Benchmarking the Creative

Economy in Rural Ontario

Kevin Stolarick

Building Rural Resilience

Queens/Monieson April 8, 2012

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1. Creativity in the Rural Context

2. Regions/Benchmarks

3. Results

4. Summary & Conclusions

Brief Overview

Creative Economy in Rural Ontario

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Central

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Central - Overview

• Central region of Ontario has a

population of 8,215,076

• 91% of Region in Metros – Toronto, Peterborough, Oshawa, Hamilton, St. Catharine’s-

Niagara, Kitchener, Brantford, Guelph and Barrie

• Focus Community: Midland

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Central

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Central

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Central – Selected Observations & Opportunities

•Occupations –Grow professionals in arts & culture and natural &

applied sciences

–Technical (support) above average.

• “Meds and Eds” –The problem with “meds & eds”

–Shift away

–Maintain current levels

–Don’t make a focus

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East

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East - Overview

• East Region of Ontario has a population

of 1,723,135

• 60% of Region in Metros – Ottawa, Kingston

• Highest Regional Creative Class Share

• Focus Community: Brockville

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East - Selected Observations & Opportunities

• Leverage Creative Class Share – Geographic advantage

– Population position

• Diversity – Higher scores on diversity indicators

– Build immigrant attraction strategies

– “Steal” from nearby regions

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Southwest

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Southwest - Overview

• Southwest region of Ontario has a

population of 1,591,240

• 49% of Region in Metros – Windsor, London

• Focus Community: Goderich

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Southwest - Selected Observations & Opportunities

• Service Class – High employment

– Good incomes (relatively)

– Higher wage service class jobs?

• Demographics – Older population

– Opportunity for specialized healthcare services

– Regional leader

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Northeast

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Northeast - Overview

• Northeast region of Ontario has a population

of 571,608

• 28% of Region in Metros – Sudbury

• Focus Community: Temiskaming Shores

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Northeast - Selected Observations & Opportunities

• Amenities – Strong base

– Low crime

– Tourists and new residents

• Farming/Fishing/Forestry

–Small but relatively strong

–Guelph research station

–Natural sciences professionals

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Northwest

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Northwest - Overview

• Northwest region of Ontario has a

population of 245,026

• 50% of Region in Metros – Thunder Bay

• Focus Community: Dryden

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Northwest - Selected Observations & Opportunities

• Technology – Have tech support workers

– Get professionals

• Regional Hub – Regional hub for extraction companies

– “Toronto of the North”

– Support Services

– Education/Training

• Education – Improve post-secondary opportunities

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Summary

(228 pages)

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Canadian Gothic

Artist Ron Simmer

Summary

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Conclusions?

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Professional Advice

• Rural opportunities exist – Tricky to identify

– Emerging creative economy – not just cultural industries

– Jurisdictional considerations

– Alternative opportunities

– Unique local strategies

– Avoiding “death by best practice”

– Generate true regional prosperity

• Report as toolkit – ED professionals

– Civic and community leaders

– Consultants

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“Urban” Policy

Urban policy

is not

social policy.

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“Urban” Policy

Urban policy

is not

social policy.

Urban policy

is

economic policy.

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“Urban” Policy

Urban policy

is not

social policy.

Urban policy

is

economic policy.

What happens when you’re not “urban”?

What’s your economic policy?

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“Urban” Policy

What about “non-urban” areas??

•Think Big

•Look Big

•Use a shotgun, not a rifle • (Super secret strategy #4)

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Think Big

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Look Big

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Use a Shotgun not a Rifle

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(Super Secret Strategy #4)

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Conclusions (!)

“The key to success in today’s creative economy is for each

region to understand its own strengths and weaknesses.

Commiserating by looking at the challenges other regions are

facing may be cathartic, and looking with envy at other

successful regions may be a palliative, but neither will help the

region succeed. Increasing regional prosperity for any region

requires a clear picture of the current situation and an

understanding of who is leaving the region, who is staying, and

who is moving in. By understanding and leveraging current

strengths, a region can improve its chance of success. It is only

by understanding its unique challenges and opportunities that

any region can advance.”

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Thank You

Kevin Stolarick

kms@rotman.utoronto.ca

www.martinprosperity.org

Creative Class

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Who Works in Creative Class?

Creative Class: TAPE

T = Technology and R&D Innovation

A = Arts and Culture

P = Professional and Managerial

E = Educating and Training

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U.S. Creative Class

•30 (% of the workforce)

•40 (million people)

•50 (% of the wages)

•70 (% of the discretionary income)

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The Rise of the Creative Class

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The Rise of the Creative Class

Creative

Service

Working

Farming

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Share of creativity-oriented jobs is increasing

Canada & Ontario’s Creative Economy

Creative Service Working

Canada

Workers (Talent) 4,874,885 5,788,767 3,333,726

% of Workforce 35.5% 38.7% 23.0%

On

tari

o

Workers (Talent) 2,027,152 2,210,604 1,311,995

% of Workforce 33.2% 39.4% 22.7%

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New jobs will be in creativity-oriented and routine-oriented service occupations

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Nearly 80 percent of jobs in Canada are in services industries

Unemployment is higher in routine-oriented occupations especially in early 90s recession

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Ontario’s distinctive advantage can be created through actions on four fronts

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The “4Ts”

Talent

Tolerance (Inclusiveness)

Technology

Territory Assets (Amenities)

Regional

Growth and

Prosperity

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Rural* Context

*Non-metropolitan

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Creativity in the Rural Context

Share of All

Jobs

Share of

Creative Class Jobs

Metro Ontario 79.6% 85.4%

Rural Ontario 20.4% 14.6%

Regions/ Benchmarks

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Region/Benchmarks Variables

• Regional Economics – Population, Income, Housing Value, Population Growth,

Unemployment etc.

• Occupational Classes – Creative Class, Working Class, Service Class, and Farming, Fishing &

Forestry Class

• Talent – % of Population 25+ with a BA or above, other education data

• Technology – High Tech Establishments/High Tech LQ

• Tolerance – Immigrant and Visible minority population share

• Territorial Assets – Crime, Voter Turnout, Rec Establishments, Arts & Entertainment

Establishments, Bars & Restaurants

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Other Regions? So what if my region wasn’t selected?

•Appendix for methodology –DIY

•Swap: Benchmark Focus

–Really 50 Reports

•Keep to your region

–Or not

•StatsCan – CSD Level

–Region, Rural, Ontario Summaries

–50 potential benchmark regions

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Outline

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• The objective of this research is to examine the

creative economy in rural communities across Ontario

and produce a document that can then be used by

any community seeking to better understand how to

execute creative economy research and begin to

interpret results.

• We hope to contribute to the existing body of research

on the creative economy in rural communities and

assist in the transfer of that knowledge in an

accessible format to reach and better inform

communities interested in applying the concepts

themselves.

Selection of regions/benchmarking variables

• 5 communities (CSDs) selected for analysis from 5 different regions of

Ontario

• The types of data examined will focus on the occupational structure of the

workforce and attempt to provide measures that characterize a community’s

creative and quality of life assets, including its levels of talent, technology.

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Selection of regions/benchmarking variables

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• Peer regions chosen based on population and location within the

economic regions

• The types of data presented depict the occupational structure of the

workforce and provide measures that characterize a community’s level

of creative assets, including its level of talent, technology and tolerance

• Benchmarking & Focus Communities are selected Census

Subdivisions with populations between 5,000 and 20,000

• Metro Ontario is defined as within a census metropolitan area

• Rural Ontario is defined as everything else

• The description of the methodology and analytical work done

in the report will ensure that any community can reproduce the

analysis and benchmarking activities

• Will allow communities not only to gauge their own

performance in the creative economy, identifying strengths,

weaknesses and opportunities, but also to better understand

how their community fits within the larger context of the region

in which they exist

• Any region not included in this report can obtain information

about their region from Statistics Canada at the CSD level and

compare their results with the focus and benchmarking regions

reported here.

How are the findings applicable to all communities? Where do they go from here? Why does it mater?