Today, Mayor Helps announces Making Victoria 2041, a second Mayor’s Task Force on Economic Development and Prosperity to hit the City’s target of 10,000 new jobs in Victoria by 2041. Making Victoria 2041 will set Victoria on a path for sustainable, equitable and inclusive job growth out to mid-century.

In the last election campaign, empty storefronts downtown were a key issue. When Mayor Helps took office in 2014, the downtown retail vacancy rate was over 10%. She created the Mayor’s Task Force on Economic Development and Prosperity to tackle the problem. Comprised of business leaders, entrepreneurs, and students, under the leadership of Mayor Helps, the group created a five-year economic action plan, Making Victoria: Unleashing Potential.

“The most urgent recommendation of Making Victoria was to open a Business Hub at City Hall,” said task force member Jill Doucette. “In less than a month after Council adopted the plan, with no new tax dollars used, the Business Hub at City Hall opened and has been serving Victoria’s business community since December 2015.”

With the help of the Business Hub and the City’s Business Ambassador, the downtown retail vacancy rate is now below 4%. But there is more to do.

“Starting a business, or growing an existing one, requires tough decisions and risks. As a city, we need to keep identifying new ways to streamline our processes and support job creation,” says Helps. “Creating 10,000 jobs by 2041 requires collaboration and concrete action—that’s why we’re creating the Making Victoria 2041 task force.”

Making Victoria 2041 will once again draw together business leaders, entrepreneurs, students and the work of experts across the country to develop a sustainable, equitable and inclusive economic plan for the future.

References

Making Victoria Unleashing Potential 2015-2020 Economic Action Plan https://www.victoria.ca/EN/main/city/mayor-council-committees/task-forces/economic-development-and-prosperity-task-force.html