The Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce and other chambers across the province released 25 recommendations as part of Emerging Stronger 2016.
Emerging Stronger identifies the immediate steps that government and the private sector must take to enhance Ontario’s economic competitiveness and spur job creation in the province.
The annual Ontario Business Confidence Index, featured in the document, shows that business confidence in the Ontario economy is at a five-year low.
The index shows that only 30 per cent of businesses are confident in Ontario’s economy, compared to 47 percent in 2012. It also shows that 62 percent of businesses are confident in their own organization’s outlook, down from a high of 74 percent in 2014.
“The WERCC and its community partners will continue to work together to boost confidence and drive investment,” says Matt Marchand, WERCC president and CEO. “The 25 detailed recommendations in Emerging Stronger 2016 are focused on these initiatives.”
Marchand says Emerging Stronger also highlights the need to offset negative impacts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on Ontario's auto sector.
The document says the TPP gives a marked advantage to low-wage Asian suppliers of auto parts and calls for a targeted investment strategy for the Ontario-based manufacturing sector.
“This is part of our comprehensive advocacy on the auto sector,” said Marchand.
The WERCC has been raising concerns about the impacts of the TPP on the auto sector for a number of months.
