Ho hum, southern Ontario just won another auto manufacturing plant. A 1,500 person Toyota plant to be set up near Woodstock, Ontario. $600 million in new investment. A payroll that will likely top $65 million per year.
Is there one person in Atlantic Canada that would like to see a few of these mega economic development projects in our region? Do they all have to go to southern Ontario? According to the Globe & Mail, the province of Ontario will ante up a mere $70-million and Ottawa $55-million for a total of $125 million in incentives.
Just to give you a comparison. This Toyota plant will be 15 times larger in terms of employment than the much ballyhooed Molson plant in Moncton.
So, to recap. The areas in Canada that need the jobs the most (those with shrinking populations) have the least amount of money invested in economic development.
No wonder the OECD has stated that the lack of a coherent regional development policy in Canada is a long term threat to its economic growth.