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Vaughan Economic Monitor
Issue #4 - March 2019
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| Niagara University relocates to Vaughan in Cortel Group's Expo City on Highway 7 West at Maplecrete |
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The Vaughan Economic Monitor is a resource from the Vaughan Economic and Cultural Development Department that shares hard-hitting facts, figures and news related to economic, market and
business activities here in Vaughan. New issues are delivered bi-monthly.
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Vaughan market continues to outperform
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City of Vaughan outpaces national and provincial employment growth
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According to the recently released York Region Employment Survey, the City of Vaughan's employment growth rate rose 1.8 per cent in 2018 (year over year), double the national growth rate of 0.9% and outpacing the provincial growth rate of 1.1%. Vaughan's average annual employment growth since 2010 is 4%, with a surveyed 222,158 jobs. Full-time employment accounted for 66% of all jobs in the City, and 65% of Vaughan's 12,105 surveyed businesses have less than 10 employees. Vaughan's top industries by employment are Manufacturing (48,615 jobs), Construction (29,474 jobs), and Retail Trade (24,577 jobs). Vaughan continues to be a net importer of jobs, and is among the top employment and business centres in the GTA.
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| Sources: York Region Employment Survey, 2018; Conference Board of Canada; City of Vaughan Building Standards Department |
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Vaughan's first university opens in the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre
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Niagara University President Rev. James J. Maher with Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua |
Niagara University has relocated its bi-national presence to Vaughan. The university, with its main campus located in Lewiston, N.Y., has been offering teacher training, education and opportunities to Canadian students since 1984. This new site in Cortel Group's Expo City complex in the VMC is Niagara University's home in Ontario and will serve more than 300 students.
Students studying in Vaughan can enrol in either the bachelor of professional studies in education or the master of science in education programs. These programs are fully accredited by the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT). For more information, visit Niagara University's Ontario Programs webpage: https://www.niagara.edu/ontario/
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Holland-based Magna Tyres opens first North American sales office in Vaughan
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Source: Magna Tyres, 2019
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Magna Tyres, of Holland, expands into the North American market with a new sales office in Vaughan after seeing rapid growth over the last few years. Michael de Ruijter, CEO of Magna Tyres Group, said of the move: "We took a great deal of care in choosing this location for our new office. It will further strengthen our commitment to all customers in the region and is an opportunity for close daily cooperation". This office is the next step towards worldwide expansion, with the objective to increase market share and focus on improving customer relationships and satisfaction in this high potential region.
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What we heard: Vaughan Economic and Cultural Development completes inaugural Business Needs Survey
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In 2018, The City of Vaughan's Economic and Cultural Development department completed its inaugural Business Satisfaction and Needs Survey, completed by Forum Research. Findings show that there are strong business satisfaction levels within the City, with 91% of all businesses and 94% of large businesses (100+ employees) satisfied with the delivery of City services. Other results found that 95% of businesses were satisfied with the overall quality of life in the City, and 67% of businesses will be investing in new or innovative technology over the next five years.
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Vaughan outperforms regional averages in ICT report from Intelligent Community Forum
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A new report from the Intelligent Community Forum shows that Vaughan outperforms regional averages in broadband economy readiness and performance. As can be seen in the following diagram, Vaughan is a leader in broadband infrastructure, knowledge workforce, innovation, digital equality, and sustainability. Vaughan received especially high scores for broadband competition and cost, use of technology in Vaughan schools, innovation policies, presence of growth-sector companies, Vaughan Public Library digital programs, citizen engagement, and economic development marketing.
Intelligent Community Forum, a global network of cities and regions with a central think tank, studies how communities use information and communications technology (ICT) to help succeed in the broadband economy. Their report evaluates communities using a framework of six categories of community performance: knowledge workforce, innovation, digital quality, sustainability, advocacy, and broadband. The report provides analysis of community readiness and performance based on more than 41 data points.
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| Vaughan Business Expo and Creative Industries Summit grows in 2019 |
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Keynote speaker Sean Stephens, CEO of Treefrog Inc. |
The 17th Vaughan Business Expo and first Creative Industries Summit took place on February 5, 2019. Vaughan's business community leveraged opportunities for networking and business growth at the event, with more than 500 attendees and nearly 100 booths. The Creative Industries Summit saw more than 100 people participating, and involved deep engagement from community organization such as York Region Arts Council, Artscape, and the Vaughan International Film Festival. The event also saw the launch of the
Vaughan Business Cafe, and the continuation of bridging art with innovation, technology and entrepreneurship with the on-site OUTSIDE THE BOX portrait studio.
Missed out on this year's event? View the recap video.
If you are interested in being apart of next year's event, please contact
[email protected]
to be added to our mailing list.
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Free access to labour market intelligence (LMI) for manufacturers
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The Vaughan Economic and Cultural Development team is pleased to facilitate this resource to Vaughan manufacturers. ManufacturingGPS is a fully searchable interactive labour market intelligence (LMI) system that provides key information such as benchmarking, skills and capability resources, reports and an outreach portal. It helps the manufacturing sector by providing a crucial and unique tool that currently does not exist in Canada today! This macro-level LMI resource with the flexibility of micro-level detail, combined with the Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium's (EMC) extensive consortium and online network will better position Canadian manufacturers on the global productivity map. By completing an online survey, you will have access to ManufacturingGPS benchmarking reports and resources, available online for your review and use - completely FREE of charge!
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CEO of Vaughan-based Mircom Technologies Ltd. featured on TheFutureEconomy.ca
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TheFutureEconomy.ca recently featured Mark Falbo, President and CEO of Vaughan-based Mircom Technologies Ltd. Falbo discusses Mircom's growth from Canadian-operated SME to global company, as well as the challenges of scaling up for Canadian companies and staying Canadian as they scale.
Mircom is the largest independent manufacturer and distributor of life safety and communications systems, which include fire detection and alarm, voice evacuation, controlled access, and security solutions.
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Artificial intelligence firm Daisy Intelligence receives $882,000 in federal funding for scale-up and expansion
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Daisy Intelligence, an information technology company that uses a cloud-based AI platform to help companies by processing their data to understand their customer base, was awarded $882,000 from FedDev Ontario to scale up and increase its presence in both Canada and the United States. Daisy's expansion is expected to create up to 29 new highly-skilled Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) jobs. This comes after the company was named Cool Vendor in AI for Retail by Gartner Inc. in May 2018, received the AIconics Award for "Best AI Start-Up" in September 2018, and received $5 million in early October after beating 16 other finalists from across Canada in an AI event in Toronto.
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| Read More |
| Collision: Fastest-growing tech conference in North America comes to Toronto Region in May |
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| Source: Collision Conf, 2018 |
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Representing local firms, Vaughan's Economic and Cultural Development department is supporting the York Region Tech Experience Pavilion, joining Vaughan-based artificial intelligence firm Daisy Intelligence, life safety and communications company Mircom Technologies Ltd., and specialized mobile app development company Clearbridge Mobile at Collision, the fastest growing tech conference in North America.
Taking place from May 20 to 23, 2019 at Enercare Centre in Toronto, Collison has grown to over 25,000 attendees and is now in its fifth year.
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| Woodbridge distributor saves over $14,000 per year with efficiency upgrades |
 With a growing demand for organic food, Mike & Mike's Organics was ready to expand their refrigeration system and increase storage capacity at their distribution facility.
After careful research and help from the Conservation team at Alectra Utilities, a custom refrigeration system with 12 compressors was installed. In the upgraded model, electronic controls work to monitor the cooling so only the energy required is used, unlike conventional systems that are always on or always off. LED lights were also installed inside the fridges to further reduce energy consumption.
In addition to receiving a Save on Energy incentive of $12,925, Mike & Mike's Organics is now saving more than $14,000/year in electricity and is keeping their product fresher by making the energy efficient choice rather than just installing entry-level refrigeration equipment.
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| Opportunity to hire no-cost co-op students |
Are you looking for some help? Would you like to support our York Region teens to gain some real-world work experience? Here is a no-cost opportunity to hire high-school co-op students!
Secondary schools in the York Catholic District School Board and York Region District School Board support co-op students in finding work to achieve hands-on skills, resume, and portfolio-building high school credits. The quality of their application, school attendance, interview with their co-op teacher, along with a resume, cover letter, and interview with the potential placement business determine acceptance into the co-op program for grade 11 or 12 student. Placements can be in a variety of sectors.
Co-op program terms run from September to January (Semester 1) and February to June (Semester 2). Summer terms run throughout the month of July. Interested community partners can submit a classified ad posting. Co-op teachers will peruse the database and will be in touch if a student match is established. Should no students come forward in a given semester, a match could still be made in subsequent semesters.
Learn more or
Submit an ad posting
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| Vaughan Business Cafe launched |
Have you ever had a question that you wish you could ask another entrepreneur or business leader? Diverse connections are at the core of innovation and company growth. This is why the City of Vaughan is excited to announce a new way that entrepreneurs, small business owners and corporate partners can conn
ect to ask questions, share ideas and form new professional relationships.
Connect with business leaders and entrepreneurs in Vaughan:
- Join the online community and get matched with business experts
- Find a mentor or strategic partner
- Become a mentor and share your expertise
- Engage and share ideas to help your business grow
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| Market your business in Vaughan |
Are you looking to stand out amongst your competitors?
Use customized partnerships with the City of Vaughan to reach your target audience.
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| ClimateWise Evening of Recognition 2019 |
ClimateWise is recognizing members and the broader York Region community for their sustainability achievements. This year, the event will be held at the KPMG building at the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. Toby Heaps, CEO and co-founder of Corporate Knights will deliver a keynote, and the evening will consist of networking, awards, and hors d'oeurves. ClimateWise is a target-based sustainability program focused on engaging York Region businesses in making meaningful reductions to their GHG emissions. It helps organizations understand what going green can do for your business, how you can realize those benefits and where to start.
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The City of Vaughan's Economic and Cultural Development department focuses on facilitating entrepreneurship, employment and investment opportunities, developing and promoting art and cultural experiences, as well as engaging thought leaders to generate insightful ideas, strategies and actions that drive economic, cultural and partnership investment. We work to make Vaughan a place where entrepreneurship, business, art and culture prosper and grow.
For more information, contact the City of Vaughan's Economic and Cultural Development team at
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