Proposed Plan for Developing an
Economic Development Strategy for the City of Toronto
The Economic Development Committee recommends the adoption of Recommendations
(1) and (3) of the report (September 2, 1998) from the Commissioner of Economic
Development Committee.
The Economic Development Committee reports, for the information of Council, having
forwarded Recommendation (2) of the foregoing report to the Chair of the Economic
Development Committee with a request that he submit this Recommendation to Council for
its meeting on October 1, 1998 together with the names of two other members of the
Economic Development Committee for appointment to the Economic Development Strategy
Steering Committee.
The Economic Development Committee submits the following report (September 2,
1998) from the Commissioner of Economic Development, Culture and Tourism:
Purpose:
This report seeks Council endorsement for the proposed plan, process and timing for
developing an economic development strategy for the City of Toronto, a key element of which
will be the involvement of the broader business community.
Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:
Estimated at a maximum of $20,000.00 plus printing costs to be accommodated within current
budget.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that Council:
(1)endorse the proposed plan, process and timing for developing an economic development
strategy for the City of Toronto, a key element of which will be the involvement of the
broader business community;
(2)approve the creation of an Economic Development Strategy Steering Committee to
oversee the process, to be chaired by the Chair of the Economic Development Committee and
comprised of two other members of the Economic Development Committee, the
Commissioner of Economic Development, the Managing Director of Economic Development
and three representatives of Toronto's business community; and
(3)the appropriate City Officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to
give effect thereto.
Council Reference/Background/ History:
The Transition Team was presented with a proposed work plan for Economic Development
for the newly amalgamated city. This plan represented the consolidated input from the seven
municipal Economic Development Offices without any formal input from the business
community. Since this time, an Economic Development Committee of Council has been
established and the departmental structure is in the process of being formalized.
The Economic Development Committee, Economic Development staff and, indeed the
business community itself, requires a strong, clear and concise vision which can coalesce
effort, focus priorities and mobilize resources to effect positive change in Toronto's economy.
This is reinforced in the discussion paper "Toward a Strategic Agenda - Key Issues and
Opportunities in Economic Development, Culture and Tourism" which prioritizes the need to
develop a strategic focus for Economic Development services in the City.
The following report proposes an approach to formulating such a strategic vision for the City,
a process which will result in a clear set of vision statements, strategic goals to achieve this
vision, key priorities to focus our efforts over the next three to five years and, where
appropriate, recommended actions. The role of the Economic Development Office will be
articulated through this process as will mechanisms for ongoing business involvement and
interface with municipal efforts. The proposed product should be viewed as a foundation
document which will focus our future actions and priorities and set the stage for more detailed
work plans and industry involvement opportunities.
Based upon the experience of staff who have undertaken similar exercises in the past, it is
clear that the process which is followed is equally important as the product which emerges. It
is the process which will result in mobilizing the interests of a variety of forces across the city
to achieve success in implementing the final plan.
Comments and/or Discussion and/or Justification:
(a)Objectives of Developing a Strategic Plan for Economic Development
The following have been established as the key objectives of embarking upon this process:
(i)to establish a vision which can help guide the economic development efforts across the
City; a vision which has relevance and validity for Council, the private sector and City staff
efforts;
(ii)to establish a context for the development of a more detailed work plan and budget for the
Economic Development Office over the next three to five years;
(iii)to undertake a consultation process with key business groups and clients to ensure that
the City's economic development effort recognizes and reflects current issues, priorities and
identifies new opportunities and ways of doing business;
(iv)to seek input from a broad cross section of the community including: a cross section of
business interests by type (ie. Private sector, public sector, quasi-public, industry associations,
not-for-profit, foundations, labour), by sector (ie. Medical, technology, financial services,
development, tourism, etc) by geographic orientation (ie. Business Improvement Areas,
ratepayer organizations, community-based service groups) and interest area (e.g.
Education/training, infrastructure providers, utilities, etc.);
(v)to invite the active participation of Economic Development Committee members in the
process to allow them to hear and understand first hand the issues and priorities of Toronto's
business community; and
(vi)to involve Economic Development Office staff in the process to assist in
cross-jurisdictional team building, to gather current industry intelligence and to expand its
business contact base.
(b)Role of the Economic Development Committee
The proposed Strategic Planning Process has been designed to involve the Economic
Development Committee throughout its six month process. The objective of this involvement
is two-fold; first to bring committee members up to date on priority industry issues and
secondly, to create a network between city officials and the private sector which will be key to
ultimately implementing the final product.
The process proposes the formation of an Economic Development Strategy Steering
Committee to oversee the process, to be chaired by the Chair of the Economic Development
Committee and comprised of two other members of the Economic Development Committee,
the Commissioner of Economic Development, the Managing Director of Economic
Development and three (3) representatives of Toronto's business community.
While this Steering Committee will have primary responsibility to oversee all aspects of the
project, facilitated by Economic Development staff, all members of the Economic
Development Committee will be directly involved in the process including participation in
consultation activities such as plenary sessions, workshops and interviews. Appendix One
provides a terms of reference for the Steering Committee.
(c)Proposed Process
The following outlines the proposed steps in developing an Economic Development Strategy
for the City. A key element in the process of articulating a vision for the City is to seek the
ideas and input from the broader business community. The proposed consultation program is
designed to elicit response to the following types of questions:
(i) What is your vision for our City and its future economy?
(ii) What are the major priorities and concerns we should be focussing our collective efforts
upon? (e.g. business infrastructure needs, labour force issues, key cluster opportunities sector
issues, government/city policy concerns, marketing opportunities, local and regional
development limitations, etc.);
(iii)What role should be played by the EDO and the private sector? What opportunities exist
for public-private partnerships?; and
(iv)What performance measures could be used to chart our progress in achieving the
vision?.
Key steps in the process are described below and in schematic form in Appendix Two:
(1)Development of a Consultation Kit for distribution to all participants. This kit will include
a variety of information which will assist in orienting participants to the process including, for
example: Terms of Reference of the Economic Development Committee; current structure and
proposed mandate of the Economic Development Office; an environmental scan of the
Toronto economy (e.g. Key facts, trends, industry snapshots); examples of other jurisdictions'
economic development approaches (e.g. Tools list, best practices, innovative ideas); and, a
questionnaire (fax/e-mail) to solicit their issues and ideas at the outset of the process. The kit
will also act as an attractive "sales kit" to encourage participation by business representatives.
(2)Development web-based materials to allow ongoing outreach with businesses including
materials from the above-noted Consultation Kit.
(3)Development of participant invitation list. The target is to involve approximately 500
participants in the process, representing a cross section of business in terms of type, size,
sector, geography, etc.
(4)Undertake consultation process which provides a number of discrete opportunities for the
private sector to have input into the process. The consultation process will include:
(i)Introductory Plenary Session and Workshop
This first session will seek the involvement of all interested participants in an introductory
session to "kick off" the process. This half day event will begin with presentations by the
Mayor and Chair of the Economic Development Committee followed by presentations by
guest speakers/panelists who will set the context and challenge for the City/industry in this
effort. The plenary session will break out into smaller discussion groups as the first round of
input into the strategy. As the starting point in the process, the session will be intentionally
"open-minded" in its approach and focus on obtaining input about top-line issues and
priorities of participants.
(ii)Post Plenary Workshops
Following up on the introductory session, four to six separate workshops will be carried out in
geographically dispersed locations across the city. Participants who attended the first session,
as well as other more locally based interest groups, will be invited to attend workshops which
begin to isolate concerns and more critically discuss issues which emerged from the
introductory workshop. Workshops will be chaired by members of the Steering Committee
and members of EDC will be invited to attend the sessions.
(iii)Individual Consultations with Key Business Leaders
In addition to the workshop format, senior economic development staff and Steering
Committee members will meet with a cross section of business leaders and industry
associations on a one-on-one basis. The objective of this approach, in addition to gathering
information and ideas, is to continue to build good personal relationships with those
individuals and organizations who can have a role to play in implementing the strategy.
Consultations will take place with such organizations as Boards of Trade/Chambers of
Commerce, sector organizations (e.g. Toronto Real Estate Board, Toronto Biotechnology
Initiative, Tourism Toronto, SMART Toronto, Design Exchange), business improvement
associations and industrial revitalization interests, educational and training interests (e.g.
HRDC, educational institutions), labour organizations, ratepayer groups, major infrastructure
providers (e.g. Greater Toronto Airports Authority, Toronto Harbour Commission, telecom
companies, utilities) and a sampling of both small and large employers in the city.
(iv)Internal Consultations with Members of Council and Senior Staff
In tandem with the above, senior economic development staff will endeavour to meet with
interested members of City Council and senior staff from relevant departments across the
corporation to learn of their interests and ideas as input into the process;
(5)At the conclusion of this phase of the consultation process we expect to have a solid
understanding of the major issues and priorities which have been raised and the Steering
Committee and staff from Economic Development will consolidate a draft strategy document.
The draft strategy will present:
(i)a vision to guide the economic development efforts across the City;
(ii)key priorities and concerns with respect to such issues as infrastructure, labour force
development, government policies, marketing approaches, geographic issues, sector-specific
concerns;
(iii) proposed role for the Economic Development Office and the private sector as well as
opportunities for public-private partnerships; and
(iv)performance measures will be used to evaluate the progress made in implementing the
strategy.
(6)Economic Development Committee Feedback and Validation Session
A half-day workshop session will be organized to seek feedback and validation on the draft
strategy. All organizations and individuals who had input into the process will be invited to
meet with the Economic Development Committee to review the draft strategy, make
comments and discuss opportunities for further involvement.
(7)Input from the feedback session will be incorporated into the strategy and the finalized
document will be presented to Council. Upon adoption of the report, the final document will
be published and distributed to all participants.
Next Steps:
The next steps in this process will be to prepare a detailed work plan and budget for the
Economic Development Office which reflects the intent, and begins to act upon the directions,
set out in the Vision. The work plan will include specific recommendations for the continuing
involvement of the business community and the potential need for more detailed input on
site-specific issues and/or sector-specific work groups to provide more detailed and
comprehensive industry input into the work of EDC/EDO.
(d)Proposed Time Frames
Preparation of background materials for consultation kitSept/Oct . 1998
Invitations listSept/Oct. 1998
Consultation Process - InterviewsOct/Nov. 1998
Consultation Process - WorkshopsNovember 1998
Draft strategyDecember 1998
EDC Feedback/Validation workshopJanuary 1999
Report to Economic Development CommitteeFebruary 1999
Publication of StrategyFebruary 1999
(e)Costs
The costs for undertaking the above process are to be carried out within current EDO budget.
The out of pocket costs are estimated at $20,000.00 exclusive of printing costs. These costs
will include the hiring of external facilitators to guide the consultation process and train
economic development staff to allow them to assist in the process. It is anticipated that the
costs for bringing in speakers for the introductory plenary session can be defrayed by other
organizations who wish to be involved in the process.
Conclusions:
The newly formed Economic Development Committee, Economic Development staff and the
business community of the City of Toronto requires a strong, clear and concise vision which
can coalesce effort, focus priorities and mobilize resources to effect positive change in the
city's future economy. This report proposes an approach to formulating such a strategic vision
for the City, a six month process which will result in a clear set of vision statements, strategic
goals to achieve this vision, key priorities to focus our efforts over the next three to five years
and, where appropriate, recommended actions.
Contact Names:
Brenda Librecz, Managing Director, Economic Development, 397-4700
1Professional facilitators on staff within the City will also be approached to assist with this
task.
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Appendix One
Draft Terms of Reference for the Economic Development Strategy Steering Committee
(1)Purpose:
To develop an Economic Development Strategy which will guide the City of Toronto for the
next 3 - 5 years.
(2)Mandate:
The primary function of the Steering Committee will be to develop a strong, clear and concise
vision which can coalesce effort, focus priorities and mobilize resources to effect positive
change in Toronto's economy.
The Committee will work as a whole in developing this plan with the support of staff from
Economic Development.
(3)Objectives:
To provide input and direction to assist in:
- establishing a vision which can help guide the economic development efforts across
the City; a vision which has relevance and validity for Council, the private sector
and City staff efforts;
- establishing a context for the development of a more detailed work plan and budget
for the Economic Development Office over the next three to five years;
- undertaking a consultation process with key business groups and clients to ensure
that the City's economic development effort recognizes and reflects current issues,
priorities and identifies new opportunities and ways of doing business;
- seeking input from a broad cross section of the business community;
- inviting the active participation of Economic Development Committee members in
the process to allow them to hear and understand first hand the issues and priorities
of Toronto's business community; and
- involving Economic Development Office staff in the process to assist in
cross-jurisdictional team building, to gather current industry intelligence and to
expand business contact base.
(4)Time Frame:
The Committee will complete its work with a target completion date of February 1999.
(5)Expected Product:
The final strategy will generally include the following:
- a vision to guide the economic development efforts across the City;
- key priorities and concerns with respect to such issues as infrastructure, labour force
development, government policy, marketing, geographic issues, sector-specific
concerns;
- proposed role for the Economic Development Office and the private sector as well
as opportunities for public-private partnerships; and
- performance measures will be used to evaluate the progress made in implementing
the strategy.
(6)Reporting:
The Steering Committee will submit a draft final strategy at a feedback and validation session
for both the Economic Development Committee and participants in the process. A final report
will be presented to Council at the end of the process.
(7)Composition:
The Economic Development Strategy Steering Committee will be chaired by the Chair of the
Economic Development Committee and comprised of two other members of the Economic
Development Committee, the Commissioner of Economic Development, the Managing
Director of Economic Development and three (3) representatives of Toronto's business
community.
(8)Decisions by the Steering Committee:
The Steering Committee should proceed on a consensus approach rather than a voting basis.
(9)Documentation:
Minutes and agendas should be prepared and distributed in advance of each meeting. Minutes
should contain brief summaries of the proceedings to enable the Committee to monitor and
direct its progress and record decisions and other actions taken.
(10)Work Plan:
At its initial organizational meeting, the Steering Committee should confirm a work plan and
schedule of meetings.