General Committee endorsed two of five industry-specific plans to guide the City’s economic recovery from COVID-19. The Small Business and Broader Industry plans outline priorities and actions to reboot and grow these industries. Three additional economic recovery plans for the tourism, creative (film, TV and music) and land development/real estate industries will come to Council for approval in the coming months.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, we’ve been working closely with our business community to help them manage the immediate economic impacts of COVID-19. As we work to reduce the severity of a second wave this fall, we want our businesses to know that we remain focused on helping them grow, prosper and ultimately build back to better,” said Mayor Bonnie Crombie. “That’s why we are developing industry-specific recovery plans that will address the short and long-term actions we need to take to ensure that Mississauga remains one of Canada’s most powerful economic engines.”

The need for five industry-specific plans was outlined in the City’s Economic Recovery Pillar Framework approved by Council on July 22, 2020. As one of four pillars guiding the City’s overall recovery efforts, the framework sets out the principles for the development of each industry-specific economic recovery plan. These principles include a phased approach to recovery; finding every opportunity to help Mississauga businesses build back to better; and adopting an inclusive, whole community approach that leaves no one behind.

“The strength of these plans is that they don’t take a one size fits all approach. They are based on extensive industry engagement and reflect the enormous but varied impact of COVID-19 on each of our major business sectors,” said Andrew Whittemore, Commissioner, Planning and Building, who is leading the rollout of the City’s economic recovery pillar. “As we move forward with implementing the plans, we will continue to engage with Mississauga business owners and leaders to make sure we understand their evolving challenges, offer support for proposals or suggested policy changes and advocate on their behalf.”

The Small Business and Broader Industry Economic Recovery Plans are being led by the City’s Economic Development Office (EDO). From the onset of the pandemic, EDO has worked quickly to respond to the immediate needs of Mississauga’s business community by delivering much-needed support and services. In total, the plans endorsed today identify 42 unique actions to help small business and broader industry through the economic recovery. Key initiatives include:

• Digital economy inclusion actions that support access to digital technology for small businesses and Mississauga residents
• Establishing an innovation hub program for early stage entrepreneurs, start-ups and scale-ups to encourage job growth, talent attraction, business investment and economic competitiveness in Mississauga
• Business recovery placemaking campaigns to restore consumer confidence and attract business investment to the City
• Kick-starting the development of the Lakeview Innovation District by prioritizing investments to maximize the potential of the site
• Programs focused on business investment retention, expansion and attraction opportunities emerging during the pandemic and beyond

“While the impacts of COVID-19 have been severe – particularly for the more than 93,000 small businesses in Mississauga – growth opportunities have also emerged,” said Bonnie Brown, Director of Economic Development. “These opportunities, in areas such as Information Technology, Logistics, Food & Beverage and Life Sciences, helped inform our plans and will move Mississauga forward on the path to economic growth and prosperity.”

Consultation and engagement with the business community will continue to be an important part of the City’s recovery efforts. All five industry-specific plans will be reviewed and assessed on a regular basis in consultation with the Mississauga Economic Resilience Taskforce, an advisory group established in June 2020.

The plans will go to Council next week for approval.

To stay informed about the City’s COVID-19 recovery efforts, visit Mississauga.ca/recovery.