Accelerating inclusive growth: Putting people and planet first

Posted: September 25, 2024

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Halifax is experiencing tremendous growth, working collaboratively—with local, national, and international businesses and partners—to build an inclusive, sustainable, and prosperous city that puts people and planet first.

In collaboration with Halifax Partnership, Mayor Mike Savage held a keynote address with the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto on September 12, where he discussed Halifax’s record growth in people and businesses and addressed key challenges Halifax and most Canadian cities are facing.

To watch the full speech, visit the following link: https://vimeo.com/1009294361

For the audio version, listen here: https://t.ly/xkpJZ

Introduction

Thank you very much.

Some of you may know, I decided I’m not running for mayor in Halifax’s municipal election next month.

So, this is my last speech as Mayor here in the incredible city of Toronto. And one of the last I’ll give as Mayor anywhere.

It’s a real privilege to speak to you today – about the place that’s most dear to my heart.

Halifax. Also known as Kjipuktuk in Mi’kmaw, which means the “Great Harbour.” And it is. The deepest natural harbour on the continent.

We live, and work, around the ocean. An ocean many of us cross multiple times per day, by one of the ferries or the bridges. An ocean that, in many ways, defines us as a people.

When I first became mayor, a dozen years ago, if I travelled somewhere to talk about Halifax, the fact that we’re an ocean city may have been the only thing people knew. That, and maybe our fondness for fiddles and lobsters.

Maybe they knew a little more or had direct experience of the place. They came for a vacation or went to a business conference.

They took a long stroll on the waterfront or enjoyed one of our many downtown restaurants or bars.

Maybe they, or their kids, went to school in Halifax at one of our seven universities.

So, ten years ago, I was standing here with an amazing product: our growing city.

With a tech sector that was about to catch fire. Producing one of the highest concentrations of ocean-related PhDs in the world. With a lifestyle where you could work in the morning, surf in the afternoon, and eat at an amazing restaurant in the evening. And more easily afford to buy a home.

But back then, not everyone seemed to know how much our Great Harbour and city had to offer.

Reaching new heights

Today…it’s different. Today...times have changed.

I’m not really knocking on doors anymore. More often, people are knocking on mine.

It’s not me telling you how great Halifax is. Because someone else already did. Someone who knows. The secret is out: our city has taken off. Like never before.

Ten years ago, we were growing by about a thousand people a year. Five years ago, we grew by seven thousand. Then 9. Then 10. Last year, we grew by 19,000. A city of just over 400,000 a decade ago is 500,000…and growing.

We’ve reached new heights. And are attracting more newcomers all the time.

Our people come from everywhere around the world. Educated people. Young people. People from over 100 countries, speaking over 100 different languages, call Halifax home.

This past Sunday, I hosted my annual reception for first year international students. Hundreds of smiling faces, eager to take on the world from Halifax.

More people make us stronger, in every way: New businesses. New jobs. A bigger tax base. More diversity. More culture. More infrastructure. More people to build to build the infrastructure. And we’ve been planning and preparing for this growth.

We have an economic strategy. And I’m so proud that we call it: “People. Planet. Prosperity.” A long-term, inclusive vision of a Halifax that puts the well-being of people and planet first.

That’s how we’re going to get to our goals of growing Halifax’s GDP to $32 billion and our population to 650,000, by 2037. And we’re well on our way.

Seven years ago, the Toronto Star called us a “boom town” because our growth was outpacing Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver. But we had no idea what was to come.

Of course, we keep metrics on growth. But you can also see it as you travel the streets. Or count the cranes.

This year, there’s more than 40 of them in action. Unheard of for a mid-size city.

Getting younger and more diverse

You can feel the enthusiasm and energy of the smart, talented people choosing to make Halifax their home.

People like Karen Cross, a brilliant surgeon who moved from Toronto to Halifax to create a new imaging technology that has the potential to reshape wound care around the world.

People like Melanie Nadeau, originally from Quebec, who’s now driving high-tech innovation and entrepreneurship in the ocean sector as the CEO of COVE…and has served as an expert for the International Energy Agency, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Or Daniel Morka, founder of the health sector company Essential Recruit. Born in Nigeria, he saw the world, then found his way to Halifax.

Newcomers like Daniel are part of a city that is getting younger: our median age dropped to 39 last year. That’s a big deal for us.

Young people have always come to Halifax for an education. But now, they’re staying.

Our city has a buzz to it. Our restaurants and bars keep appearing on “Canada’s Best” lists. Halifax is one of the great event-hosting cities in the world. Big events like hockey’s World Juniors, the Junos, and the North American Indigenous Games, with athletes from over 700 Indigenous Nations across Turtle Island… And Sail GP – Canada’s only stop for the circuit. Where else? Dubai, New York, San Francisco, and Rio. Halifax had the fastest ticket sell-out in the event’s history.

We’re getting cooler.

And increasingly diverse. Last year, we welcomed over 3,000 people from other provinces. But our international migration was almost 16,000.

When I ask people why they chose Halifax, they tell me they love our quality of life. Our approachable size, easy access to nature from wherever they are in the city.

They tell me they’ve come for a new career or business opportunity with one of the many growing tech, ocean, or life sciences companies.

They tell me they’ve come to work with our top-notch scientists and post-secondary institutions to innovate and start ventures of their own.

“People. Planet. Prosperity.” Our economic plan’s triple bottom line is critical to becoming a Halifax that’s not just bigger, but better.

We’ve always had an educated workforce. And we keep moving the needle: as of 2021, over 71 per cent of our workers have a post-secondary education.

We have more graduates in engineering, applied science, mathematics, and physical science per capita than anywhere else in Canada.

For companies looking to hire the best and the brightest, it is a robust talent pipeline. It makes us attractive to new business. It helps local businesses grow.

Take a company like Cognizant. In 2022, their first year, they wanted to hire 1,000 people. And they went and did it. On the day they invited us to celebrate this milestone with them, they’d already reached 1,179. A year and a half in, they’re at 1,450. And growing.

Cognizant is an example of our “Team Nova Scotia” approach to attracting and providing aftercare to new companies. It’s a unique, collaborative approach between all orders of government and private sector partners, working together, to support your business.

It’s regularly cited as a business advantage for companies that choose to locate and expand in Halifax.

Protecting our planet

The next part of our strategy is protecting our planet.

Why? Well, when we look out at Halifax’s beautiful coastline and the greenery surrounding us, that thinking is built in. It’s also what’s at stake: last year, we had the worst fires and the worst floods in our history.

We all know our future must be green.

Government and industry must work together to meet the challenge of our lifetime and the opportunity of moving to a more sustainable future.

We’re uniquely motivated: unlike the rest of Canada, our electricity system is still reliant on coal. Which means our transformation to cleaner sources is urgent. And, consequently, ripe with opportunity for green economy suppliers looking to start or expand their operations.

World-class renewable energy opportunities – in our own backyard – are attracting companies from across the globe to work with research and innovation partners like the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy, or FORCE.

Orbital Marine, maker of the world’s largest tidal energy device, just announced plans to bring their team from Scotland to the Bay of Fundy – home to the world’s highest tides, where we have already put in the subsea cables to deliver power to homes and businesses.

Our offshore has hundreds of gigawatts of offshore wind energy potential to produce green hydrogen and ammonia. Clean energy developers Bear Head Energy are working with the Eskasoni First Nation to harness it. And as a city, we’re committed to being part of the solution.

For our part, we have a climate action plan that’s among Canada's most ambitious: we call it HalifACT. With a clear commitment to achieving net-zero municipal operations by 2030.

We’ve taken our local climate action cues from the communities we serve…but also from around the world.

I’ve had the chance to meet with leaders at the UN COP Climate Change Conferences in the UK, Egypt, and Dubai to share ideas about how cities can be effective in this transformation.

And here’s something that sets us apart. This is big. We’ve instituted a three percent tax levy on all property tax bills to fund our commitments to…

energy retrofits, and net zero new construction,

electric buses, and EV charging stations,

resilient infrastructure, and nature-based solutions.

Now we’re a city that’s worked to keep taxes as low as possible, but this is a new challenge. And we’re sure as hell going to meet it.

Thanks to our work with Halifax Partnership, leaders from our city’s major players – like Deloitte, Nova Scotia Power, Dalhousie University, and more – are signing on to our ground-breaking CEO Climate Action Charter…a shared commitment to cut emissions and support mitigation and adaptation efforts in their operations.

Halifax is home to many companies at the forefront of clean and climate tech.

Dalhousie University’s Dr. Jeff Dahn has been a global leader in lithium-ion battery technology for nearly 40 years, holding over 70 patents. His lab has a long-standing partnership with Tesla to develop advanced batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage.

Dalhousie is also building Canada’s first Battery Innovation Centre, and its new Master of Battery Technology program begins next fall.

Spun out of Dr. Dahn’s lab is homegrown battery tech company Novonix…which recently opened a 35,000 square foot, state-of-the art facility in Halifax.

These folks will play a big role in growing national and global markets.

For sure, a big reason people love living in Halifax is because we’re so connected to nature. In minutes, from one of the most vibrant downtowns in the world, you can be swimming in dozens of incredible lakes right inside the city limits. In half an hour, you could be in the ocean with your surfboard. In an hour, you could be sipping a favourite wine at a vineyard in the Valley.

The idea that we need to safeguard all that beauty – and that there might be a business in doing so – is integral to our thinking. If we support our people and our planet, our growth potential is, really, limitless.

That’s how we get to the third focus of our strategy: prosperity.

Accelerating innovation and growth

Despite the pandemic impacts, Halifax has experienced positive GDP growth, and that’s forecast to continue. Much of this growth is happening in the heart of our city, in an area we call the Halifax Innovation District. Home to more than 2,100 companies, hundreds of start-ups, numerous scale-ups, and more than 15 incubators…including Canada’s East Coast innovation Hub, Volta.

On one side of the harbour, we have the Centre for Ocean Venture and Entrepreneurship, or COVE, where local and global companies develop, test, and commercialize marine technology.

On the other side is the centre for Port Innovation, Engagement, and Research: PIER. A living lab to solve global maritime transportation and logistics challenges, leading to a more resilient global supply chain and interconnected port cities.

Our connection to the world – and a larger global market – is part of who we are. We’re reminded every day…as freighters and cruise ships from across the planet come into our harbour.

If shipping goods across the Atlantic isn’t in your business plan, air travel is even easier. You can be in London in six hours, leaving from an airport that consistently ranks top ten in the world for customer satisfaction.

We’ve been one of the largest hubs in Canada’s defence network for over a century.

Ottawa recently upped the ante with a multi-million-dollar investment to establish Halifax as the North American headquarters for the NATO Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic, called DIANA.

The announcement proves, once again, that our Navy town has no problem attracting top-tier talent in science and innovation.

The DIANA office is very close to the Irving Shipyard, where a 25-year, multi-billion-dollar contract to supply offshore patrol vessels and combatants is underway…Canada’s largest shipbuilding effort since the Second World War.

Up the hill from Irving, near my office, over 75 businesses have taken flight supported by the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub.

If you’re in the health sector with a good idea, the team at the Hub can help scale it up, and scale it fast: they connect innovators, researchers, industry, and investors.

Now: unquestionably, Halifax is hot. Have a look at Halifax, from the ocean, in 2012…. and here we are in 2023. We’ve been very intentional, for years, about encouraging and accommodating growth.

Our planning covers everything from where we can increase density, and build new neighbourhoods…to integrating bicycles, ferries, and pedestrians…to preserving green spaces while we grow.

When I first became Mayor, I never dreamt we'd be experiencing this kind of growth, at the pace and scale we have. And, of course, there are challenges that go with it.

Growth challenges and solutions

Without a doubt, housing is the issue that keeps me, and I think most mayors, awake at night. We’ve had a one per cent rental vacancy for the last two years.

The only way out of a housing crunch is to build housing. And all orders of government and the private sector have a role to play.

We were among the first cities to negotiate a Housing Accelerator Fund deal with the federal government, in large part because we had already taken action – to dramatically upzone neighbourhoods to make way for higher densities, missing middle housing, and new ways to tackle affordability.

This – plus the approval of shared housing, backyard suites, and new regulations on short-term rentals – will help address housing supply.

At the end of the day, everybody deserves a home. And we need a range of housing…so we don’t leave our most vulnerable behind.

The federal Rapid Housing Initiative is helping to create permanent, deeply affordable housing in Halifax. Low-barrier-to-entry housing projects make a profound difference in the lives of those who struggle the most. We’re investing in emergency modular units and funding a new 24/7 drop-in centre. Because, clearly, there is much to be done.

But I’m heartened by the increased cooperation we’re getting across all orders of government and service providers in our communities.

I’m also excited to be part of building a brand-new neighbourhood at the entrance to our downtown. This is really cool.

The Cogswell District project is converting 16 acres of concrete overpasses and roads – right in the heart of our city – into a livable, pedestrian-friendly area for people to live, work, and play.

This transformation is an example of our commitment not just to “contend” with urban growth. But to do it right. To be designed to a Rick-Hansen-gold-standard for accessibility and powered by district energy.

Building a better Halifax for all

That’s how you create a city that puts people, planet, and prosperity at the centre of our thinking.

That includes African Nova Scotians – who have made significant contributions to the life of our city – throughout a legacy that spans over 400 years.

But for way too long, we haven’t always gotten it right. Indeed, we know that systemic racism remains stubbornly real. And that’s why we’re making changes.

Created, led, and implemented by the community, with support from the city, the “African Nova Scotia Road to Economic Prosperity” plan is addressing systemic issues and helping African Nova Scotians improve their quality of life and futures.

And that’s just the beginning.

For thousands of years before settlers came to our Great Harbour, Kjipuktuk was an important hub in the ancestral and traditional lands of the Mi’kmaq people.

Along with the provincial and federal governments, we’re making a landmark investment in a reimagined Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre…again, at the very centre of our city.

A new, iconic 70,000-square-foot facility next to Citadel Hill will provide services to Indigenous people and provide visibility to Mi’kmaw culture.

And it will do it in a way that welcomes everyone, instills pride in our people, and makes a clear statement that Truth and Reconciliation is not only about acknowledgment, but about action.

Conclusion

When it comes to our people, planet, and prosperity, we have to get it right.

And we can’t stop. Because Halifax isn’t stopping. And the world isn’t stopping. It’s growing. Faster than ever before.

We’ve always had the ingredients for this moment. I’m convinced. But it’s arrived. The moment is now. And there’s no turning back.

Our economy is now so diversified. We’re strong in sectors that are continuing to experience growing global demand. And we have the talent to respond to whatever challenges and opportunities come along.

I’ve raced through lots of stats and images. And they’re real.

But as I prepare to leave the Mayor’s office after 12 years, there is a more personal measure of our city…

My two children, both in their 20s, who once spoke openly about moving to bigger cities with more opportunities, now choose to make their futures in Halifax. And I gotta say that makes me smile. Because the word is out. Young people, from all over the world, want to build a life in our city. They seem to think we’re cool.

It’s been the honour of my life serving as Mayor.

And though I won’t seek reelection for another term, that decision has been made much easier because Halifax continues to rise faster, and shine brighter, than ever before. But there’s still room…for you.

What a privilege to be here now, to watch that happen, and to have been a small part of that journey.

Thank you.

Fireside Chat

Following the keynote address, Mayor Savage participated in a fireside chat moderated by Mike Davis, President and CEO of Davis Piers Consulting, which delved deeper into Halifax's key economic growth challenges, solutions, and opportunities for business and talent.