Town of Oakville receives Excellence in Economic Development Awards

The Town of Oakville received an Excellence in Economic Development award for its Downtown Mitigation Strategy from the Economic Developers Council of Ontario (EDCO) in the category of Planning & Strategic Development (Urban). The project was selected as a best in class example for its unique and innovative approach to construction mitigation.

“The Lakeshore Road Reconstruction and Streetscape project was a necessity for our community, as was the Downtown Mitigation Strategy to support our local businesses that had already been hard hit by the Amazonification of the retail industry,” said Mayor Rob Burton. “I am pleased to see those efforts have been recognized beyond the community it helped and extend my congratulations to town staff, residents and business owners whose participation and input contributed to the strategy.”

Oakville’s Downtown Mitigation Strategy was developed to support local businesses and the community during the Lakeshore Road Reconstruction and Streetscape Project, completed in 2020. The Mitigation Strategy included the opening of a dedicated Project Office, and marketing and communications to keep businesses and residents informed. Economic measures were implemented to minimize the impact of construction, and included waived parking fees to make it easier for residents to support local and the launch of Oakville’s Digital Main Street program. Provincial funding from Digital Main Street was leveraged to launch a Digital Service Squad to provide on-one-one support and connect businesses with $2,500 in funding through the Digital Transformation Grant program.

Oakville’s Downtown Mitigation Strategy has been recognized as a best practice example for construction mitigation projects, and has been showcased nationally at industry conferences.

The 2020 Excellence in Economic Development Awards were presented during EDCO’s 64th Annual Conference, held virtually in February. Each year, economic development initiatives and leaders from across Ontario are celebrated through the EDCO awards program.

Town of Oakville Senior Economic Development Officer, Amanda St. John was also recognized with an Excellence in Economic Development award for her team’s report on Performance Measurement, received through EDCO’s Bright Ideas Competition.

For more information on economic development in Oakville, visit Invest Oakville website.