This is a guest post from Halifax Partnership
(Member since 1996)
The past few months have been a time of growth and change for the Halifax Partnership. In May, the team moved into our new office at the Nova Centre, in the heart of Halifax’s emerging Innovation District. In June, I started in the role of President and CEO. It was an exciting time to join the organization, with the release of the 2019 Halifax Index, our 2018-19 Annual Report The Power of Innovation and Immigration and the launch of our new corporate website.
We are excited about Halifax’s growth and the opportunities it presents for our businesses and residents. Halifax saw many positive trends continue in 2018, with three strong years of population growth driven by international immigration and youth retention, both well above the historic average. Even with this impressive population growth of 8,544 new residents last year alone, our unemployment rate dropped to 5.9 per cent, the lowest it has been since 2008. Thanks to widespread gains across most sectors, the Conference Board of Canada expects GDP growth in Halifax to reach 2 per cent this year. They are calling for an even stronger 2.6 per cent gain for 2020, the largest increase in 10 years.
One of the wonderful and unique things about our city is the interconnectedness between our people and organizations. I’m passionate about how we can continue to very intentionally create these connections for newcomers to Halifax and link them to our companies to support their development and successes.
Partnership is in our name. Last year, we supported hundreds of companies in increasing exports, hiring international talent and new graduates, locating or expanding operations and bringing new ideas and products to markets. The work that we do in bringing people and businesses here is good for everyone and we can’t do that work without the support of our investors and partners like the Halifax Chamber of Commerce. With this support, the Partnership drives success here in Halifax, helping businesses grow and connecting talent to these businesses and then we take that success and sell it to the rest of the world.
I am thrilled to work with our team, investors and partners and our broader business community towards the ambitious Economic Growth Plan vision to grow Halifax’s population to 550,000 and GDP to $30 billion by 2031. We will continue to leverage and promote Halifax’s competitive advantages and to focus on the power of innovation and immigration to drive inclusive growth and success across our great city.
To learn more about Halifax’s Economic Growth Plan priorities and the Partnership’s programs for business, visit halifaxpartnership.com.