An economic link between former Maritime rivals Halifax and Moncton is being forged on the conviction -- taking hold across Canada -- that co-operation among communities is the best way to foster growth.
The Halifax-Moncton Growth Corridor is the result of deep concern among civic leaders about a slow, steady population decline in their region.
To be launched formally this fall by the Greater Halifax Partnership and the Greater Moncton Economic Commission, the corridor will unite the two cities, as well as all the communities in between them, into one economic region.
Individuals and organizations within it will work together to attract new investment to the area as a whole.
"The latest census shows that population growth across the country grew by 5 per cent between 1996 and 2001, but the population of the Atlantic region has decreased by 4 per cent, so it's clear that we are losing people and with them, losing economic muscle and political voice," says Stephen Dempsey, president of the Greater Halifax Partnership.
"We decided we needed to do some radical thinking -- we didn't want to see another five-year period like that.
"We looked across the country at four areas that had high rates of growth: Vancouver-Victoria, Calgary-Edmonton, Toronto-Hamilton and Montreal-Quebec City and saw that all these corridors had a high inflow of investment capital and low unemployment, as well as superior growth.
"We felt that it was imperative to try to create a similar type of economic zone here."
The idea was to begin working with Moncton, which has long been perceived as a major competitor to Halifax, he says.
"We introduced this idea to business people in Moncton and Halifax and both our mayors endorsed it about a year ago."
When trying to attract new investment, size matters, says Fred Morley, vice-president and chief economist for the Greater Halifax Partnership.
Halifax has a population of about 370,000, Moncton about 120,000 and adding the communities along the corridor -- including Truro and Amherst in Nova Scotia, plus Sackville and Shediac in New Brunswick -- gives a total of almost 700,000 people, he says.
"Attracting investment to an area of 700,000 rather than 370,000 helps to get you on the radar screen," Mr. Morley says. "Traditionally, the threshold has been a population of half a million -- if you're any smaller, you won't get much attention -- and although that has changed somewhat, size still has an overriding effect."
Under the new plan, all marketing campaigns will feature both cities and the communities in between them as one economic region, Mr. Dempsey says.
"When we take an ad out now, it will be a joint promotion, and when site consultants come in, we'll make a business case for the whole area -- not for Halifax or Moncton alone -- because a new business anywhere will be a win for the entire corridor."
When new companies come in to look at the two cities, they sometimes try to play one against the other, to see which will give the greatest concessions, Mr. Dempsey says.
"But our agreement is that we will share information and work together, instead of bidding against each other and buying jobs with incentives."
Step one in the creation of the corridor was a study to identify the area's assets, which was completed in March and financed by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, or ACOA, a federal government agency.
"We wanted to get a snapshot of the whole region, its strengths and weaknesses and one of those weaknesses was a lack of immigration," says Ron Gaudet, president of the Greater Moncton Economic Commission.
"We are not really on the map when it comes to attracting people," adds Mr. Dempsey.
"But when we form one economic corridor of 700,000 people, that region will rank among the top 10 Canadian urban centres and we think that will make us more attractive to immigrants, as well as to new businesses."
Another problem has been the lack of capital investment, Mr. Gaudet says.
In Ontario and Quebec, recent estimates are that capital investment in industry between 1996 and 2001 was over $100 per capita compared to only $20 in the Halifax-Moncton area, Mr. Gaudet says. During these years, per capita investment in British Columbia was $75 and in Manitoba, $42, he adds.
"Our aim is to be on a par with the national average," he says.
But the study also reported an impressive list of assets that the new economic corridor has to offer.
They include two international airports, 20 industrial parks, nine universities, a large ice-free port in Halifax, a natural gas pipeline that runs between the two cities, providing a clean, economical power source for industry, and a new four-lane divided highway that eases the 200-kilometre drive between the two cities.
One of the area's greatest assets is its labour force: well-educated, more than 380,000 strong and more bilingual than most.
New Brunswick is Canada's only officially bilingual province and about half its population is fluent in both languages, a percentage that will continue to rise, since about 80 per cent of the province's English-speaking students are now enrolled in French-immersion programs, Mr. Gaudet says.
Site consultants also look for already-existing industry clusters and both cities have some thriving ones.
Moncton has a large distribution and warehousing hub, as well as companies that manufacture gambling machines and machine components for casinos around the world, while Halifax is a centre for financial institutions and insurance companies.
The new corridor is creating "something of a buzz," Mr. Morley says. "The tradition has been for cities to compete for new business and investment, so in the area of economic development, this is an innovative strategy.
"In North America, there are 3,000 jurisdictions -- towns, cities, states, provinces, counties -- all chasing investment," he adds. "We have a much better chance of competing with them when we work together, sharing strategies and doing joint marketing."
© The Globe and Mail
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