SmartCity Blog

SmartCity Business Show - Episode 1 in Review

“When you assess everything and you distill it down, this is one wicked place to live”. I know Paul Kent and I aren’t the only Haligonians who think this city is wicked. But why are so many people happy to call Halifax home?

The reasons usually seem very obvious. Things like:

•    our friendly people
•    world-class scenery
•    a unique balance of the old and the new.

However, there are many reasons most of us tend to forget, or we simply haven’t been told about. Over the next few months, Greater Halifax Partnership & Haligonia.ca will be giving you 13 reasons to love Halifax even more, and to show the world what we’ve got to offer.

As a twenty year old student, I’ll admit I’ve got a narrower grasp on Halifax than I should. When I think of downtown Halifax, I associate it with smiling faces, lively streets, and a place where most of my favourite memories have came from. The first thing I think of is far from multimillion dollar building developments and a busy international port. This series digs deeper and highlights exactly why Halifax is such a smart place for people to live and play. And all in three and a half minutes per program? That sounds pretty good to me.

 

Maeghan Murphy, Marketing & Communications Co-op Student

Maeghan is with the Partnership on a four month work-term. She is in her third year of Public Relations at Mount Saint Vincent University and had her first taste of the working world on her work-term with Nova Scotia Power this summer. Altthough she'll always be a Cape Bretoner at heart, Maeghan is happy to now call Halifax her home.

The Great Debate About Our City’s Development

By Guest Blogger Cheryl Cran

Generation X (those in their 30’s) and Generation Y (those in their 20’s) have some pretty strong opinions about what they want for themselves in the future as well as what they want in the cities and towns where they live.

Research shows that Gen X and Y are attracted to cities and communities that are urban, central, family oriented with exciting job opportunities. The types of industries that are attractive to Gen X and Y are:

• Technology
• Hospitality
• Meetings
• Industry
• Marketing 
• Family

Gen X, Y and Zoomers are all environmentally aware; each group sees things from their own lens. Gen X and Y feel that environmental concerns and good business can co-exist. Many Zoomers feel that you can’t be environmentally focused and still create business profits.

Let’s take a look at city development for example; many cities are struggling with finding the perfect balance between developments that will improve business and honoring historic buildings.

This summer I traveled to Rome with my husband. We were in awe with the number of historic landmarks that were being modernized as well as the number of new buildings being put up right next to the older buildings. Also, we noticed that everyone seemed to walk or cycle everywhere.

In Vancouver where I live we have a current controversy over adding bike lanes on Hornby Street, which will remove parking spots. The debate from the business owners (mostly Zoomers) is that they will lose business. The debate from the cyclists (a mix of Gen X, Y and some Zoomers) is that we are becoming a greener city and that there is plenty of parkade parking to accommodate the cars.

When Vancouver announced its plans to build a newer and larger convention center there was enormous debate with people wanting to protect their self-interests. In the end progress won due to the fact that the 2010 Olympics were coming and that Vancouver could not house the larger conventions that our city to the south (Seattle) was attracting.

The great debate about what to do for the future has been happening since the beginning of time. In fact, when travel went from steam ship and rail to air travel there was a tremendous upheaval and the debates at that time was quite contentious.

When it comes to progress there always seems to be upheaval or disruption before acceptance; once there is acceptance the progress happens quite quickly. The winner of the great debate over the future is ideally all of us. The question to ask ourselves regardless of our personal demographic is: “What is the best decision for the future of our city, our next generation and the generations to follow?”

Cheryl Cran, CSP, will be the Keynote Speaker at the Greater Halifax Partnership's Building Our Future luncheon on Wednesday, October 6^th 2010. She is the author of the bestseller, “101 Ways to Make Generations X, Y and Zoomers Happy at Work” and is an international expert on leadership and generations in the workplace.

Register now

Dodging the Meltdown: Finance and Insurance in Nova Scotia

Halifax’s 2005 economic strategy “Strategies for Success” predicted that the finance and insurance sector would be a key growth driver in the second half of the decade. This prediction has proven startlingly accurate. Good thing too, because this stable and vital sector has been a big factor in keeping us out of recession.

The Canadian finance and insurance sector is the best run in the world.  Canada was the only industrialized nation that didn’t have to prop up its banks with significant cash injections this year.  The well-managed Canadian insurance sector continues its successful drive to world prominence.  Finance and insurance companies created more than 13,000 jobs in the second quarter of 2009 in Canada compared to the same three month period last year.  This occurred even though national employment in all industries declined by 340,000.

This national strength is trickling down to Nova Scotia where many new high wage finance and insurance jobs have appeared in recent years.  This growth has come from a continued expansion of deep rooted Canadian firms and a sprinkling of new international investment; all taking advantage of high quality labour and nation leading increases in productivity.  The heavy concentration of this sector in Halifax has been a big factor in keeping our economy growing even as the rest of Canada slipped into recession. 

Halifax has always been a significant financial centre in Canada. Many of Canada’s biggest finance and insurance companies have roots here.  Even today we have the second highest concentration of big bank employment and the highest concentration of insurance jobs in Canada relative to our size.  Over 50% of all insurance firms with operations in the Maritime Provinces are located in Halifax and all but one of the region’s investment dealers are based in Halifax. At the time of the last census, in 2006, there were some 14,000 people employed in the finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) sector in Nova Scotia’s Hub city. Deep roots of firms like Scotiabank, Royal Bank, Manulife, and others serve us well in tough times.

This regional concentration makes Greater Halifax’s finance and insurance cluster one of the more impressive in Canada.  The same value proposition and high productivity that has kept domestic operations strong is now attracting a new wave of international investment in finance and insurance.

This new wave of investment began in 2005 with Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings Limited, and this year
Flagstone expanded its commitment to Nova Scotia and is expected to add 80 new jobs in the next few years. United Kingdom based Admiral Insurance brought 400 jobs to Nova Scotia in last year.  New York based Citco is the largest new financial services player in Nova Scotia with over 600 jobs announced for its hedge fund and IT operations. 

While the world financial crisis has slowed the job ramp in Halifax for a few of the new players, Halifax is now on the international map and growth in inward investment seems secure.  The high productivity and competitive cost value proposition that drew them here has become even more important to these firms in tough economic times.  Some domestic firms continue to expand their footprint in Nova Scotia for the same reason.

The finance and insurance industry is as much a part of Halifax as the bedrock, and just as stable.  As Nova Scotia and Halifax look to renewal of their economic strategies, finance and insurance will likely have a prominent role.

Fred Morley is the Executive Vice President and Chief Economist at the Greater Halifax Partnership