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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, Ju ne 16 ,2 02 2 | 14 FATHERS DAY SALE AT MODERN GOLF VAUGHAN FOR GIFTS THAT DAD WILL LOVE AMAZING DEALS ON TAYLORMADE, cobra, titleist, callaway, ping, BARSTOOL, ADIDAS, FOOTJOY, nike and more... MODERN GOLF VAUGHAN 255 Bass Pro Mills Dr. Unit 801 | Concord, ON | L4K 0A2 (905) 669-4406 The Town of Oakville released its 2021 Economic Development Annual Re- port during a Wednesday, May 25 council meeting and here are 14 of the high- lights. • Despite the pandemic, Oakville welcomed several new companies and saw a number of existing compa- nies expand in 2021. To- gether, this business activ- ity resulted in approxi- mately 1,000 new jobs. • One new company is Wiseacre Studios, one of Canada's leading produc- tion companies. They re- portedly transformed nearly 79,000 square feet of warehouse space into a film studio. This studio is currently home to the CBS production Good Sam, a medical drama starring So- phia Bush. They employ up to 250 skilled workers. • Another new arrival is HealthPRO, a hospital equipment and supply company. They occupy a nearly 12,000-square-foot space at 360 Oakville Place Dr., and employ 100 people. • Other new employers include Amazon, technolo- gy supplier Danfoss, the wholesale distributor Worldpac Canada and the veterinary practice NVA Canada. • Existing Oakville em- ployers Geotab, Terrestrial Energy, SteriMax, Questi- ca, Farm Boy and ASL Dis- tribution grew their staff complement in 2021. • Commercial develop- ment activity in Oakville dropped in 2021. Commer- cial construction values to- taled $69.4 million, mark- ing the lowest total com- mercial construction value in the last five years. • Industrial develop- ment activity experienced significant growth. Indus- trial construction values more than doubled in 2021, totaling $54.3 million. • Oakville's office vacan- cy rate continued to rise in the first three quarters of 2021, reaching 20.7 per cent in Q3. This dropped to 18.6 per cent in Q4 and re- presented the first de- crease in the office vacancy rate since the onset of the pandemic. • Town staff noted that when compared to 17 sur- rounding municipalities, Oakville's commercial market remains highly competitive, ranking with- in the top five in the cost comparison for taxes and development charges. • They said Oakville's in- dustrial market is compar- atively less competitive in the areas of land sale val- ues and taxes, ranking more costly than half of the municipalities reviewed. Town staff said cost com- petitiveness for industrial development charges has improved and industrial market demand remains high. • In November 2021, the Halton Region partnered with the Town of Oakville, City of Burlington, Town of Milton and Town of Halton Hills to conduct a Halton Region Business Recovery Survey. Of the 700 survey responses, 38 per cent re- presented Oakville busi- nesses. Non-essential busi- nesses reported the great- est losses during the pan- demic with 90 per cent reporting a decline in reve- nue while 50 per cent re- ported that revenue de- creased by more than half. Of the responding busi- nesses that lost revenue, 77 per cent report it will take more than a year to recover to pre-pandemic levels, if economic reopening con- tinues, and 43 per cent of business owners that took on debt estimate repay- ment timelines exceeding two years. Some of the things businesses would like to see include: busi- ness tax reductions, de- creased red tape and elec- tricity rate reductions. • Town staff said the town's economic develop- ment department continued to focus efforts on support- ing pandemic recovery through its participation on the Recovery and Resiliency Committee and through its patio program, workplace self-screening rapid antigen testing program and Digital Main Street. • In an effort to counter office vacancy rates, town staff said the town devel- oped the Where Living Works campaign, which promoted Oakville's liv- ability as a key differentia- tor for investment. • For the third year in a row, Site Selection Maga- zine, an international busi- ness publication covering corporate real estate and economic development, listed the Town of Oakville in the top 20 of Canada's Best Locations to invest based on significant invest- ment and facility expan- sions at existing compa- nies as well as new compa- ny arrivals. 14 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT RECENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT NEWS DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com Post the details for free in our calendar. Hosting an event online or in the community? INSIDEHALTON.COM/EVENTS