Employment levels and access to opportunities profoundly affect quality of life in cities. Ottawa shares many of the same challenges facing other cities, including high youth unemployment and a proportional rise in part-time and low-paying service-sector jobs.
Most municipalities have policies and programs to influence economic development. A wide range of municipal activities can also affect the knowledge, skills and health of the workforce. But a municipal government’s largest influence on the economy relates to how revenues are raised and spent, and how development is planned and managed.
Real estate development and related construction projects are key forces in urban economies. They affect a broad range of other economic sectors and activities including banking and mortgages, resource extraction and processing, manufacturing, the building trades, sales, and ongoing servicing, along with all of the related employment.