tal-
ent and skills will help to diversify our
Northern economy. That is why our
government has an ambitious goal for
Ontario to become North America’s
leading jurisdiction for talent, skills
and training. International businesses
come here and local businesses grow
here because of the talent and dedica-
tion of our workforce. We are continu-
ing to provide the 30% Off Ontario
Tuition Grant, so that every year as
many as 260,000 young people can af-
ford that all-important first degree or
diploma. Here in the North, we
have opened the North-
ern Ontario School of
Medicine, Laurentian
University School
of Architecture
and the Lakehead
Faculty of Law.
Northerners are
now more able
to stay in the
region while
improving their
skills and train-
ing. We have also
extended the Youth
Jobs Strategy to put
more young people on
the path to fulfilling ca-
reers. These investments in talent and
skills will keep our Northern indus-
tries competitive and pay dividends
for today and tomorrow.
MINISTRY OBJECTIVES AND
NORTHERN BUSINESS CLIMATE
In the coming years, our govern-
ment will continue to work
to enhance our prosper-
ous provincial miner-
als sector, and con-
tinue to promote a
healthy business
climate that en-
courages com-
petitiveness,
innovation and
investment in
Ontario’s North.
Our government
has developed
programs which
have established
Northern Ontario as
an attractive place for
businesses to invest. Since
October 2003 the Northern Ontario
Heritage Fund (NOHFC) has approved
over $930 million, towards more than
6,055
projects, leveraging over $3.4
billion in investment. These invest-
ments are creating or sustaining over
23,400
jobs across the North. Through
the Northern Industrial Electricity Rate
Program (NIER), we are assisting the
largest electricity consumers to reduce
their electricity costs, create and sus-
tain jobs, and maintain long-term glob-
al competitiveness. In this year’s bud-
get, we are introducing a new 10-year,
$2.5 billion Jobs and Prosperity Fund
as part of our comprehensive plan for
creating jobs and growing the econo-
my. This fund will help Ontario com-
pete to attract new business and form
partnerships to secure investments
that will result in economic growth, in-
novation and jobs. For the North, this
means reinforcing existing important
industries while diversifying Northern
Ontario’s economy. These initiatives
are part of the government’s plan to
build a healthier, fairer and stronger
Northern economy.
“
In
this year’s budget,
we are introducing a new 10-
year, $2.5 billion Jobs and Prosperity
Fund as part of our comprehensive plan for
creating jobs and growing the economy. This
fund will help Ontario compete to attract new
business and form partnerships to secure invest-
ments that will result in economic growth, in-
novation and jobs. For the North, this means
reinforcing existing important industries
while diversifying Northern On-
tario’s economy.”
MINISTER OF NORTHERN DEVELOPMENT AND MINES
