MARKHAM, ON – December 18, 2023 – Last week, the City of Markham announced the release of Markham is More – the City’s new Economic Development and Culture Strategy (2023 to 2027). The Strategy lays out an important roadmap that will guide the City and its collaboration with community partners to grow Markham’s economy on a foundation of arts, culture, and innovation.
“Markham’s economic strengths and leadership are drawn from a talent pool that embraces creativity and innovation to drive solutions that address market gaps and societal challenges,” said Mayor Frank Scarpitti. “Our goal through this strategy is to continue to foster this creativity and ensure Markham is at the forefront of the Canadian and global innovation community.”
The City took a unique approach to developing the Strategy. While most municipalities undertake separate strategies – one for economic development and one for culture, the approach taken by Markham was to merge them into one overall strategy. This approach recognized the interdependent role that arts and culture play in creating the quality of life that is necessary to attract talent to a community.
“Arts and culture play an important role in Markham’s economic growth,” shared Chris Rickett, Markham’s Director of Economic Growth, Culture and Entrepreneurship. “Developing an economic development strategy that does not prioritize their contribution to the community’s quality of life and success would be doomed to fail. Investment follows talent – tech talent is located where educational opportunities and interesting job prospects are found, and in welcoming communities that provide a strong quality of life.”
As home to Canada’s largest semiconductor cluster, a new urban downtown that will welcome York University’s new campus and more than 170,000 residents, and plans to create the Markham Innovation Exchange (MiX) with its 1,900 acres of employment lands dedicated to next-generation hardware manufacturing, Markham is witnessing major advancements that will continue to transform the community.
The Strategy builds on this momentum with five strategic goals and detailed action plans focused on growing Markham’s economy through business attraction, growing the city’s innovation ecosystem, nurturing the growth of new companies, investing in arts and culture, while expanding the creative talent pipeline.
Taken together, Markham’s new Economic Development and Culture Strategy provides a framework catalyzing the City’s collaboration with its community partners on realizing Markham’s economic potential.
Learn more about Markham is More: Markham’s Economic Development and Culture Strategy.