First Quarter - 2023 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 during the first quarter 2023.

• The City of Greater Sudbury completed the Employment Land Strategy (ELS) in 2022, which identified eight strategic employment areas across the city. As we move to the implementation phase of the recommendations resulting from the ELS, City staff are implementing a variety of projects and process improvements to enhance the speed-to-market of investment opportunities, including:
  • The creation of the new city-wide Employment Land Community Improvement Plan (CIP) in the form of a Tax Increment Equivalent Grant (TIEG), targeting industrial growth and new investment. With approval of City Council, this new incentive program is now in development, with community consultation to follow and full implementation to take place later this year. The Employment Land CIP will be the first targeted specifically at industrial development and will be available to sites across the community. This tool will help support the work to attract new business and encourage business expansion while leveraging incentives at other levels of government. Information on the Employment Land CIP and the public engagement sessions are available at  https://overtoyou.greatersudbury.ca/els 
  • During the 2023 budget deliberation, Council approved the detailed design of water and wastewater infrastructure projects needed to support the strategic employment areas identified in the ELS. This design work will help to ensure our industrial lands are investment ready. The employment areas targeted in this phase include Fielding Road, National Street, Lasalle/Elisabella, Maley East and Valley East Industrial Park. In addition, Council approved $1.25 million to repair Fielding Road in 2023 as an interim step while the infrastructure design work is underway.
• Aligned with efforts to support business development, a new online portal, Pronto, is being piloted to improve the approval process for building applications and permits. The online portal is expected to fully launch in the second quarter and will enable developers and residents to submit, track and manage their applications online.

• Council directed staff to updated to the City’s Downtown Master Plan through the 2023 Budget process. The Downtown Master Plan update will commence later this year with significant stakeholder consultation and public engagement; it is expected toand take approximately 24 months to complete.
• Statistic Canada has release new data from the 2021 Census and City staff have recently updated the City’s  Demographic Dashboard . Some highlights include:
  • Greater Sudbury’s Population is 166,004 increased from 161,531 in 2016.
  • Greater Sudbury’s Youth Population (ages 0 to 14) increased 25,615 from 25,100 in 2016.
  • Greater Sudbury’s Senior Population (ages 65 +) increased to 33,800 from 29,625 in 2016.

Due to the uncertainty of the Canadian interest rates, the residential construction value of the first quarter was lower compared to the same period in 2022 and impacting the total value of permits issued. The construction industry continues to remain steady in the first quarter of this year with a total of $31.8 million in building permits issued.

Large projects with a total construction value of $9.2 million were issued across all sectors in the first quarter. The residential sector permits for this category were strengthened by the Development Charge Installment Agreements directed by Council at 0% interest rate and through incentives under Bill 23 Build More Homes Faster. This will continue to support the development sector to build and add to our housing stock across the community.  

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. The value of Building Permits in the ICI sector continued to reflect investor confidence in our mining and retail sector with investment in major restaurant and automotive dealers over the first quarter.

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 commercial sector is showing a strong start to 2023 with two projects creating 5,722.7 square feet of commercial space with a total value of $5.2 million.

In the first quarter of 2023, the housing data and construction values show a slight decrease, however the creation of new units is comparable to the five-year average. Residential building permits in Greater Sudbury continue to contribute to the creation of a wide range of housing opportunities for the growing population. The construction of single, semi-detached homes and new secondary units registered contributes to diversification of the housing stock across community.

The planning applications received indicate 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. This also reflects an increase in the amount of time taken to process while maintaining existing benchmarks.

In March 2023, over 115 Sudbury companies took part in the annual Prospectors and Development Association of Canada (PDAC) conference in Toronto. The City of Greater Sudbury hosted the Sudbury Mining Cluster Reception to celebrate our mining supply and services sector and create a unique networking opportunity for over 500 international mining executives, government officials and in-market representatives. This annual event fosters work in foreign investment attraction and expansion of the local mining supply and service sector.

Greater Sudbury’s downtown incubator Innovation Quarters/Quartier de l’innovation hosted a 10-week Venture Bootcamp with 67 participants receiving learning in key areas for startups and entrepreneurs and help prepare for a robust cohort for the Incubation Program. A 12-month Incubation Program will launch in the second quarter of 2023 with several aspiring entrepreneurs and early-stage startups. 

The applications for Starter Company Plus 2023 opened in the first quarter. This is a provincial micro-grant program delivered by the  City’s Regional Business Centre to assist aspiring and established entrepreneurs with their respective business endeavors. Since launching in 2017, the Starter Company Plus program has provided $381,400 in grants to support the startup and expansion of 79 businesses in our community. Over the years, we have had the pleasure to see our alumni start, grow, and succeed in business. As of December 2022, 80% of businesses supported through the program continued to be operational.

The Sudbury Catalyst Fund, a $5 million seed capital co-investment fund based in the City of Greater Sudbury, is pleased to announce the closing of its investment of $250,000 in CircuitIQ, a Sudbury-based technology company revolutionizing the way commercial, residential and industrial electrical circuits are mapped and managed. Administered by the Nickel Basin Federal Development Corporation, in collaboration with NORCAT, the City of Greater Sudbury, the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation and with financial support from FedNor, the fund is focused on unlocking angel capital via co-investing in early-stage tech companies with high growth potential. The Sudbury Catalyst Fund’s investment in CircuitIQ brings the total amount of investments made by the fund to $1.22 million, following previous investments in portfolio companies IRegained, Verv Technologies and REPerformance.

Learn more about the Sudbury Catalyst Fund:  https://www.norcat.org/sudbury-catalyst-fund-invests-in-circuitiq 

Greater Sudbury's film and television sector has been an important economic driver for our community for a decade. As part of the ongoing promotion, staff attended the Canadian Media Producers’ Association Prime Time film conference in Ottawa. A pan-northern promotion for Greater Sudbury and Northern Ontario as a film destination of choice, this event generated new leads for filming in our community.

In the first quarter, three local indie shorts filmed in Greater Sudbury thanks to the connection built at the Cinema Socials, bringing together the film industry quarterly.

The film and televisions industry continues to growth the talent in the North. Training sessions supported by the City of Greater Sudbury and its partner attracted over 70 people who received specialized industry ready training from leaders in the field. Learn more about filming in Greater Sudbury at  https://investsudbury.ca/key-sectors/film-and-creative-industries/ 

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 2023, there were 81 individuals approved through the RNIP to apply for permanent residency representing 158 new residents for our community when spouses and family members are included. This is an increase from 2021, during which 45 individuals were approved in the first quarter. Demand continues to be strong in 2022 with new applications coming in daily. Learn more about the RNIP program at  https://investsudbury.ca/why-sudbury/newcomers/rnip/ 

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