There are approximately 33 per cent fewer people in downtown Sudbury now than there were pre-pandemic.
Location data from cell phones affirms as much, Canadian Chamber of Commerce chief economist Stephen Tapp told a local crowd during his 2024 economic outlook presentation on Dec. 7.
At this time last year, he reported similar results, with downtown mobility down 32.7 per cent at the time compared to pre-pandemic conditions.
“The downtown’s not back to what it was,” Tapp said, later adding with a chuckle in the direction of a table of city council members that this is not something everyone might want to hear.
Mobility in the Greater Sudbury metropolitan area is still down 15 per cent from pre-pandemic levels, Ontario’s mobility level is down 17 per cent and the Canadian mobility level is down nine per cent.
At least part of the dip is attributable to people still working from home, he explained.
After Tapp’s presentation, Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce chair Geoff Hatton said that despite lagging downtown numbers, he’s optimistic the city’s core will rebound.
“It’s not just unique in Sudbury,” he said of the dip in downtown traffic, and pointed to a handful of efforts by the city’s elected officials to spur downtown activity as likely to yield positive results.
The city acquiring downtown land in hopes of creating an economic hub with ancillary services around a new or renewed municipal arena/events centre is ”a positive step,” he said, while the proposed library project would also bring people downtown.
Another highlight to come out of Tapp’s report was that employment in Greater Sudbury was down 1.6 per cent in November 2023 compared to February 2020.
This ranks the city as third worst for employment change among 36 comparator municipalities.
Meanwhile, online job postings were up 41 per cent in Greater Sudbury compared to pre-pandemic, with its 5.7 per cent unemployment rate in November 2023 ranking it 21st lowest of 62 comparators.
“There’s a lot of labour demand, but we don’t have enough supply,” Tapp said, pointing to housing supply as a key factor.
The Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce’s advocacy for the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot program to become permanent ties into this challenge, with Hatton considering the program a positive step.
“That’s something my company has taken advantage of and an important part of getting our workforce,” the Spectrum Telecom Group Ltd. president and CEO said.
The City of Greater Sudbury has also advocated for the pilot program to become permanent.
The city is also aiming to address the region’s undersupply of housing through a Housing Supply Strategy slated to yield a final report by the end of June 2024. A tax incentive plan aimed at spurring construction of multi-unit residential buildings will be tabled in early 2024.
Another statistic that stuck out of the Dec. 7 presentation pointed out that Greater Sudburians have continued spending money, and are now spending 44 per cent more now than they did pre-pandemic (which compares with 33 per cent for Canadians and 25 per cent for Ontarians).
Among 21 comparator municipalities, Sudbury ranked No. 3 in spending growth per person year-over-year to October 2023, at 1.6 per cent growth.
As for Tapp’s predictions for 2024, he anticipates “stag-flation” to continue, with -1 per cent growth, unemployment rising to 6.5 per cent and slow disinflation to 2.5 per cent. Interest rates should also come down, and he predicts the end of 2024 will be better than the beginning.
Affordability and cost concerns will persist, with prices remaining too high and incomes remaining too low.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
