The Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade (formally known as Ministry of Economic Development and Growth) in the Canadian province of Ontario is responsible for programs to attract and retain business and economic development in the province. This is pursued through research and development funding, business advisory services, career exploration opportunities and business startup programs for youth, skills development and marketing Ontario to potential international business investors.
It was previously responsible for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, though this responsibility has been shifted to the Ministry of Government Services.
History Responsibilities for industries and economic development in the Ontario government shifted over time as the province's economy evolved.
Since farming was the primary means of economic production in the 1800s, responsibility for economic development and planning, as far as a going concern of the government, rest with the agriculture department. Prior to Canadian confederation, the Bureau of Agriculture of the Province of Canada was responsible for collecting facts and statistics relating to the agricultural, mechanical and manufacturing interests. Soon after the confederation in 1867, the Act for the Encouragement of Agriculture, Horticulture, Arts, and Manufactures was enacted, which established the Bureau of Agriculture and Arts within the Department of Agriculture and Public Works. "Arts", at the time, referred to the practical application of an industrial, manufacturing, or scientific pursuit, rather than artistic pursuit or fine art. The annual report of the bureau, tabled by its departmental minister the Commissioner of Agriculture and Public Works, reported on policy issues such as tariff, technology innovation, industrial development, issues that would in modern time be in the purview of the economic development ministry.See for example,
In 1882, the Bureau of Industries assumed responsibility for sectors other than farming. Although the Bureau was under the general direction of the Commissioner of Agriculture (or the Minister of Agriculture after 1888), the day to day operations were carried out by a small staff under the direction of the Secretary of the Bureau of Industries. From 1880 on however, the focus of that bureau was agricultural in nature. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the responsibilities for various manufacturing industrial matters were shared at various times with the Department of the Provincial Secretary, Department of Education, and the Bureau of Labour among others.
The Department of Planning and Development was established in 1944. Initially, its mandate was focused in postwar rehabilitation efforts. Over time, the department was mandated to work with agricultural, industrial, labour, mining, trade and other associations and organisations and with public and private sector enterprises in order to create and maintain productive employment and to develop the human and material resources of the province. In addition to trade and industry, the department at various times also had responsibilities over immigration, community planning, conservation, civil defence/emergency management.
Given the rapid post war economic expansion, economic development and planning becoming a primary concern of the government. In 1956, a new Department of Economics reporting to the Treasurer (finance minister) was established and specifically mandated to study and advise on economic and financial policy. In 1961 the planning and development was briefly renamed the Department of Commerce and Development. In December 1961, the two departments merged and was renamed the Department of Economics and Development.
In 1968, the department was renamed the Department of Trade and Development. In April 1972, the department merged with the Department of Tourism and Information to form the Ministry of Industry and Tourism.
Frequent rebranding A standalone economic portfolio was recreated in 1982, named Ministry of Industry and Trade. Since then, the ministry has been the target for frequent superficial, transient name changes by government of all three stripes. Since its separation from the tourism ministry, the economic ministry's went through fourteen instances of name changes, by far the most instances of name change experienced by any ministry within the Ontario government, and only four of those instances entailed actual substantive realignment of portfolio responsibilities with other ministries. The government of the day routinely modify the ministry name sometimes with buzzword or gimmicky phrasing to draw attention to the government's shifting policy priorities or specific agenda. Turf wars between ministers also caused some of the name changes. The Ford ministry upon taking office changed the economic ministry's name to Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, but had kept it as such since for eight years (and counting), making it the ministry's most durable name in four decades.
Perhaps not intending for any durability for such rebranding exercises, the successive ministries carried out the dozen or so name changes with orders-in-council and rarely bothered to formalize them with enabling legislations or corresponding legislative amendments. For example, the NDP Rae ministry renamed the ministry as the Ministry of Economic and Trade in 1993, but the ministry's enabling legislation was not amended to formalize the change until 2006. The ministry's name changed four times in the intervening period. Since 2006, the ministry changed its name seven more times, and not once was the ministry's enabling legislation amended to reflect the change. While the economic ministry was the primary target for such improvised rebranding, the practice of renaming ministry for transitory communications purposes had spread to many other ministry in recent years.
Related ministries Successive ministries since the 1980s have recognized the growing importance of technology and innovation industries to the future strength of the province economy. Both the Liberal Peterson ministry and the Progressive Conservative Harris and Eves ministry had employed ministry name changes as a mean to highlight their intention to prioritize this policy area.
To place increased emphasis on enabling leading edge research and attracting companies and jobs of innovation sectors to Ontario, the McGuinty ministry created a related Ministry of Research and Innovation in 2005, with Premier McGuinty personally taking on the portfolio as its inaugural minister. It was briefly merged back into the main economic ministry in 2011, but re-emerged as a separate portfolio in 2013 in the Wynne ministry. While politically a standalone ministry for over a decade, during its second stint its operational independence was quite apparently limited, as it regained neither its own deputy minister (the civil service head) nor its own estimates,See for example a peculiarity given its sizable budget
A related Ministry of International Trade existed between 2008 and 2009 , and again from 2016 and 2018. In 2017. During these period the economic portfolio was, at least on paper, held by three different ministers as three separate portfolios.
In 2022, the Ford ministry created a Ministry of Red Tape Reduction.
List of ministers
Principal Minister Term of officeMinistry(Party)additional minister Minister of Planning and Development Drew-Kennedy Dana Porter Art Welsh William Griesinger Frost Bill Warrender William Nickle Minister of Commerce and Development Robarts Robert Macaulay Minister of Economics and Development Robert Macaulay James Allan Stan Randall Minister of Trade and Development Stan Randall Allan Grossman Davis John White Minister of Industry and Tourism John White Claude Bennett John Reginald Rhodes Larry Grossman Minister of Industry and Trade Development Gordon Walker Frank Miller Minister of Industry and TradeMiller Andy Brandt Minister of Industry, Trade and Technology Peterson Hugh O'Neil Monte Kwinter Allan Pilkey Rae Ed Philip Minister of Economic Development and Trade Frances Lankin Minister of Economic Development, Trade and TourismHarris Bill SaundersonEnergy, Science and Technology Al Palladini Jim Wilson Economic Development and Trade Al Palladini Bob Runciman Enterprise, Opportunity and InnovationEvesAssociate Minister Jim Flaherty David Turnbull Economic Development and Trade McGuintyResearch and Innovation Joseph Cordiano Dalton McGuinty Sandra Pupatello John Wilkinson Economic Development International Trade and Investment Michael BryantSandra Pupatello Dalton McGuinty acting Economic Development and Trade Research and Innovation Sandra Pupatello John Milloy Minister of Economic Development and InnovationGlen Murray Brad Duguid Economic Development, Trade and Employment Wynne)Research and Innovation Eric HoskinsReza Moridi Economic Development, Brad Duguid Economic Development and GrowthResearch and Innovation Brad DuguidReza MoridiInternational TradeSteven Del Duca Michael Chan(responsible for Small Business) Jeff Leal Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and TradeFord Jim Wilson Todd Smith Associate Min. (Small Business & Red Tape Reduction) Vic Fedeli present Prabmeet Sarkaria Nina TangriAssociate Min. (Small Business) Nina TangripresentRed Tape Reduction Parm Gill Mike Harris Jr. Andrea Khanjin present
References Footnotes
Ministry's enabling legislations
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Other citations and references
External links Official Site InvestInOntario Site