January 28, 2014
A transformative agenda for Ontario’s economic future
This year’s Emerging Stronger report identifies the challenges still facing the province, and sets out tangible steps to ensure Ontario emerges stronger from a period of economic transition.
This year’s report includes updates on the progress that business, government, and civil society have made over the past year on recommendations from the 2013 report, and a survey of business leaders on the economic outlook for 2014.
This series of reports identifies five priority areas where Ontario’s business, government, and civic leaders should focus their efforts in revitalizing the province’s economy: fostering a culture of innovation; assembling a 21st-century workforce; putting public finances on a fiscally sustainable path; diversifying export markets; and identifying and leveraging new and existing competitive advantages.
Executive Summary
Emerging Stronger is the product of a year’s worth of consultation conducted by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, the Mowat Centre, and Leger Marketing. Its contents and recommendations reflect what we have heard from Ontario’s business and civic leaders, including thousands of businesses and not-for-profit organizations from across the province.
As in past versions of Emerging Stronger, this report assesses Ontario’s key assets and challenges, and identifies some strategic priorities for the province.
We remain confident that Ontario has all the assets it needs to prosper in the global economy. We also believe that Ontario truly is beginning to emerge stronger from the economic downturn, thanks in part to the hard work of Ontario businesses and organizations. However, there is still much to do.
As in previous iterations of this document, our recommendations are organized around five key priority areas:
1] Fostering a culture of innovation and smart risk-taking in order to become a productivity leader.
2] Building a 21st century workforce.
3] Restoring Fiscal balance by improving the way government works.
4] Taking advantage of new opportunities in the global economy.
5] Identifying, championing, and strategically investing in our competitive advantages in the global economy.
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In Emerging Stronger 2014, we highlight the progress that has been made across many of our recommendations to
date. This year’s Emerging Stronger includes three new elements.
» First, it focuses on the priorities for 2014. It answers the question, what are the immediate steps required to help
the province compete and thrive in the global economy?
» Second, it identifies who should lead—business, government, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, and
other key players (e.g. the post-secondary sector, not-forprofits, professional associations)—across each of the key
deliverables for 2014.
» Third, we have included a regional economic forecast for 2014 based on the analyses provided by the Credit
Unions of Ontario and Central 1 Credit Union. This is additional to the regional breakdown provided in the
Ontario Business Confidence Index.
The regional results across the index and the economic forecasts speak to the diverse challenges faced by each
region of the province. Our results and forecasts indicate that economic growth is uneven, and some regions are
hurting more than others.
The Ontario Business Confidence Index also shows that small businesses are less confident than their larger peers,
while key sectors, including retail, hospitality and leisure, and manufacturing are much less likely to expand over the
next five years.
Meanwhile, public sector respondents to our Ontario Business Confidence Index were 75 percent more likely
than last year to believe their organization will expand in the near future. Whether this signals a belief among the broader
public sector that the austerity measures are easing remains to be seen.
Emerging Stronger 2014 represents an aggregation of what we hope are practical solutions to Ontario’s key economic
problems. Our report acknowledges that no one actor can hope to solve these problems alone. Rather, it is through our
collective efforts that Ontario will emerge stronger.
Authors
Mowat Centre
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce
Release Date
January 28, 2014
ISBN
978-1-928052-00-5
Mowat Research
No. 80