Spatial Contextualization of Economic Development Strategies in Kitchener-Waterloo and Oshawa

Economic development plans outline a region’s industrial competitive advantages and define priority actions for increasing economic prosperity. These plans are comprehensive. They include strategies on economic expansion and retention, community development, and urban planning, fundamentally shaping how local stakeholders live, work, and play. This paper investigates the economic development strategies in Oshawa and Kitchener-Waterloo, using a multi-method approach to economic base analysis and segmentation to contextualize growth and labour patterns. Oshawa and Kitchener-Waterloo demonstrate how mid-sized cities are adapting the skills of their labour force and advancing traditional sectors to maintain their competitive advantage. This research also assesses the viability and sustainability of the economic development strategies in light of COVID-19’s economic impacts on place of work and suburban housing. The paper proposes a spatial approach to assessing economic health and the implications of strategic planning, highlighting how geographic analysis reveals the concentration and distribution of regional economic development.