First Quarter - 2022 Economic Bulletin

The City of Greater Sudbury is pleased to provide insight into Greater Sudbury's economic growth, diversity and prosperity that supports development, entrepreneurship, business and assessment growth in our community.

The data in the pages to follow is an overview of the growth experiences in Greater Sudbury over the first quarter in 2022.

• As the pandemic restrictions begin to ease, the City of Greater Sudbury continues to implement the Economic Recovery Strategic Plan and focus its attention and resources on key actions that will support the community’s efforts in recovery from challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In conjunction with the Tourism Development Fund (TDF), the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation approved $217,200 to fund local programs and organizations to support tourism and culture initiatives across the community.
• The City of Greater Sudbury was successful in its application to the Streamline Development Approval Funds program which is geared toward improving municipal development approval processes, with the goal of streamlining residential development applications in Ontario.
• Recently, a new direction was approved to create a Strategic Core Areas Community Improvement Plan to replace the existing Downtown Sudbury and Town Centre Community Improvement Plans. The public consultation on the new draft was launched in the first quarter. Learn more and submit feedback by visiting  https://overtoyou.greatersudbury.ca/scacip .
• Residents are invited to provide feedback on phase two of the City of Greater Sudbury’s Official Plan (OP) Review. The OP is a blueprint to help guide Greater Sudbury’s development over the next twenty years. Visit  https://overtoyou.greatersudbury.ca/phase-2-official-plan-review  for more information.

Over the first quarter, there was an increase in permits issues compared to 2021, contributing to economic growth in the community.

The construction industry continues to show resilience despite ongoing challenges, including the increased cost of materials, disruptions to the supply chain industry and labour shortages. With demands from developers locally and customers from southern Ontario looking to move to the north, it’s expected to see continued growth over the coming fiscal year.

Industrial, Commercial and Institutional (ICI) building permits reflect development activity contributing to employment growth in the community. The number and value of ICI permits fluctuates year-to-year with contributing factors, including the number of large scale or multi-year projects, with the five-year average indicating a move toward steady and consistent growth in these areas. In the first quarter of 2022, we saw an increase in ICI building permits compared to 2021 and to date this year’s growth is above the five-year average.

New gross floor area (GFA) reflects additional ICI development that contributes to increased employment and assessment growth. Overall, GFA values have remained relatively stable in the last five years, showing a strong demand in local industry. The value for institutional GFA in first quarter of 2022 shows a positive impact for the community and a great start to the year.

Housing data and construction values show strength in the local residential construction industry with the creation of new housing development and continued interest in intensification of the existing housing stock. Trending growth in the areas of housing starts, secondary units registered, and total residential units combined with a significant increase in property transactions demonstrates a strong investment interest in the local housing market. The first quarter of 2022 shows growth in all areas and are above the five-year average.

Over the first quarter, there was a decrease in development applications received which reflects a return to pre-pandemic activity levels. The number of applications indicates there is a consistent development activity in the community. Planning application processing times reflect the time it takes to review applications and present them for decision, while ensuring municipal and provincial land use planning standards are met.  Processing fewer applications in the first quarter of 2022 reflects a decrease in the amount of time taken to process, while maintaining existing benchmarks.

New businesses continue to start and expand with support from the services offered through the City's Regional Business Centre. In 2021, 33 businesses started, five businesses expanded for a total of 45 jobs created. This is on par with what was experienced in 2020 with 32 businesses started, 12 expansions, creating 40 jobs. New businesses continue to start and expand with support from the services offered through the City's Regional Business Centre. In the first quarter of 2022, three businesses startups and expansions were supported. This is on par with what was experienced in 2021 with four businesses startups and expansions supported.  

The Regional Business Centre continues to find innovative ways to work with its partners to support local business. The Downtown Business Incubator project, known as the Innovation Quarters/Quartier de l’innovation (IQ), has seen significant movement in the first quarter of 2022. Innovation Quarters is a partnership between the City of Greater Sudbury, NORCAT and the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce, under the coordination of the Regional Business Centre.

The goal of the incubator is to create a hub of economic activity in Greater Sudbury through resources and services that support early-stage, innovative, high growth potential business startups across a spectrum of sectors and industries. This initiative focuses on assisting local entrepreneurs with a desire to grow their tech-enabled startups and will soon provide them with access to mentorship opportunities, office space and tailored programming through the establishment of the downtown space.

Greater Sudbury's film and television sector has been an important economic driver for our community for nearly a decade. The industry attracts incredibly talented and creative people to Greater Sudbury, resulting in jobs that help them stay in the north. Among the local productions filmed, Greater Sudbury will be the backdrop and play itself in Shoresy, a spinoff of Bell Media's Crave hit, Letterkenny. In the first quarter of 2022, two productions filmed in Greater Sudbury.

The City of Greater Sudbury is one of 11 communities selected to participate in the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot Program (RNIP), through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. This program works to address local labour force shortages while encouraging immigration and population growth.

In the first quarter of 2022, there were 46 individuals approved through the RNIP to apply for permanent residency. This is an increase from 2021, in which nine individuals were approved in the first quarter. Demand continues to be strong in 2022 with new applications coming in on a near-daily basis. In total, 141 individuals have been approved since the program's inception, representing 316 new residents for our community when spouses and family members are included. 

Those interested in learning more about Greater Sudbury's economic growth in 2021 can visit  https://investsudbury.ca/about-us/economic-bulletin/ . Related information will be shared and reported quarterly in 2022.

Data is compiled through a variety of avenues including internal staff tracking along with public data from the following sources: