We’re looking to how we can support and facilitate a prosperous future for the city of Sarnia. It’s why we’ve initiated the creation of an Economic Development Master Plan to establish a clear, well-defined vision for economic growth, business retention and entrepreneurship over the next ten years.

The role of Economic Development

Economic development is programs, policies or activities that seek to improve the economic well-being and quality of life for a community. Created in 2021, Sarnia’s Economic Development Department is a central point of contact for business assistance. Its services are geared towards supporting startups, expanding businesses, and companies relocating to Sarnia, alongside the retention of existing businesses.

The goal is to serve as a catalyst for continued economic growth, job creation, and revitalization of Sarnia. The department collaborates with other arms of the City and external business stakeholders to deliver programming and initiatives; conduct advocacy efforts; generate and advance investment opportunities; facilitate business interactions with the City; and support regional economic positioning.

Why a Master Plan?

Economic growth requires continuous effort and a long-term commitment. As we look to the future, and how we can best facilitate growth and prosperity, we want to have the best possible understanding of our current economic strengths and challenges; the trends that will impact our economy; potential future challenges; and the opportunities we can capitalize on to overcome them.

Economic resilience is identified as a key strategic priority in the 2024 City Council Strategic Plan driving the development of an Economic Master Plan. Development of a such a plan was as a recommendation in our 2022 Sarnia Business and Research Park, 402 Business Park Competitive Market Analysis.

Sarnia’s Economic Development Master Plan process will address three key questions:

1. Where is our economy now?
2. Where will it to be in 10 years?
3. How do we get there?

The plan, and its recommendations will work as a guide — built on public input and data — as we review economic development opportunities and make future decisions to allocate resources. It will provide the vision and background to inform decisions on how to achieve:

• A municipal environment conducive to attracting new and diverse industries, while retaining and supporting the expansion of existing businesses and entrepreneurial enterprises
• A municipal environment that supports the creation of meaningful employment opportunities for residents through the attraction, expansion, and retention of industry, business, and start-ups
• Enhancing capital investment by the public and private sectors in the city of Sarnia and increase diversification of the community’s current economic base
• Positioning of the municipality to successfully compete for industrial, commercial and institutional development
• Diversifying the City’s tax base, particularly through commercial and industrial growth and development
• Leveraging public assets to facilitate growth
• Building and sustaining collaborative partnerships with local and regional entities involved community development, workforce development, business incubation, business expansion and foreign direct investment

We want to fully understand what our strengths are, where can we improve, and how do we best allocate resources to encourage economic growth.

Get involved

It’s crucial that our plan reflect up-to-date data, experiences and the input of local industry, business owners, employees, and residents.

We’re engaging with stakeholders and the public throughout the process. Check out our newsfeed below to stay informed on opportunities to provide your insight. Be sure to subscribe via the “Follow Project” widget for updates on future input opportunities.