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BB NEWS 11 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REPORT DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com The Town of Oakville recently released its 2022 lopment Rot nich 3 outlined lo- cal economic activity, the town's competitive posi- tioning, and initiatives be- ing undertaken to Support the town's tions); Canada Sleep and Décor Ltd., (home textile goods); Candybox Market- ing (digital marketing agency); Clover Co., (co- working and studio space), Eagle Partners Financi: Solutions (financial plan- ning and wealth manage- ment firm); Groupe 3737 (not-for-profit supporting opment strateg: gute are nl highlights of ‘hat "Ten. * ow companies arrived in Oakville in 2022, is is lower than avers new employment creation, which they said reflects pe mic impacts on new investment activity. 2. The new companik included: Agilisium oft. ware consultant); Brewing (beverage manufacturing company office opera- women Hilti Canada Corporation (construction industry manufacturing and suppli- er); Meditex Global Ltd., (medical equipment and supplies); and Wolseley Canada Inc.. {distributor of plumbing, HVAC, wate! works and industrial prod. ucts). - Most of the new com- panies moved operations into existing industrial space in Ward 6. Wolseley Canada opened a 21,000- square-foot location on Winston Park Drive. 4. Several existing com- panies invested in facility upgrades in 2022 to drive innovation and expand op- erational capacity. Zeton (pilot plant design and fab- rication company) consoli- dated operations into their newly expanded 77,000 square foot facility on Michigan Drive. Collins Aerospace, Siemens Cana- da, Questica, and Ace Co- working also nificantly in their local fa- cilities. 5. Commercial develop- ment activity increased mmer- cial construction value to- talled $77.6 million with the town issuing 222 commer- cial building permits for the building of 1,222,021 square feet of commercial space. 6. Industrial develop- ment activity saw a de- crease in building permit construction values from 2021; however, the total MORE THAN JUST A CAR WASH Auto Detailing Window Tinting Headlight Restoratiog Pet Hair Removal Paint Protection/Film Scratch Remova Ceramic Protection Anti-Theft Ghost | QEW Royal Windsor Dr Winston Churchill Blvd. CAR PRIDE AUTO SPA stallation construction value re- mains higher than the five- year average at $44.9 mil- lion. In 2022, the town is- sued 36 industrial develop- ment permits for the build- ing of 449,188 square feet of industrial space. 7. Oakville's office va- cancy rate increased to 19.6 per cent in 2022 from 18.6 per cent in 2021. Town staff pointed out the overall net rental rate per square foot in Oakville's office market reflected the highest ask- ing net rental rate across the GTA West in the fourth quarter of 2022. Town staff noted, when compared | to 17 sur- competitive, ranking with- in the top five in the cost comparison for non-resi- dential property taxes and development charges. 9. Oakville's industrial market remains relatively less competitive, with in- dustrial tax rates higher than more than half of the the spread of COVID-19 in the workplac: In 2023, some of the a things the economic devel- £ UL | Jeneeg eAyeD | 2 in-8 municipalities reviewed, opment department plans < and development charges todo to support the growth 3 only slightly of the Oak itive, ranking within “the clude: launching a top 10. Despite this, Oak- ville's industrial market continues to experience high demand. 10. The economic devel- opment department under- took various initiatives to help local businesses as they emerged from the pandemic in 2022. These in- cluded waiving fees and rmitting the use of on- street parking spaces for akville's seasonal patio pl helpings! businesses adopt online technologies to improve sales through the Digital a Street program; and viding rapid antigen fest kits to hundreds of businesses to help reduce —_ “m/e. 2380 Royal Windsor Dr, Mississauga, ON LSJ 1K7 905.823.1000 wuww.carprideautospa.com new 8 film office pilot to attract 8 and support investments in the film industry in Oak- ville; supporting the devel- opment of a new perma- nent Seasonal. aatio duct me plans fo identify mechanisms promote and rcontiie new investment and job creation; development of a new five-year economic de- velopment strategy; and undertaking a data project to create an up-to-date in- ventory of businesses in Oakville to better under- stand the community's em- ployment base and key sec- tor growth. woo-uoyeyepisul