CORNWALL, Ontario – The City of Cornwall got a glimpse of the year that was at the annual Team Cornwall Year in Review at Galaxy Cinemas on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019.
Mayor Bernadette Clement welcomed the audience and commented on her vision of Cornwall’s future.
“We want it to be a flourishing one,” Clement said of 2020 for the City of Cornwall. “One where young students find opportunities for engaging employment so they can contribute and stay in our community.”
Cornwall’s Division Manager of Economic Development Bob Peters outlined some of the successes of 2019 and lifted the curtain a bit on things to come in 2020.
For population growth in Cornwall, Peters pointed to Statistics Canada information that showed that Cornwall’s population of income earners grew by nine per cent between 2010-2017, whereas the same number in most urban centres with a population under 100,000 only grew by an average of one per cent.
According to Peters, Cornwall added 116 new housing units this year, including at Bellwood Estates, Clement Court, and at the waterfront development being built by Grant Marion Construction on McConnell Ave.
Cornwall’s Tourism Development Fund, which was created in 2019 from the proceeds of the hotel tax, has giving out $115,000 to 16 institutions to promote tourism and events in Cornwall.
As a part of Cornwall’s growing tourism scene, Peters pointed to a range of events that occurred throughout 2019, including international sporting events such as the St. Lawrence Marathon, the Cornwall Triathlon, the Pan Am and Renegade Bass Fishing tours, and the Shorty Jenkins Curling Classic.
Cornwall also hosted among other events, Cirque du Soliel’s premiere of their show AXEL, the annual Cornwall and Area Pop-Expo (CAPE) and the Eastern Ontario Local Food Conference.
In 2020, Cornwall is scheduled to host the provincial curling championships, the Broomball Juvenile National Championships and a local 5 km Foam Fest run.
Peters also highlighted investment and growth in both the public, commercial, and industrial sectors.
The City of Cornwall has invested roughly $30 million in capital projects in 2019, including the Brookdale Bridge project. In 2020, plans are in the works to move the Brookdale North Sewer Extension project forward as well as the Lemay St. extension project.
At the Cornwall Community Hospital (CCH) $2.8 million was invested in capital expenditures, mostly new equipment, and 10 new doctors were added to their rosters.
On the commercial side of things, the Jet Set Pub at the Nav Centre completed the expansion of their patio, Cornwall Nissan completed their new dealership on Brookdale Ave, and plan on building a Mitsubishi dealership in 2020.
Small businesses like Fairy Sweet had a successful year and are expanding into Sobey’s stores across Canada. Rurban Brewing introduced a new growler refill service and Medical Arts expanded into a new location after 60 years at their origincal building on Montreal Rd.
Peters explained that Cornwall managed to attract new businesses and industries in 2019, including ERA Hangers and Opsun, both of which are companies that added new distribution centres in Cornwall. Storage Vault opened a new call centre in Cornwall, Leclerc opened their new factory which produces 1 million cookies a day, and Walmart Logistics added 500 jobs in 2019.
“You will see continued investment and growth across all sectors,” Peters promised for 2020. “We will see a continued demand for local workers. Our focus is on attracting young families to Cornwall so we can build that workforce. 2019 was a great year and we look forward to another one in 2020,” Peters concluded.
