Next Time You are Caught in Traffic

Next time you are caught in traffic, smile. What? Yes, smile. Why? Because what you are seeing around you is MONEY.

Traffic congestion in Ottawa is seriously up from what it was just a few short years ago and while it is nothing compared to Toronto or major metropolitan centers in the US, it’s significantly different. 

So rather than cursing, think about all those people–future customers, clients, suppliers, employees, colleagues, lenders, investors, tenants… stakeholders.

A few facts about Ottawa-Gatineau to be aware of:

1. 1.468 million population

2. 750,000 full time jobs

3. accelerating house prices (up 7% in Ottawa in the last year)

4. six main engines of growth all firing at the same time–government, tech, real estate, health care, education and tourism

Not bad, not bad at all.

In fact, if you are going to invest anywhere, investing in places with those six engines of growth is probably going to pay off.

So ask yourself, “What are the main engines of growth in my town?” If you get all of the above, that’s good.

So what does Toronto have that Ottawa doesn’t have?

Four more engines:

-finance, banking & insurance

-manufacturing

-entertainment 

-head offices

So I would give Ottawa a 6 out 10, and TO 10 out of 10.

Bruce M Firestone, B Eng (civil), M Eng-Sci, PhD, Ottawa Senators founder, Real Estate Investment and Business coach, ROYAL LePAGE Performance Realty broker,  1-613-762-8884 bruce.firestone@century21.ca twitter.com/ProfBruce profbruce.tumblr.com/archive brucemfirestone.com

MAKING IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE

postscript: I might be inclined to raise Ottawa’s score based on the twin facts that there are apparently over 3,500 charities, foundations, not-for-profits and crown corporations that call the national capital region home and that there are a growing number of tech head offices located there as well. So maybe 6.5 or even 7 out of 10 for Ottawa-Gatineau.

postscript 2: a national goal of having 100 million Canadians by the turn of the century (https://www.thestar.com/business/2016/10/23/finance-ministers-key-advisers-want-100m-canadians-by-2100.html) means that, together with government policies that restrict the supply of new housing by limiting urban expansion in both an upwards and outwards direction, house prices in major metropolitan centers will skyrocket. Look at London’s (England) experience, https://profbruce.tumblr.com/post/166749246449/central-london.