With announcements of big ticket events like the Grey Cup and Juno Awards, both in 2013, along with tremendous growth, 2011 has been a banner year for Regina.
“I don’t think there are any secrets, we’ve had an incredible year,” Mayor Pat Fiacco said at his Year End Address at the Chamber of Commerce breakfast on Wednesday.
“(Many) positive developments taking place in our community, with our downtown, with increased investments in infrastructure.”
But growth can also bring challenges.
“The demands for workers have never been greater since I’ve been in the city, and so these are very positive things, but they’re also challenges at the same time,” Regina and District Chamber of Commerce CEO John Hopkins said.
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The vacancy rate in Regina is 0.6 per cent, the lowest in Canada. Mayor Fiacco says he has discussed the situation with the province.
“We’re certainly encouraging them to possibly fast track some possible programs so we can get developers looking at additional housing units,” he explained.
While infrastructure investments are up, the Chamber says the city needs to keep on top of construction, with help from the federal and provincial governments.
“If we don’t deal with that, we’re going to have safety concerns,” Hopkins said. “We’ve all seen bridges fall in different parts of the world, we don’t want to see that happen here… but more importantly from our perspective is the economic concerns because if we don’t have the infrastructure in place, it’s going to be a challenge to attract investment.”
The city is also paying close attention to the economic turmoil around the world.
“We are certainly on an island here,” Fiacco explained. “There is no question we are not feeling any of the turbulence in Europe directly, or the US directly, however, it is going to affect us.”
Despite the challenges, Fiacco is excited to see the growth, and says what the city is seeing now is just the beginning.
“This is still preparing for it, it’s not going to end today,” he said. “I think we’re going to be living in these times for the next 10 to15 years. We have what the world needs.”
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