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stouffville suntribunethursday march 23 2006 3 region thinks so a 6part series delving into york regions plans to tackle growth part 2 economics by patrick mangion staff writer flash forward 25 years to 2031 and picture a region that has become the envy of its neighbours imagine a york region where a job for every work ing age resident means you no longer have to sit on car- choked highways commut ing to work in downtown toronto or north york what may sound like the manifestation of starry- eyed optimism from region al bureaucrats charged with shaping yorks future may be closer to reality that vision would trans late into nearly 800000 jobs for the 15 million people expected to call york regioi i home then business cant continue to say theres a shortage of talent without exploring deeper into a changing environment retail administrative and manufacturing sectors will remain the lifeblood of yorks suburban landscape hower an evolving knowl edgebased economy that includes pharmaceutical research and development mixed with information technologyrelated voca tions should result in short er commutesfpr workers currently there are more than 399000 jobs in 27000 york region businesses it means businesses will look to yorks foreign- trained immigrants more than ever for that figure to nearly double over 25 years yorks economy will become as diverse as its demographics said bryan tuckey planning and devel opment services commis sioner after arriving with his wife and two young daugh- employment giants some of the regions largest employers include magna international ibm canada apotex paramount canadas wonderland amex canada miller paving ltd ati technologies inc hbh in this comprehensive series discussing the regions burgeoning growth and how best to manage it we will delve into the following topics march 16 planning for growth today economics of growth march 30 growing green april 6 healthy communities april 13 livable lifestyles april 20 getting around if you missed an earlier topic check flout at wwwyorkregioncom ters in richmond hill from singapore last year its something derek zhang 41 is banking on opportunities abound he wont even entertain thoughts of returning to his homeland for now mr zhang is the reluctant spokesperson for a disturbing trend in immi grantrich york region that is highly educated highly skilled immigrants forced to work survival jobs cooperation among the region province and ottawa will be needed if york intends to effectively tap into its immigration population- to reach its lofty goals said rahul bhardwaj chief executive officer of united way of york region programs such as the mentoring partnership where immigrants are matched with professionals in their chosen field to help integrate them into the canadian workforce are a step in the right direction but more is heeded mr bhardwaj said part of that shift must come from the business community business cant continue to say theres a shortage of talent without exploring deeper into a changing environment he said as mr bhardwaj is quick to point out and regional planners are readily aware because theres an insuffi cient number of canadian workers immigrants will be needed to fill jobs created in canada by 2011 after earning upward of 100000 a year in singa pore mr zhang has spent the past three months work ing full time as a commis sionbased sales associate for a national furniture chain for now mr zhang an mba graduate with senior management experience in asia said he is committed to gaining canadian expe rience before finding his way back to the board room even if that means travelling long distances along southern ontarios carchoked highways hell stay mr zhang insisted because he wants a future for his children a future that will have to include meaningful local dm bt 1 ffiflfl rfj mhj ss be is ifbfmbjffflhy v bbrwfe hbhfc i tf a tmhuhp w h v is and s9yff iitflnh 5lfcis8 derek zhang richmond hill resident will put up with current job situation because he wants his children to have a bright future in the region jobs for his 13 and seven- yearold children once they join the workforce wedged- between restricting legislation including the places to grow and oak ridges moraine acts and greenbelt legislation regional brass will be charged with the del icate task of designating diminishing land for future employment all the while meeting the housing needs of a projected 40000 new comers fanning out across yorks nine municipalities each year theres not a lot of strategically located land for industry left mr tuckey said exposure and access has drawn many corporate offices and manufacturing facilities to the areas abut ting hwys 404 7 400 and 427 across the region expanding urban boundaries in areas such as markham vaughan and aurora will be needed to include employment lands in the future mr tuckey said 3i protected green areas on the east side of hwy 404 in the middle of the region is a natural choice for future employment lands but any development would rest with the province willing to lift building restrictions in the area still surplus land prox imity to toronto and its major highways will likely continue to attract more industry to york region said frank clayton president of torontos clayton research urban and real estate econ omists as long as theres land brought on stream in the right places there will be lots of employment growth in york region he said while york has an advan tage over durham with its lack of infrastructure and the high costs endemic to toronto it will continue to grapple with an overly mobile workforce the basic problem is that you have a lot of people leaving york region to work in toronto and a lot of peo ple in toronto coming to work in york region theres a strong base of jobs but theres also a huge outflow in york region and youll never stop that its the nature of a metropolitan area mr clayton said photo illustrationmike barrett looking for work youll find it here past by the end of 2004 there were about 440000 jobs in 27000 york region businesses future 100000 new jobs are expected to be added in the region between 2005 and 2011 more jobs for the period from 1998 to 2004 there were 84000 new jobs even more jobs in 25 years there is expected to be 780000 jobs for a projected 15 million people 9 to 5 a 2004 survey of 13348 york region companies revealed 79 per cent of employment here is full time good service service- oriented jobs account for about 67 per cent of total employment in york region making work manufacturing remains the largest employment sector in the region accounting for 25 per cent of total employment and small business 83 per cent of york region companies have fewer than 20 employees