The provincial government wants to find large pieces of land for heavy industrial use.
It has started the Job Site Challenge, meant to invite investors or municipalities to nominate areas of land, from 500 to 1,500 acres, for auto makers or other manufacturers to build plants. Minister of Economic Development Vic Fedeli says it’ll make it easier, for example, for auto makers who often have a difficult time finding large pieces of property to open new plants, and thus create jobs.
The government says the Job Site Challenge has worked in New York, Alabama, Tennessee and other states, with the first site in Ontario available to investors next fall. Each piece of property nominated would also have to be zoned, or be able to be zoned.
An international site selector will use 13 criteria in which to validate the mega-sites. Ontario will then starting marketing campaigns in which to draw investors, both domestic and international.
This Challenge is the first of its kind in Canada.
