In 2019, the Township of Laurentian Valley undertook a Business Retention and Expansion (BR&E) Project with RED funding from the Province of Ontario. We retained the services of Strexer Harrop and Associates who completed the Business Study following the BR+E process set out by OMAFRA.

About the study

The Business Retention and Expansion (BR&E) program and is an initiative through the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). BR+E projects are conducted across the province, and consist of confidential interviews with businesses.

Through this program, we learnt how to make our community a great place to do business. By connecting with Laurentian Valley businesses, we learnt and better understood how to support local businesses so they can grow, create jobs and stay in our community. The project was a community-based effort to assist and encourage local businesses to stay and grow in the community.

The results from the survey identified some of the strengths and challenges faced by local business and has helped to create an action plan to foster business development, investment, and job creation.

We are committed to our businesses and the economic growth of the community. We are now pleased to provide the final report. Some of the recommendations have already been adopted into practice and Council hopes to implement some more of the recommendations in the coming years. and will consider certain other items during budget discussions.

We would like to thank all members of the community who participated in the project.

A copy of the final report can be viewed online or by contacting the Township office via email or by calling 613-735-6291. Alternative formats are available upon request.

View the report