More than 125 Brampton city leaders, staff and business representatives gathered to review and celebrate Brampton’s highlights from the newly released 2015 Annual Economic Report and to discuss progress on the City’s Four-Year Economic Development Plan.
At the Brampton Economic Update business event on Thursday, April 7, participants heard how the City’s 2015 economic indicators revealed positive growth in the Brampton marketplace. Brampton remains one of the strongest municipal economies in Canada.
Brampton’s Economic Development and Tourism Office hosted the event to introduce the 2015 Annual Economic Report. Councillor Jeff Bowman, Chair of the Economic Development Committee, presented on the Four-Year Economic Development Plan and touched on some of the highlights of Brampton’s story of growth and economic strength.
“Despite a challenging national economy, Brampton continues to deliver across a number of economic measures,” says Councillor Bowman. “Our city is right there among the best in Canada, and our outlook is very positive.”
The event was co-hosted by the ICI Alliance, a newly formed cooperative marketing initiative between the City of Brampton Economic Development Office and prominent representatives of the Industrial Commercial Investment industry. Building off the City’s economic successes to date, the group’s mandate is to actively promote Brampton and to encourage and support economic growth.
The 2015 Annual Economic Report looked at Brampton’s place in a number of markets in the Greater Toronto Area and across Canada. Some highlights include:
· Brampton’s total construction value was strong in 2015 at over 2.7 billion dollars, up over 20 per centfrom the previous year. The City placed sixth in total construction value across Canada.
· Brampton’s Entrepreneur Centre supported youth entrepreneurship and innovation in Brampton, supporting 99 new business start-ups and launching 44 new youth businesses through the Summer Company and Starter Company programs.
· In 2015, for the first time, the Tourism and Film Services Office saw filming activity in the city have a direct economic impact of over one million dollars to Brampton’s economy.
“We have exciting and landmark Human Health and Science developments coming onboard soon,” says Councillor Bowman. “We have a young, diverse and skilled workforce, strong infrastructure and available employment land. This is the right time to invest in the right place – Brampton.”
Copies of Brampton’s 2015 Annual Economic Report, and the newly released 2016 Visitor’s Guide, are available on request through the Brampton Economic Development and Tourism Office at 905.874.2650,edo@brampton.ca or www.peoplepoweredeconomy.ca.