2012 ontario chamber of commerce a federal agenda for ontario

7/30/2019 2012 Ontario Chamber of Commerce a Federal Agenda for Ontario

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Authors: Josh Hjartarson, Vice President, Policy & Government Relations

Liam McGuinty, Policy Analyst

A Federal Agenda or Ontario

Ontario Chamber o Commerce

PDF ISBN: ----

Print ISBN: ----

occ.on.ca

Follow us @OntarioCoC

A FederAl AgendA For ontArio

Contents

Message rom the President & CEO o the Ontario Chamber o Commerce i

Executive Summary ii

Introduction 1

Building a st Century Workorce 4When Our Governments Work Together, All Canadians Benet 12

Identiying, Championing, and Strategically Investing in our CompetitiveAdvantages in the Global Economy 14

Restoring Fiscal Balance 22

Conclusion 26

Acknowledgements 27

Works Cited 28

About the Ontario Chamber o Commerce 31


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MeSSAge FroM tHe PreSident &Ceo oF tHe ontArio CHAMBer

oF CoMMerCeThe global economic downturn has had a proound impact on Ontario. The province isacing once-in-a-generation economic challenges.

We at the Ontario Chamber o Commerce (OCC) are optimistic that Ontario will not onlyweather the storm, but emerge rom this period o economic uncertainty stronger and morecompetitivei we work collectively to create the right conditions.

This paper builds on the ve core priorities identied in Emerging Stronger: A TransormativeAgenda or Ontario, drated in partnership with the Mowat Centre and Leger Marketing. Thisis the rst publication in our subsequent Emerging Strongerpaper series.

A Federal Agenda or Ontario examines Ontarios relationship with Canada and the ederalgovernments role in achieving these ve priorities. It points to the considerable imbalancesin the national economy and national public policy that are making it more dicult orOntario businesses to compete and generate wealth.

A Federal Agenda or Ontario makes recommendations that, i implemented, would allowOntario to retain and build on its competitiveness in the global economy.

At their core, the recommendations provide direction to the ederal government on the roleit can play in growing Ontarios economy.

This paper does not ask the ederal government to spend more. It does not pit onegovernment against another. Its goal is to provide an evidence-based case or changes tosome core ederal public policies.

The ederal government has done much to help Ontario and Ontario businesses during therecent downturn. The bailout o the auto sector and the harmonized sales tax are two keyexamples. Our recommendations are a roadmap to urther progress.

The OCC and its members are calling or ederal public policies that reect the new reality othe Canadian economy. We are also calling on all Ontarians and Ontario businesses to takeup this cause with us; should Ontario decide to speak with one voice, it will be dicult orothers not to listen.

Allan ODettePresident & CEOOntario Chamber o Commerce

[i]


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eXeCUtiVe SUMMArYThe Federal Barrier The Solution

The Employment Insurance program is notsuited to the st century economy.

Reorm Employment Insurance so that there isone national standard or qualication.

Federal conditions on training dollars weakentraining programs.

All ederal trainingshould be unded through asingle, general revenue-unded transer to theprovinces/territories.

Ontario is short-changed by ederaltraining dollars.

Allocate ederal skills and training funds airly.

On-reserve Aboriginal education is

underunded.

Close the unding gap or on-reserve

Aboriginal education.

The Provincial Nominee Program underservesOntario businesses.

Allow Ontario greater use o the ProvincialNominee Program.

Fewer economic immigrants are comingto Ontario.

Weigh Ontarios interests whenreorming immigration.

Federal-provincial strategies or manuacturingare either absent and/or uncoordinated.

Develop a coordinated strategy to ulll Canadasglobal manufacturingpromise.

Federal inrastructure spending in Ontario is

low and not strategic.

Invest strategically in infrastructure.

Federal-provincial business supports are notadequately coordinated.

Coordinate and untangle business supports.

Ontario receives inadequate ederal economicdevelopment unding.

Distribute regional economic developmentunding on a principled basis.

FedDev Ontarios mandate expires in . Make FedDev Ontario permanent.

The gap between what Ontarians pay into andwhat they get back rom Equalization istoo large.

Reorm Equalization to redress the netredistribution away rom Ontario.

Ontarians pay . billion more into theederation than what they get back.

Close the $12.3 billion gap.

Ontario has not articulated its interests acrossseveral ederal programs. Other provinces have.

Ontario should promoteprincipledfederal solutions that improve its globalcompetitiveness.

Buildinga21st centuryworkforce

Identifying,champio

ning,and

strategicallyinvesting

Restoringfiscal

balance

[ii]


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A Federal Agenda or Ontario [1]

introdUCtionOntarios nances are altering under the weight o its accumulated decits.

Our provincial debt is approaching billion. This works out to over, per man, woman, and child. Meanwhile, nearly , Ontariansare out o work.

Many sectors that were historically Ontarios strengths are now struggling.More than ever, Ontario businesses ace stif competition or investment,markets, and talent.

Opportunities, however, do exist. Ontario has all the assets to secure itsposition as the best place in the world to work, invest, do business, and raisea amily.

A Federal Agenda or Ontario examines Ontarios relationship with Canadaand the impact that ederal policy has on Ontarios competitiveness.

It picks up several o the major themes rom Emerging Stronger, the OCCstransormative agenda that will enable Ontario to emerge stronger rom thisperiod o economic uncertainty.

Emerging Strongeridenties ve priorities:

ostering a culture o innovation and smart risk-taking in order tobecome a productivity leader;

building a st century workorce through workplace training, utilizing

newcomers skills, and apprenticeship reorm; restoring scal balance by improving the way government works; taking advantage o new opportunities in the global economy; and identiying, championing, and strategically investing in our

competitive advantages in the global economy.

This paper makes specic recommendations on how to improveOntarios global competitiveness through modications to ederal labour,immigration, Aboriginal, economic development, and inrastructure policy.It also recommends changes to how the ederal government redistributeswealth across the country. The paper provides the ederal government withclear direction on how it can help spur economic growth in Ontario.

Note two important caveats. First, we do not claim that ederal policies arethe only barriers to Ontarios competitiveness. There is much work to bedone by all players, including the provincial government and business.


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Ontario Chamber o Commerce[2]

Second, with the exception o reorms to Aboriginal education, therecommendations in this paper do not require the ederal government to spend

more money.

Instead, the call is to re-prole existing spending and to modiy programs toreect Canadas new economic realities and to enable Canada and Ontarioto compete globally.

The provincial and ederal governments have already shown an ability tocooperate. They partnered to protect hundreds o thousands o jobs inOntarios auto sector. They worked to harmonize our tax system to helpOntario businesses create jobs. They are long-standing allies in the efort tocreate a single national securities regulator (see page ).A Federal Agendaor Ontario recognizes that when our governments work together, allCanadians benet.

Our timing is deliberate. Over the short-term, the ederal government isconsulting Canadians or its budget. Over the medium-term, manyederal-provincial agreements and ederal programs expire in in areassuch as inrastructure, training, economic development, and immigration.As we demonstrate throughout the paper, the current ederal approach inthese areas is hindering Ontarios ability to meet present challenges.

Our bottom line: all Canadians have a stake in Ontarios continuedprosperity. Now, more than ever, it is time or Ontarians to present solutionsthat work or the entire country.

th x fiv yas a cuca oa: w mus mbaccha, ppa va cmp m u

aa ps, pcaba bay, ay a vs oascmpv avaas.

Emerging Stronger, 2012


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BUILDINGA 21STCENTURYWORKFORCE


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[4] Ontario Chamber o Commerce

BUilding A 21St CentUrYWorKForCeOntario sufers rom a paradoxical challengehistorically highunemployment and underemployment with labour and skills shortages inkey sectors. Experts predict Ontarios skills shortage could reach , by (Conerence Board o Canada, ).

As identied in the second pillar o the Emerging Strongerplatorm, themismatch between supply and demand in skilled labour is a signicantbarrier to Ontarios economic transormation.

Unortunately, current ederal labour market policies are a barrier to buildinga st century workorce.

Employment Insurance

Employment Insurance (EI) is the single largest and most importantworkorce and labour market program in Canada. It does not work orOntario.

According to Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC),the ederal EI program is intended to provide temporary income support tothose who are between jobs; cannot work or reasons o sickness, childbirth,or parenting; or who are providing care or support to a amily member whois gravely ill with a signicant risk o death ().

There are several problems with the EI program.[] Two are o particularinterest rom an Ontario business perspective.

First, the program is a net transer away rom Ontario employers andemployees to other parts o the country. Second, the program has notcaught up with the realities o Ontarios contemporary labour market.

The program transers resources away rom Ontario because qualicationorand duration and level obenets under the program is contingenton where one lives. Ontarians, on the whole, are aced with stricter EIeligibility criteria than workers in many other parts o the country, where it iseasier to qualiy. As a result, unemployed Ontarians are less likely to accessEI than their unemployed counterparts in other provinces (see Graph ).

See Making it Work: Final Recommendations o the Mowat Centre Employment Insurance Taskorceor a ull discussion.

oa s bu hskss cssay hkw cmy. Pvcauca sysms a s,bu h a umusaas wh sk abu s sh suppy sp hhumpym. gvms hp su abusuppy b machs ma.Emerging Stronger, 2012


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Canada is the only country in the world where an unemployed worker canbe denied access to employment insurance benets on the basis o theunemployment rate in his or her region (Radmilovic, ).

Grap : Ontarians ae ar more limited access to EI tan teirproincial conterparts (percentage o nemployed receiing EI beneftsSeptember )

Source: CANSIM Tables - and -. Note: Some EI beneciaries are not counted asunemployed (or example, those working while receiving EI). As a result, more than percent othe unemployed can appear to be receiving benets.

The outcome o the programs current design is that Ontarios employers

and employees end up subsidizing industries and workers in otherprovinces. Ontarios net contribution to the program in - was .billion despite the act that unemployment rates were above the nationalaverage.

The Mowat Centre notes there is no principled justication or treatingworkers diferently because o where they live. TD Economics, the CanadianChamber o Commerce, and the C.D. Howe Institute have reached similarconclusions.[]

As noted by the Canadian Chamber o Commerce, where benetsare tougher to access, Canadians who lose their jobs ace an unairdisadvantage. Where benets are easier to get, theres less encouragementor those seeking work to upgrade skills and training or relocate where jobsare more plentiul. The resulting misallocation o labour reduces economicoutput overall and limits productivity ().

See, Bishop and Burleton (), Canadian Chamber o Commerce (), and Gray and Busby().

Between and , Ontarians

contribted oer $ billion more tote EI program tan tey receied.

FAST FACT

Caaas ei pam sa a Caaas ay.

Canadian Chamber o Commerce, 2011

ON

QC

BC

MB

NS

NB

SK

NF

PE

AB

PE

RCENT


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The ederal governments recent changes to EI may address some o theprograms shortalls. However, they will not address its structural inequities(Mowat Centre, ).

A single national standard or qualication and benet duration levelswould help restore equity in the system, help close the gap between whatOntarians pay into the system and what they get back, and enhance labourmarket productivity. It is a sensible starting point or a comprehensivereorm o the EI system.[]

Training

The ederal government has our training programs with diferent targetedpopulations, objectives, and conditions. The single largest (by ar) and mostimportant pool o unding or worker training in Canada is linked to the EIprogram. In order to benet rom this unding, one needs to be accessing(or have recently accessed) EI benets. There are two problems with this.

First, because Ontario has a comparatively low percentage o thepopulation that is able to access EI, it is signicantly shortchanged ontraining dollars through its Labour Market Development Agreement withthe ederal government. Ontario received approximately million less in- than its per unemployed share o the unds, which contributes to the

interregional subsidy away rom Ontario (see Table ).

The Canadian Chamber o Commerce recommends that the ederal government consider anational EI eligibility requirement o hours and a maximum benet period o weeks. TheMowat Centre EI Task Force notes that an entry requirement o hours and a benet durationrange o to weeks would be a cost-neutral option or national standardization (Mowat Centre,). We note that the standard or qualication or benets (the entrance requirement) could beadjusted to suit the overall health o the economy.

Table : Ontario receies less tan its air sare o labor marketdeelopment nds (- nding leels)

Program Totalallocation

Ontarioallocation

Sare onemployed

(ON)

Sareo total

allocation(ON)

Additionalnding*

LaborMarketDeelopment

Agreement

$1,950 M $550 M 42 28 $269 M

*i allocated according to share o unemployedSource: Commission on the Reorm o Ontarios Public Services, OCC research.

I Ontario receied its pernemployed sare o ederal trainingdollars, it wold be enog moneyto doble te size o te proincesSecond Careerprogram. SecondCareer as benefted , workers

to date.

FAST FACT

RECOMMENDATION 1Reorm Employment Insrance so tat tere is one national standard or qalifcation and one beneft ormlaor all Canadians.


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Second, the requirement that recipients o these ederal training dollarsneed to be (or have recently been) on EI, means that the underemployed,the part-time employed, and the sel-employed do not have access to thelargest pool o ederal training dollars.

This is important because these groups are: substantially more commonin Ontario compared to other parts o the country; more likely to haveoverrepresentation rom immigrants; and likely to generate the largestreturn on training investment.

The ederal-provincial agreements that underpin part o the ederal trainingunding envelope expire in -. Ontario must seek to improve on thecurrent arrangements and improve their responsiveness to the provinciallabour market.

Needless to say, i national labour market policy is not working or

percent o the country, it is not, in reality, a national policy.

A airer, more responsive training system would enhance Ontarios capacityto build a st century workorce by helping Ontarians transition to newsectors and industries. Ontarians would be better served by a exibletranser that enables the Ontario government to tailor their trainingprograms to suit the provinces needs.

That is why, like the Canadian Chamber o Commerce, we recommenddelinking ederal training dollars rom EI and unding training insteadthrough general revenue. Federal unds should then be transerred to theprovinces to enable them to deliver programs that make sense or local

labour market conditions.

Granted, provincial training programs have had mixed results. The returnon investment is oten unclear. However, the overly restrictive rules andconditions attached to ederal unding compound the problem and limitprogram responsiveness to local labour market conditions.

By removing the training component rom EI and unding all training andactive employment measures through a general revenue-unded transerto the provinces/territories, on a per unemployed basis, provinces wouldhave the exibility to ensure that more workers in need o training are ableto access it.

S as h buk au s sc eicps, u aas b vp apy u huma capa w

ma am a wupm.

Mowat Centre, 2012

All ederal training and actie employment measres sold be nded trog a single, general reene-ndedtranser to te proinces/territories.

RECOMMENDATION 2

Federal skills and training nds sold be allocated on te basis o te nmber o nemployed.

RECOMMENDATION 3


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Aboriginal Education

Approximately , o Canadas ,, Aboriginal peoples livein Ontario, making the province home to Canadas largest Aboriginal

population (Statistics Canada, ).

There is a signicant gap in educational achievement between OntariosAboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations. According to census data, percent o Aboriginal peoples have not nished high school. Aboriginalpeoples are also three times less likely than non-Aboriginal people to obtaina university degree. Graph shows the extent o the education attainmentgap.

Grap : Aboriginal peoples are more likely to drop ot o ig scool andar less likely to obtain a niersity degree

Source: Statistics Canada , via Ontario Ministry o Aboriginal Afairs

The ederal and provincial governments share responsibility or Aboriginaleducation. Responsibility or educating Aboriginal peoples living on-reserve lies with the ederal government, while the provincial government isresponsible or the population living of reserve.

Although estimates o the shortall vary, it is generally accepted that ederalunding or Aboriginal education alls signicantly short o parity withprovincial education spending on a per-student basis (Commission on theReorm o Ontarios Public Services, )[]. According to one estimate,a ederal injection o million a year is required to close the gap orOntarios on-reserve students (Sniderman, ).

The First Nations Education Council estimates that the cumulative aboriginal education undingshortall is . billion.

PERCENT OF POPULATION

NO CERTIFICATE

HIGH SCHOOL

APPRENTICESHIP

DEGREE

DIPLOMA

NON-ABORIGINAL

ABORIGINAL


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The unding gap is problematic: most on-reserve Aboriginal youthattend elementary school on-reserve and high school of-reserve. Theunderunding o on-reserve elementary schools oten means that studentsarrive at the secondary level with acute remedial needs (Timmins Chamber

o Commerce, , Commission on the Reorm o Ontarios PublicServices, ).

Without government intervention to address the unding inequalitybetween the ederal and provincial governments, the gap in educationalattainment between Ontarios Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populationswill widen.

Canada cannot aford to ignore the unding gap. The Aboriginal populationis the astest growing component o Ontarios populationgrowing ourtimes the national average between - (Burleton and Drummond,).

Money alone will not x the problem. The ederal government will needto implement an outcome-ocused education strategy designed to raisestudent test scores and increase graduation rates among Aboriginalstudents.

Creating a leading-edge workorce requires the ull participation oAboriginal peoples in the labour market. And, the ull participation oAboriginal peoples in the workorce is contingent on providing opportunitythrough adequately unded, outcomes-ocused, and culturally appropriateeducation.

imma rm

I Ontario is to succeed economically, it must embrace its diversity andattract more skilled immigrants that are able to meet Ontarios labour orceneeds. In order to ll the skills gap, Ontario needs to attract and retain thebest and brightest rom around the world.

Immigration would need to grow by percent rom current levels tocompensate or the decline in Ontarios labour orce growth brought on byan aging population (Ontarios Expert Roundtable on Immigration, ).Yet, over the past decade, Ontarios share o immigrants to Canada hasdeclined rom . percent in , to percent in .

Te ederal goernment sold close te nding gap or on-resere Aboriginal edcation.RECOMMENDATION 4

Closing te edcation and labor-market gaps between Aboriginaland non-Aboriginal commnitieswold grow Canadas Gross DomesticProdct (GDP) by $ billion oer a year period (Centre or te Stdyo Liing Standards, ).

FAST FACT


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Most alarming, the number o economic immigrants to the province,immigrants selected on the basis o their skills or employment prospects,has declined severely over the last decaderom , in to , in (Ontarios Expert Roundtable on Immigration, ). Ontario employers

are very concerned.

The competition to attract immigrants is becoming increasingly erce.Prime Minister Stephen Harper notes that Canada is going to have to getout there, compete, and make sure we get the immigrants both in terms ovolumes and particular attributes: skills, expertise, and investment capacity(Chase, ).

However, recent ederal changes to the immigration system have limitedthe number o skilled immigrants to Ontario and increased the numbersgoing to other provinces. This comes at a time when Ontario businesses areacing proound skills shortages.

A short-term x would be to increase Ontarios allocation under theProvincial Nominee Program (PNP). The PNP is a useul tool or provincialgovernments and employers looking to address specic skill shortages.However, under the programs current rules, which are determined by theederal government, Ontario is allowed to nominate only , individualsor its PNP compared to , or Alberta and a total program allocation o,.

Fa vm pcshav sc h umb sk mmas cm oa.

Charles Sousa, Former Ontario Minister

o Citizenship and Immigration, Ontario

Immigration Strategy, 2012

Table : Ontario is allowed only percent o te ,+ immigrantsallocated trog te Proincial Nominee Program

Proince/Territory PNP target Percent o totalNL 300 1.5%

PE 400 1.9%

NS 500 2.4%

NB 625 3.0%

ON 1,000 4.8%

MB 5,000 24.2%

SK 4,000 19.4%

AB 5,000 24.2%

BC 3,500 16.9%

YT 190 0.9%

NWT 150 0.7%Total: 20,665Sources: Ontario Ministry o Citizenship and Immigration, , Citizenship and ImmigrationCanada, .

Te nmber o economic immigrants

to Ontario declined by nearly percent rom .

Ontario and its employers canselect only percent o te ,+skilled immigrants arriing in Canadatrog te ederal ProincialNominee Program.

FAST FACTS


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The ederal government is now making sweeping changes to theimmigration system, most notably by introducing an Expression o Interestmodel that aims to better connect skilled immigrants to employmentopportunities. The model requires those seeking to immigrate to le asimplied Expression o Interest application with Canadian immigrationauthorities. The most promising candidates are then invited to submit a ullapplication (Ontarios Expert Roundtable on Immigration, ).

As part o this reorm, the ederal government is also developing a ormulato allocate skilled immigrants across the country. Historically, the ederalgovernment sets the overall number o immigrants, while the provinces

compete to increase their share o skilled immigrants. This is unlikely tochange in the new model.

Ontario needs to take an assertive stance on this new and undenedimmigration model. The ultimate design o this system shouldaccommodate the needs o employers in Ontario and reverse the decliningtrend in the number o skilled immigrants to the province.[]

See Expanding our Routes to Success: The Final Report by Ontarios Expert Roundtable onImmigration.

Ontario sold be permitted to select a greater nmber o skilled immigrants trog te Proincial Nominee Program.

RECOMMENDATION 5

RECOMMENDATION 6Te new ederal Expression o Interest model or selecting skilled immigrants mst accommodate te interests oOntario and its employers.


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WhEN OuR GOvERNMENTSWORK TOGEThER, ALL

CANADIANS BENEFIT.th a a pvca vms wk h hamzh sas ax hp oa bussss cmp a ca jbs.

The ederal budget reerred to provincial sales tax harmonization as the singlemost important step provinces with Retail Sales Taxes could take to improve thecompetitiveness o Canadian businesses (Department o Finance, ). On July ,, Ontario implemented the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), with . billion in ederalsupport. The HST and other tax reorms are expected to reduce the tax burden onnew business investment in Ontario, and will lead to an additional billion in capitalinvestment, almost , net new jobs, and higher annual incomes o up to .percent by (Mintz, ).

th a a pvca vms pa pv supp h au usy pc hus husas jbs oa.

In , the ederal and provincial governments partnered to save Ontarios autoindustry. Together, they provided loans to GM Canada and Chrysler Canada worthapproximately billion. Premier Dalton McGuinty praised the Canada-Ontariopartnership, noting, this is a huge problem that aces the Ontario economy and theCanadian economy by extension and it is critical that we work together. A recent study

ound that the auto bailout was cost-efective, given that the cost to the ederal andOntario governments was substantially less than the economic losses that would haveoccurred without the bailout (Shiell and Sommerville, ).

Bh h a a pvca vm cz h vau as aa scus ua a h pa w tsaay bm fiaca svcs sc.

For years, Ontario has been the ederal governments closest provincial ally in its efortsto create a national securities regulator (Howlett, ). Under the current system,securities regulation in Canada is subject to the rules and regulations o diferent

provincial and territorial securities regulators. Canada remains the worlds only majorindustrialized country without a single securities regulator. Discussions to reormCanadas securities regulation system are ongoing. Experts note that a single securitiesregulator would grant Canadian nancial institutions, many o which are based inToronto, greater access to oreign markets and allow them to expand their operationsabroad (Russell, ).


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IDENTIFYING,CHAMPIONING,ANDSTRATEGICALLYINVESTINGIN OURCOMPETITIVEADVANTAGESIN THE GLOBALECONOMY


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identiFYing,CHAMPioning, And

StrAtegiCAllY inVeStingin oUr CoMPetitiVeAdVAntAgeS in tHegloBAl eConoMY

Ontarios prosperity is contingent on the ability o its businesses to thrivein an increasingly competitive global economy. To succeed, Ontario must

build a strong oundation or economic growth and invest in its competitiveadvantages. This requires reorienting public policies to promote strategicsectors and to attract talent and investment.

Many o the policy changes identied throughout this paper will helpOntario build its global competitive advantages in key sectors, includingnancial and business services, mining, pharmaceuticals, and health.

While Ontario shows great promise in these and a number o other areas,manuacturing deserves special attention given its importance to theprovincial and national economy and the act that it has been particularlyhard hit by the global economic downturn.

A Coordinated Manuacturing Strategy

Despite numerous setbacks, manuacturing remains vital to Ontario andCanadas competitiveness. It accounts or percent o the national GDP,. billion in weekly average salaries, percent o Canadas exports, andthree-quarters o all private sector research (Canadian ManuacturingCoalition, ). The manuacturing industry generates . in economicspin-of or every . in manuacturing output. Nearly hal o Canadasmanuacturing industry is in Ontario (see Graph ).

However, manuacturing employment is down, which means that manygood paying jobs have disappeared or migrated elsewhere (see Table ). Thechallenges acing the sector are a pressing national problem.

oas cmy s uap vu.... nw wh

scs h oa cmyw b hs wh w havcmpaav avaas h pvs s asvcs maks au hw. ou busss msa pubc pcs mus aapaccy.



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Grap : Ontarios manactring sector is te largest in Canada

Source: Statistics Canada, CANSIM Table -,

These statistics, however, should not overshadow Ontarios considerablepotential in manuacturing. The interplay between Ontarios large agri-oodsector and the manuacturing sector is a case-in-point. Ontario is home

to Canadas largest ood processing sector, with over , businessesemploying , people, generating revenues totaling roughly bill ion(Ontario Ministry o Agriculture, ). The vitality o the agri-ood sector islargely tied to that o the manuacturing sector, and vice-versa.

While it is dicult or Ontario to compete on wages in a global economy, it

has several advantages, including a low marginal efective tax rate (METR)o . percent on new business investmentnearly hal o the averageAmerican METR and lower than the Organization or Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average. Ontario also has a highlyskilled workorce, in which roughly percent o adults have either college-or university-level educationsix percent higher than the Canadian averageand percent higher than the OECD average (Council o Ministers oEducation, ).

The Canadian Manuacturing Coalition notes that many o the challengesmanuacturers ace are beyond government control, including thecontinued strength o the Canadian dollar. However, government does havea role to play in overcoming other key challenges, including those related tolabour shortages, regulatory burdens, and inrastructure ().

Table : Ontario as lost , manactring jobs oer te last years

Year 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011Manactring jobs 944,400 896,100 790,500 781,100 794,900

Source: Statistics Canada, CANSIM Table -, .

ON QC BC PENFSKNBNSMBAB


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The ederal government has placed considerable ocus on the oil andgas sector or good reason. The sustainable development o the oilsands benets all Canadians (Gibbon and Roach, ). An expandingmanuacturing sector that attracts investment, creates good payingjobs, and generates innovation is also critical to the Canadian economy(Cambridge, Greater Kitchener Waterloo, and Guelph Chambers oCommerce, ).

In a recent survey, Canadian manuacturers identied ve priority actionitems or public policy. None o these priority items recognize jurisdictionaldivides. Governments o all levels, together with industry, will need tocoordinate their eforts to develop an explicit strategy to maintain andpromote our global competitiveness in manuacturing.

W pcs ha pmpsv pvca cvca h vpm cmpv mauacu

a svc uss, aha as c h paccaay ha Caaas cmcpspy a pcaqubum umay ps h cmc sh apvcs, spcay ppuusoa.

Dodge, Burn, and Dion, 2012

Table : Canadian Manactring Coalitions Action Plan

Proincial actionreqired

Federal actionreqired

Spport inestment trogstrategic programs and taxation

Strengten te labor market byincreasing te size and skill o telabor pool

Strengten economic integrationwit te united States

Spport market diersifcationby ocsing on trade agreementsand bilding export capacity

Redce te reglatory brden byredcing compliance costs andeliminating dplicationSource: paraphrase o the Canadian Manuacturing Coalitions Manuacturing Our uture:A Manuacturing Action Plan or Canada, Driving Investment, Creating Jobs, Growing Exports.For the ull report, see http://www.cme-mec.ca/download.php?le=hqgph.pd.

Te ederal and proincial goernments, togeter wit Canadas manactring indstry, need to deelop acoerent and coordinated strategy to lfll Canadas global manactring promise.

RECOMMENDATION 7


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Inrastructure

Modern inrastructure is critical to Ontarios competitiveness. According toa OCC survey, ater decit and red tape reduction, business number

one public policy priority is inrastructure renewal.

This year alone, the Government o Ontario will invest almost billionin inrastructure. That is nearly twice as much as the ederal governmentwill spend on inrastructure in all o Canada (Ontario Ministry o Finance,). Despite the act that the provincial government spends signicantlymore than the ederal government on inrastructure, ederal policy canbe a barrier to maximizing return on provincial investment. There are tworeasons behind this.

First, the ederal unding model or some programs is unprincipled.The Building Canada Plan is the largest ederal inrastructure program

and provides the same base unding to every province, irrespective opopulation size (Ontario Ministry o Finance, ). As a result, Ontarioreceived approximately million less than a per capita share o thisederal inrastructure und.

The OCC believes that the ederal unding ormula or broad-based, generalspending programs, such as roads and bridges, should be allocated to theprovinces on a per capita basis. Federal unding or targeted programs,such as borders and transit, should be ocused on where they generate thebiggest return such as transit ridership and border trac.

Second, ederal inrastructure investment distorts provincial and local

decision making. The intersection o the current ederal practice oincrementality, whereby ederal dollars must support projects thatwould otherwise not go orward, with requirements or cost-sharing,skews investment incentives and decision-making away rom maximizingeconomic outcomes (Ontario Ministry o Inrastructure, ). Given therelative size o their investments, ederal inrastructure priorities should bealigned with provincial priorities, not vice versa.

The province has identied two major inrastructure priorities or its shareo ederal investment.

First, Ontario and Canada are in need o a ederally-led National TransitFramework. Congestion in the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area (GTHA)costs bill ion in lost productivity annually (Toronto Board o Trade, ).Furthermore, according to the Conerence Board o Canada, each dollar ocapital investment in the GTHAs transit plan would boost Ontarios GDP by. (Gill et al., ).

For $ million, Ontario coldexpand higway nort and bild

a new higway between Kitcenerand Gelp, wit $ million letoer or additional inrastrctreprojects.

Expanding Highway north to Major MackenzieRoad would cost million. The construction oa new Highway between Kitchener and Guelphwould also cost million.

FAST FACT

th a, pvca, amucpa vms wk h u h asucu hamaks oa cmmuspspus.

Gary McNamara, Association o

Municipalities o Ontario, 2012


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Second, ederal support is required to develop the Ring o Fire, Ontarios-year mining opportunity in the North. In order to realize the regionspotential, massive investment is needed in electricity transmission,broadband, and all-weather roads. Addressing crumbling inrastructure

on-reserve is a necessity as well. As a rst step, we recommend the ederalgovernment designate a Minister responsible or the Ring o Fire.

Current ederal inrastructure programs expire in . The ederalgovernment is now consulting Canadians on their priorities or ederalinvestment. It is important to note that we are not necessarily callingor more ederal inrastructure spending, but better and more strategicspending aligned with provincial and local priorities and designed tomaximize the return on investment.

Innovation and Industrial Supports

The provincial and ederal governments are active in the business supportsspace. Both levels o government und dedicated agencies that providesupports to target regions and both provide general incentives and grantingprograms to spur business investment and innovation. However, theireforts across the suite o these programs appear disjointed.

This lack o coordination has resulted in considerable duplication and

overlap in a number o innovation support areas, and which has introducedconusion among the very companies these policies are intended tosupport. Moreover, such duplication and overlap gives rise to importantquestions about the cost-efectiveness o Canadas collective efort(Creutzberg, ).

Both levels o government have or are undertaking reviews o theireconomic development programs and other grants to business in order tostreamline and deliver a greater return on investment. However, it does notappear that they are coordinating their eforts.

Experts note that i governments are to maximize the return on investmentin industrial supports, they should untangle and rationalize who does what(Mendelsohn, ).

Federal inestments in inrastrctre sold be strategic, coordinated wit proincial priorities, and allocated on a

principled basis (per capita or targeted).

RECOMMENDATION 8

th s a mus amu supp pams by h vm; hwv,ava hs supps scha. i ca b fcu

fiu u whch pamappcas a h bs ca u m sucs cmp.

Jane Wu, Co-Founder & Chie HappinessOfcer at Penyo Pal

RECOMMENDATION 9Te ederal and proincial goernments sold coordinate teir bsiness spports and, were possible, ntangle andrationalize wo does wat.


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Economic Development Funding

Generally speaking, the purpose o ederal regional economic developmentagencies and unds is to help businesses become more competitive,

innovative, and productive (FedDev Ontario, ). This, in turn, driveseconomic and community development. They also play an importantadvocacy role within the ederal government on behal o their regions.

There are two main issues with respect to ederal regional economicdevelopment unding in Ontario. First is the unding model, whichunderserves Ontario and Ontario businesses.

As shown in Table , the allocation o ederal development unding appearsunprincipled. the Federal Economic Development Agency or SouthernOntarios (FedDev Ontario) budget is . on a per capita basis. FedNors,the Federal Economic Development Agency or Northern Ontario, budget

is . per capita. Combined, Ontario receives . on a per capitabasis much less than Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

Table : Ontario bsinesses receie less ederal economic deelopmentspport tan bsinesses in any oter part o te contry

Agency -nding

Approximatepoplation o

region coeredby nd

Per capitanding

Atlantic CanadaOpportnities Agency

$317,945,000 2,357,325 $134.88

Canada EconomicDeelopment or QebecRegions

$296,549,000 7,979,663 $37.16

FedNor andFedDev Ontario

$256,774,000 13,372,996 $19.20

Western EconomicDiersifcation

$195,530,000 10,661,130 $18.34

Canadian NorternEconomic DeelopmentAgency

$44,179,000 111,663 $395.64

Source: OCC research.

Federal economic deelopment nds sold be distribted on a principled basis to ensre bsinesses andcommnities in eery proince and region are proided wit comparable ederal spports.

RECOMMENDATION 10


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Second is the uncertain uture o FedDev Ontario. The agency wasestablished in with a ve-year mandate to drive economic andcommunity growth in southern Ontario. The impetus or the creationo FedDev Ontario was to ensure that southern Ontario remains a key

contributor to the Canadian economy as a whole.

FedDev Ontario has had a signicant impact on job creation in southernOntario. For example: or the last three years, FedDev Ontario haspartnered with the Canadian Manuacturers and Exporters through theSMART program. SMART helps manuacturers with an export ocusinvest in their productivity, commercialize new technologies, and enternew domestic and oreign markets. SMART has helped southernOntario businesses improve their ability to compete internationally and hasleveraged million or small and medium sized enterprises in southernOntario. According to the Canadian Manuacturers and Exporters, ederalgovernment support will contribute to the creation o , new jobs

(Goodyear, ).

Some question the ecacy o regional economic development unding(Milligan, ). However, the success o FedDev Ontario, demonstrated inpart by its positive results among southern Ontario businesses, suggests astrong case or making the ederal unding or such economic developmenteforts permanent in Ontario.

[Fdv oa] has vvy suh oa au vc a h ab.

Gary Goodyear, Minister responsible or

FedDev Ontario, 2012

RECOMMENDATION 11Te Federal Economic Deelopment Agency or Sotern Ontario (FedDe Ontario) sold be made permanentand allocated long-term nding.


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RESTORINGFISCALBALANCE


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reStoring FiSCAlBAlAnCeThe method by which the ederal government taxes and redistributeswealth across the country is a signicant burden on Ontarioscompetitiveness and ability to compete globally.

The OCC advocates that the provincial government should continue topursue principled ederal transers and that the ederal government shouldx those policies that lower Ontarios scal capacitythe capacity orOntario to spend on programs and services or its population.

equaza

Equalization is a billion ederal government transer program. Its aim is toaddress the disparities in revenue raising (scal) capacity among provinces(Department o Finance, ).

Equalization payments are designed to enable less prosperous provincialgovernments to provide their residents with public services that arereasonably comparable to those in other provinces, at reasonablycomparable levels o taxation (Department o Finance, ).

The program is, according to the Mowat Centres Matthew Mendelsohn,the expression o Canadians commitment to the principle that all ous, wherever we live, should have ull access to the benets o Canadian

citizenship and equality o opportunity (MacKinnon, ). For this reason,equalization is embedded in our Constitution.

Since the programs inclusion in the Constitution, Equalization hasredistributed more than billion, mostly rom the Ontario, Alberta, andBritish Columbia tax bases to the rest o Canada.

Until , Ontario was the only province to have never receivedEqualization payments. However, or a variety o reasons, including theeconomic downturn and its blistering impact on Ontarios manuacturingindustry, Ontario has received Equalization payments since .

Though Ontario receives Equalization payments, it remains a netcontributor to the program. In , Ontario will contribute roughly billion to the Equalization program and will receive . billion in return. Thismeans that its businesses and residents contribute . billion more to theEqualization program than they get back.

oaas a cvaqua u hsppa vsm h a as sysm.


Ontarians net contribtion to teEqalization program is roglyeqialent to percent o teproincial defcit.

Calculated by dividing Ontarios net contributionto the Equalization Program (. billion) byOntarios decit ( billion).

FAST FACT


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A airer, more transparent Equalization program would reect the changingstructure o Canadas economy and cease to underserve Ontarians.

A positive step would be to incorporate the cost o delivering services into

the Equalization program. At present, the ederal government only looks atscal capacity when calculating Equalization payments. It does not take intoaccount the actual cost o delivering those services.

Given that civil servant salaries are the single largest governmentexpenditure, a simple way o incorporating cost into the ormula couldbe to take the provincial average wage into account (see Table ).[] Theederal government has studied this option- it should do so again givencurrent imbalances in the ederation.

To prevent the provinces rom gaming the system by articially boosting public sector wage, theEqualization ormula could ocus on average private sector wages.

A pam quazaha s h xpus ca b cmc fccy a quy

us.

Anwar Shaw, 1996

Table : Ontarios aerage wage is among te igest in Canada

Proince Aerage wage,October NL $23.30

PE $20.22

NS $20.94

NB $19.96

QC $22.38

ON $24.38

MB $21.68

SK $24.91

AB $27.50

BC $23.80Source: Statistics Canada . Average hourly wages o employees by selected characteristicsand proession, unadjusted data, by province (monthly). http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l/cst/labra-eng.htm.

RECOMMENDATION 12Te Eqalization program sold be reormed to redress te net redistribtion away rom Ontario. One way to fx teormla cold be to inclde bot fscal capacity and te arying cost o deliering serices in proinces.


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Closing the GapOverall, Equalization is a proxy or the general problems with ederaltransers to the provinces. Ontario residents and businesses pay signicantly

more into the ederation than what they get back in terms o services. In hisreport to the provincial government, Don Drummond pegged that gap at. billion (Commission on the Reorm o Ontarios Public Services, ).

Why is the gap an issue? As Drummond notes, these are resources thatwould have been available to Ontarians (Commission on the Reorm oOntarios Public Services, ). The transer system, in other words, is asignicant drain on the provinces capacity to invest and continue buildingthe assets necessary to achieve Ontarios global ambitions.

Note, Ontarios scal capacity alls rom th to ninth among provinces aterEqualization is taken into account (see Graph ).

Grap : Ontarios fscal capacity drops rom ft to nint aterEqalization is taken into accont

Source: Quebec Ministry o Finance, , Department o Finance, .

6,000

9,000

12,000

15,000

ON

QC

BC

AB

MB

NS

NB

QC

MB

NS

NB

SK

BC

SK

NF

NF

PE

AB

PE

ON

POST-EQUALIZATIONPRE-EQUALIZATION

5TH

9TH

0

3,000

$DOLL

ARS


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This drain on Ontarios resources could not be happening at a worse time.

Ontarios . percent unemployment rate is almost a ull point abovethe national average (Statistics Canada, ). Its economic growth rate

will hover around two percent or the oreseeable uture; a ar cry romthe three-our percent growth it enjoyed in previous decades. And itsmanuacturing sector has been battered by weakened U.S. demand and astrong Canadian dollar.

Canadas Parliamentary Budget Oce predicts that as a result o populationaging, provincial government health spending as a share o GDP will riserom . percent in to . percent in (Bartlett et al., ). The risein health spending is representative o the increasing weight being born byprovincial governments as the population ages (Ibid, ).

Dramatically reducing the ederal governments net transer away rom

Ontario is vital to ensuring that Ontario remains competitive.

The province has a key role to play as a data aggregator and communicatorin the campaign to re-balance national public policies in the ederation.

The provincial government should release evidence-based analysis andprincipled solutions to x current imbalances in ederal public policies.

Ontario may need to reallocate public service capacity and engage expertsin order to understand and promote its interests on these issues.

The ormation o the Expert Roundtable on Immigration and thesubsequent release o a provincial immigration strategy is a positive stepthat should be replicated across the suite o programs identied here.

In short, Ontario needs to be more assertive in pursuing the provincespriorities on the national stage. Until Ontario gets its elbows out, the ederalgovernment will have limited incentive to make the program changes thatwill help Ontario transorm its economy.

RECOMMENDATION 13Closing te $. billion gap between wat Ontarians pay into te ederation and wat tey get back sold be apressing ederal and proincial priority.

Te proincial goernment sold deelop and release principled soltions and be more assertie on te national stagein order to rebalance ederal pblic policies tat inder its global competitieness.

RECOMMENDATION 14


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ConClUSionDespite the lingering efects o the economic downturn, Ontarians and

Ontario businesses are well positioned to emerge stronger rom this periodo economic transition.

Ontarios tax environment is dramatically improved. Ontario has the highestlevel o post-secondary credential attainment in the OECD. Its Ring o Fireis touted as the most promising mining opportunity or Canada in a century.

In spite o the positives, Ontario is aced with enormous challenges.

Its debt is approaching billion. Roughly , Ontarians are out owork. Its economy is projected to grow slowly or the oreseeable uture.

While government and business cannot control the global orces thatimpact our province, we have a collective responsibility to identiychallenges, make adjustments, and lay the groundwork or our utureprosperity.

We do not claim that our recommendations will remove all or even mosto the public policy barriers to Ontarios economic transormation. Thispaper, however, provides a basis or inter-governmental discussions onsome critical policy rameworks. Fundamentally, the recommendations inthis paper ofer clear direction to the ederal government on how it can bestspur economic growth in Ontario.

For Ontario to thrive and regain a competitive edge, it needs:

an EI and training system that treats all workers equallyregardlesso their postal code;

an Aboriginal population that reaches its ull potential; an immigration system that is aligned with Ontarios economic

ambitions; a manuacturing sector ring on all cylinders; public inrastructure that orms a solid oundation or economic

growth; supports that help its small businesses innovate and be more

productive; and the ability to retain more o the wealth that it creates.

These reorms will not be easy. They will require a greater degree ocooperation than has recently been demonstrated by the ederal andprovincial governments. But as has been the case time and time again, whenour governments work together, all Canadians benet.

Above all, changes to Canadas public policies will require a shit in attitudes.Ontarians cannot aford to be complacent when their province andcountrys competitiveness is at stake.


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ACKnoWledgeMentSThe Ontario Chamber o Commerce thanks the members o the Federal

Agenda or OntarioTaskorce, whose insights and recommendations madethis report what it is.

Thank you also to the members o our Finance & EconomicCompetitiveness Committee or their ongoing participation and eedback.


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ABoUt tHe ontArioCHAMBer oF CoMMerCeThe Ontario Chamber o Commerce (OCC) is the most diverse andrepresentational business group in the province. The OCC works closelywith governments, labour, academia, and other business associations tocreate a stronger and more vibrant Ontario economy.

The OCC represents , businesses across the province through ournetwork o local chambers o commerce and boards o trade. Our membersemploy about two million people and produce roughly percent oOntarios Gross Domestic Product.

Ontario Chamber o Commerce Policy Committees Finance & Economic Competitiveness Committee Productivity, Innovation & Human Capital Committee Sustainability Committee

Ontario Chamber o Commerce Taskorces

Federal Agenda or Ontario Taskorce Workplace Saety & Insurance Board Taskorce Energy Taskorce Alternative Service Delivery Taskorce The Big Move Taskorce

Upcoming OCC Policy Releases

Emerging Stronger 2013 (January 2013)

Report on the Workplace Saety & Insurance Board (Winter 2013)

Opportunities in Alternative Service Delivery (Winter 2013)

Get InvolvedI you would like to get involved in the OCCs policy committees ortaskorces, please contact Josh Hjartarson at [email protected]


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WHen ontAriodeCideS to SPeAKWitH one VoiCe, itWill Be diFFiCUlt

For otHerSnot to liSten.

2012 ontario chamber of commerce a federal agenda for ontario

Documents