A shift towards collaboration: Examining practitioner's economic development practices in Ontario during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

Regional collaboration has been suggested as a more effective way to promote economic development than competitive approaches. In Ontario, despite attempts by the provincial government to encourage regional collaboration, research finds that municipalities are still engaging in inter-territorial competition. In this article, we conducted interviews with thirty-seven practitioners to determine if economic development practices in Ontario have shifted towards more collaborative approaches during the COVID-19 pandemic.The article finds that regional collaboration, as an economic development practice, has intensified in the province during the recent pandemic. Practitioners noted three reasons for engaging in regional collaboration: pool resources, reduce duplication, and complete regionally task-oriented goals. SommaireOn a laissé entendre que la collaboration régionale est un moyen plus efficace de promouvoir le développement économique que les approches concurrentielles. En Ontario, malgré les tentatives du gouvernement provincial

Practitioners' ability to retool the economy: The role of agency in local economic resilience to plant closures in Ontario

“…Shocks refer to ‘sudden major disruptions to localities' economic activities’ that either originate endogenously, such as plant closures, or exogenously, such as recessions (Sutton, Arku, & Oosterbaan, 2023, p. 9) and have the potential to disrupt economies' growth trajectories (Martin, 2012). In addition, shocks can originate from various scales, such as at the local, national, and global levels (Hill et al., 2012; Martin & Sunley, 2015, 2020).…”

“…For example, local business owners are more focused on their profitability, the labour force is more focused on maintaining quality employment, and local government agencies are more focused on improving the economic health of their localities. Thus, practitioners have to contend with the normal constraints of local actors but also the challenge of coordinating and retooling their local economies during stable and turbulent times (Sutton, Arku, & Oosterbaan, 2023; Sutton, Lambert, et al., 2022). In turbulent times, such as when shocks occur, practitioners are called upon to rectify ensuing issues and support local actors in achieving their goals.…”