Economic Development

Prosperous Community

 
Over the past four years, Hamilton has averaged over $1 billion in building permit values. Projects leading these construction values include the new McMaster Health Campus at Main and Bay Streets, Tim Horton’s Field, the new Maple Leaf meat processing plant in Glanbrook and a $12 million investment in a new cargo facility at the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport.

 

 

  • Adventec produces component parts for the automotive industry and recently relocated from a 22,000 square foot facility in Ancaster to a 50,000 square foot high-tech facility in Flamborough. Adventec employs 85 highly skilled workers.
     
  • Nations Fresh, downtown Hamilton’s 55,000 square foot grocery store officially opened with $7 million in renovations and added 200 jobs downtown.
     
  • Stackpole, a premier manufacturer of oil pumps and powder metal components, invested $8 million to add another 85,000 square feet to their facility in Ancaster, bringing it to 150,000 square feet in total and creating approximately 200 jobs over the next few years.
     
  • Empire Steel purchased the former 600,000 square foot Siemens’ facility and amalgamated a number of companies into the space. The Empire Steel investment of a 100,000 square feet expansion for steel storage and distribution and over $5 million to establish their metals service division in Hamilton.
     
  • Coreslab expanded an additional 84,000 square feet in Flamborough to produce their “hollow core” floor system. They currently employ 80 people and the expansion is expected to add another 75 skilled workers.
     
  • AZZ moved operations from St. Catharines to Hamilton, relocating to the former Siemans’ plant, now owned by Empire Steel. This investment involved 80,000 square feet of manufacturing space and over 50 new jobs.
     
  • Anderson Water Systems, a global leader in clean water technologies relocated and expanded into a brand new 58,000 square foot facility in the Ancaster Business Park. This was a $1 million investment retaining 75 jobs in Hamilton, with an expected increase of 20 jobs over the next three years.
     
  • Taylor Steel invested $8.5 million in new equipment, some of the most advanced technology in the North American steel service industry. Taylor Steel employs 600 highly skilled workers in several facilities in Stoney Creek.
     
  • 123 James Street North - work began on a three storey, 35,000 square foot office/retail space. This is one of the first office build projects in several years in the downtown core and is an investment of $10 million.
     
  • McMaster Automotive Research Centre, a major investment from McMaster University, retrofitting 80,000 square feet of former warehouse space into labs, office and common areas. This is a world-class research and development facility pioneering testing, monitoring, fault-prediction and optimization systems related to hybrid and hybrid drive-train technologies. It is a $26.4 million investment resulting in over 30 new high-tech jobs, with plans for more growth over the coming years.
     
  • Steeped Tea, a CBC Dragon’s Den success story expanded operations into a 20,000 square foot space in Ancaster. The Company is number 17 on Profit 500’s list of fastest growing companies in Canada.  They have approximately 50 employees and over 2,500 sales consultants across Canada and the United States.
     
  • Homewood Suites by Hilton officially opened in the spring of 2014 with 182 suites. This was a $35 million  investment in the downtown core.​

Downtown Hamilton is complemented by several unique Business Improvement Areas located throughout the city, big box power centres, major malls and numerous commercial corridors.


There are acres of available employment lands with competitive development charges and a fraction of costs of those found in the Greater Toronto Area.

Hamilton is located in the centre of the most densely populated corridor of economic activity in Canada. Hamilton is Canada’s ninth largest regional economy in Canada with a GDP per capita of approximately $48,000 in 2006. Hamilton is the fifth largest mega-region in North America according to the Martin Prosperity Group. Within a 30 minute commute, Hamilton has easy access to a highly skilled, well-educated and productive labour force of over 1 million people.

Hamilton’s agricultural sector generates $1.26 billion a year for the local economy. The food processing sector is one of the fastest growing in Ontario, including over $500 million in investments by Maple Leaf Foods in just the past three years alone.


McMaster University consistently ranks as one of Canada’s top three most research-intensive (number of research dollars per faculty member) universities and home to Canada’s first human embryonic stem cell library. This research holds promise to treat illnesses in the future that range from cancer to Parkinson’s to spinal cord regeneration.

Hamilton Health Sciences has nearly 10,000 employees working at six unique hospitals and a cancer centre. Hamilton Health Sciences was recently selected by GE Healthcare as the first site in the world to receive new prototype technologies for use in a molecular breast imaging research program.


 

 

Hamilton offers programs and incentives to enhance private sector investments for multi-residential, retail, commercial or residential projects and commercial facades including the:

322 film permits issued = $5.5 million in economic impact, 2015 Juno Awards host city winner, $4,750,858 Supercrawl festival economic impact

Mohawk College trains the most apprentices in Ontario. Every year they serve:

  • 10,000 full-time students
  • 3,000 apprentices
  • 300 international students
  • 5,000 adult learners
  • 42,000 continuing education registrants

One of the strongest young professional networks in Canada, called the Hamilton Hive, focuses on next generation talent development, builds a talent pool of highly skilled employees and builds and shares business networks.

There are a number of hiring and training incentives available in Hamilton including:

  • Ontario Works employment placement services
  • Co-op education tax credit
  • Work experience for students
  • French Canadian Association of Ontario services
  • Job matching, placement and incentives through Mohawk College, YMCA, Employment Hamilton, Goodwill - The Amity Group, Wesley Urban Ministries, VPI
  • Apprenticeship training tax credit
  • Call centre apprentice employer signing bonus

 

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