A Quick Thanks …

Today I rejoin my team at MPAC after a six-month journey at the City of Toronto leading their efforts to support businesses during COVID.

It was a wild six months. The early days were especially dark as we aimed to stop the bleeding, listened to entrepreneurs who were losing everything, and saw years of economic development work slip away.

There were also plenty of moments of hope — we saw entrepreneurs pivot, we rolled out programs to support businesses, and we worked with great partners to develop solutions and re-think the future.

There were lots of highlights — launching the BusinessTO Support Centre, creating ShopHERE across Canada, expanding Digital Main Street across Ontario, rolling out CafeTO to over 740 businesses, investing in new programs to support Black entrepreneurs, and securing over $58 million in funding for main street businesses.

Thanks to excellent partnerships and the leadership of so many extraordinary public servants, we were able to help thousands of businesses across Toronto and Canada. Through it all, we saw the critical role government plays in supporting our communities, and I’m super proud of the work we did with all of our partners.

I want to thank the Economic Development and Culture team at the City of Toronto for their support and putting up with me the last few months — it was great to work with all of you again, and you should be proud of the work you have been doing.

I also want to thank the Municipal and Stakeholder Relations team at MPAC for their support — thanks for lending me to the City for a few months and, more importantly, staying focused on supporting Ontario’s municipalities through this crisis.