Year-In-Review: John Wishart Reflects On Aggressive Economic Growth In Greater Moncton
To cap off 2022, Huddle sat down with some of the key figures in Atlantic Canada’s business community – folks representing everyone from tourism operators to energy producers to the startup world.
We asked each to reflect on the challenges, successes, and surprises that most impacted their industries and the lives of Atlantic Canadians this year.
In the latest of several conversations we will bring you before the new year, Huddle reporter Sam Macdonald sat down with John Wishart, the CEO of the Chamber Of Commerce For Greater Moncton.
His answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What was the biggest challenge faced by the chamber of commerce and Greater Moncton’s business community in 2022?
I would say it shifted during the year. When 2022 started we were still firmly in the grips of Covid-19. Businesses were thinking about the impact of the pandemic on their bottom line.
Then, by mid-year, that started to ease a little bit as people were outside during the summer and the hotel and tourism sectors started to rebound. In Moncton, at least in the last half of the year, the focus really became on social issues: homelessness, and downtown crime, which, a couple of weeks ago led to our press conference of business groups to highlight that.
Q: What is the most exciting thing that happened in 2022 for the business community?
I would list a couple of highlights during the year. From an economic growth perspective, Greater Moncton continues to fire on all cylinders. We’ve seldom seen as many construction cranes on the horizon as we’ve seen in 2022; the multi-unit residential construction side is definitely booming. We can’t build units fast enough to keep up with housing demand.
We’re starting to see a bit of a shift in the nature of our downtown. Fewer people are working downtown, with the move to hybrid work and more people are starting to live downtown, with the high-rises that are going up. That will mean some fundamental changes to the nature of our downtown and how we develop it, as well as its green spaces and pedestrian and bike-friendly areas – that sort of thing.
The second would be right here at the end of the year, with the World Juniors happening, and what that’s done for the economy in a short burst at the end of 2022, and in early 2023. We certainly need it for the hospitality and tourism sector, and restaurants and bars and suppliers for the games.
Q: What has had the biggest impact on the business community this year?
Some of that growth and some of the employment opportunities that have been created in existing companies, as well as new companies in the region. Our industrial parks are full and we’re racing to develop new industrial park land.
I think Greater Moncton is at least at a point where we almost need to revisit what sort of city we want to become. What are our strengths? What are threats, or opportunities that we need to focus on, to get to that next level?
We’re now the largest city in the province, and we like to always compare ourselves to Halifax, which of course, is more than two times as large, but you need a point on the horizon where you think, ‘we want to be like them,’ and I think that’s where Moncton is right now.
Q: Would you characterize 2022 as a year of growth or rebuilding for the Moncton business community?
The kind of odd thing about Greater Moncton’s economy, even during the pandemic, was that we didn’t see the engine stall. We, maybe, shifted down a gear, but now we’re full bore ahead.
Every economic indicator, whether it’s population growth, immigration, GDP, building permits – they’re all pointing to record numbers. Most of the problems or issues that we’re grappling with these days tend to be issues of growth; homelessness, housing, access to health care for the people coming in. Those are all issues related to the fact that we just have more people moving here and we’re trying to cope with that.
Q: Going into 2023, what has 2022 set the stage for in the business community?
I think we’re going to see some continued downtown growth. There’s a very large project that’s been in the planning stage for the last couple of years by Ashford Properties, which will, I’m told, really change the face of downtown behind the hotel Beauséjour and Assomption Place.
That entire block could see the start of some construction. There are several other projects downtown, so that’s one thing.
I think how we deal with our housing shortage is going to be a big story in 2023, for apartments and condos, as well as single-family homes. There seems to be a great appetite there and we saw prices increase in Moncton more sharply, on a percentage basis, than almost anywhere else in Canada.
They’ve moderated here in the last couple of months, but we need to make sure we have adequate supply and that we don’t price ourselves out of the market as an attractive place to be.