Can COVID-19 changes help reignite local economic growth?

Spending will just be spread out across the communities where many of us currently only spend time sleeping

As companies are reacting to COVID-19 by moving more employees to work from home or remote office arrangements, there are concerns about potential increases of real estate prices in suburban areas.

But what if instead of real estate prices and higher living costs, and the detrimental effects to the global economy, we start discussing how the consequences of COVID-19 can create selfsustained cities and an improvement in our quality of life. There could now be opportunities for new and established businesses to grow in size and variety in the suburban areas, as the number of people who will use them will also grow.

If people are not only coming to sleep in their home communities outside of downtown Toronto, after their long commute, but will also begin to work where they are living, they will begin to spend their money and time in those suburban communities during the day.

The cities that lost jobs from plant closures, cities that depend solely on university crowds, cities that young people need to leave to find “opportunities,” can now begin to revitalize.

So the social activities people would do downtown Toronto after work, either with friends or colleagues, they will now do in Kitchener-waterloo, Guelph, Hamilton or Niagara, where they live. That hip new lunch place or morning latte shop they treat themselves to on Wednesday and Fridays, will be around the corner in Brantford or Ajax. The exhibit they couldn’t get tickets to for their weekend family outing in Toronto, could now be offered in Peterborough. Our great universities could have more than ever engaged alumni and support, as people don’t have to move downtown Toronto to find a “well-paying” career with “lots of growth opportunities.”

Because now, these local economies could begin to revitalize, as their streets are filled during the daytime with the hundreds of thousands of people, who otherwise would have commuted elsewhere for work five days a week.

Living local and spending local. It may take away from the dollars spent in one of our largest cities, but in total it could be the same, if not more, for what’s spent in the province.

The spending will just be spread out across the communities where many of us currently only spend time sleeping. Not to mention the freed up commute time that could be spent on further professional development, personal well-being, community involvement and family and friends, all of which will produce even greater rewards with time.

We have pondered the benefits of being a self-sustaining country; can we not apply these thoughts to having selfsustained cities?

Changes prompted by COVID-19 can help us shift into focusing on growing our local economies, so the quality of life in Canada’s towns and cities is no longer defined by proximity to one of the major metropolises.

Perhaps this is naive or wishful thinking. Maybe it’s not how economics or the globalized world works. But let’s imagine local economies blossoming as we embrace the remote working arrangements brought upon us by this pandemic.

Olga Shyroka is a finance professional and commercial banker with RBC in Southwestern Ontario. She has experience working in corporate head office roles in downtown Toronto and London, England. Olga has an MBA from the Degroote School of Business, is a CPA, CMA, and is passionate about helping her personal and professional communities thrive.