City open for business and provides a suite of services to assist the investment community.
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada is ideally located in the midst of Canada’s most populous region and is a multi-modal gateway to key North American markets. It is a powerhouse in advanced manufacturing, agri-food, life sciences and transportation and logistics and among Canada’s most diversified economies.
What’s more, Hamilton offers the full scope of shovel-ready land development opportunities that can drive immediate value for investors and tenants.
“From industrial redevelopments on our Great Lake harbour to shovel-ready parcels in our thriving business parks, and from downtown brick and beam heritage buildings to new builds alongside our 24-hour international airport, investors will find development opportunities in Hamilton to suit any need,” said Norm Schleehahn, Director of Economic Development with the City of Hamilton.
With a suite of financial incentives, access to a labour pool of over 2 million, and one of the fastest growing tech scenes in Canada, Hamilton is investment ready.
McMaster Innovation Park (MIP)
Is a thriving 53-acre campus for innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurship with a strong focus on life sciences, advanced manufacturing and data and technology. MIP will add 1.8 million square feet of commercial laboratories and offices, residences, hotel, convention and amenity space in new builds and adaptive reuse of manufacturing space in the next five to seven years.
MIP is a western hub for an innovation corridor that is anchored by MaRS in Toronto.
“Our purpose is to be a bridge; to take brilliant ideas and transform them into impactful business realities,” said Ty Shattuck, CEO of MIP. The park is focused on developing the space and resources that will allow homegrown and international medium-sized companies to grow.
Airport Employment Growth District (AEGD)
Hamilton International Airport, Canada’s busiest overnight express cargo hub and the fastest-growing airport in North America, anchors the AEGD that is home to major players in e-commerce, logistics and distribution.
Amazon Canada is building a 855,000-square-foot fulfilment centre within the AEGD, along with a 50,000-square foot delivery station on the eastern side of Hamilton. These investments will bring more than 1,500 new jobs and solidifies Hamilton’s position as a gateway city.
The AEGD Industrial Park is a planned development area of 551 net developable hectares of employment land per the Secondary Plan. Current developments range from 45,000 square feet to approximately 1,000,000 square feet with pre-leasing options available.
Bayfront
Hamilton is blessed with 3,700 acres of mixed industrial lands on the shore of Hamilton Harbour that has been the foundation of the city’s economic and cultural legacy for decades. It was here that Hamilton grew its reputation as one of Canada’s major manufacturing centres.
Today, manufacturing is still very alive here and the City of Hamilton is building a strategy to guide future improvements, investments and redevelopment over the short and long terms.
As an integrated port network, the Hamilton Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA) offers innovative port and marine assets in Hamilton, Niagara and Oshawa that support Great Lake industries and facilitate trade.
The Port of Hamilton is the largest port in Ontario and the western marine gateway to the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area (GTHA). It is a crucial link in the delivery of Ontario crops and finished goods to global markets, and essential to bringing in imports for agriculture, steelmaking, automotive and construction. In just the last decade, port users have invested more than $300 million and jobs have grown 30 per cent. HOPA is now making huge investments that are driving more expansion and opening more land to develop.
The Port of Hamilton offers the ability to ship by vessel directly to any port in the world. The port is served by two railways, and has direct access to major highways.
“The transportation connections available to industry in Hamilton are truly second to none,” said Ian Hamilton, president and CEO of HOPA Ports.
“Businesses locate here because they know they can get their products to market using the right mode of transportation at the right time. The flexibility to use marine, rail or highway transportation depending on their immediate needs has enormous value for supply chain efficiency.”
Business parks
Hamilton boasts eight business parks in every area of the city that offer a range of shovel-ready opportunities for investors in any sector, from heavy manufacturing to food production, and from life sciences to goods distribution.
“The interest levels in our business parks is extremely strong,” said Schleehahn.
“What Hamilton offers is a large cost advantage over the GTA along with the large parcels of land that are very difficult to find anywhere east of the city.”
The 1,552-acre Red Hill Business Park is home to Canada’s largest commercial bakery in Canada Bread, a huge Maple Leaf processing plant, the eastern hub for Navistar’s truck parts distribution business, water membrane manufacturer Fibracast Inc., and steel construction company Walters Group.
Two new Fortune 500 companies call the 95-acre iConnect Business Park home: medical device giant Stryker Canada, global aerospace and defense technology innovator L3 Harris. iConnect is a unique mixed use development that features more than 100 retailers and up to 1.5 million square feet of industrial and office space to accommodate nearly 3,000 employees.
