World-renowned as a leader in mining and mining technology, Greater Sudbury has established itself as a major centre for health care, tourism, research, education, government, retail, business and telecommunications. Greater Sudbury has also earned international recognition for its efforts in land reclamation. The City has garnered prestigious awards for environmental stewardship and continues to lead local initiatives to create a greener, more sustainable community for today and tomorrow.

The City of Greater Sudbury was one of the first municipalities to establish an advanced telecommunications infrastructure based on a high speed fibre optic network, a competitive advantage over many other Ontario cities. This technology has provided the building blocks for exciting developments in all sectors of the economy. A few examples: The Northern Ontario Medical School, the first in Canada in 30 years, is slated to open in the fall of 2005, with some curriculum delivered online across the North. Chilly Beach, a new animated television series on CBC, is produced in Sudbury and broadcast across Canada. And the Canadian Blood Services' National Contact Centre is located in Sudbury.

Unprecedented economic activity and infrastructure renewal projects have created jobs in all sectors of the economy, further positioning Greater Sudbury as the hub of Northeastern Ontario.

Key among our goals is to foster economic development and job creation, to develop a viable strategy to increase investment in infrastructure, and to secure new sources of revenue through innovative strategies and partnerships.

In 2003, the Mayor and Council adopted three significant policy documents:

1. A Long-Term Financial Plan

2. An Economic Development Strategic Plan

3. A discussion paper called Building the City of Tomorrow

By focussing on the long-term, the Financial Plan will ensure that the City is in a good financial position and can finance services to the public on an ongoing basis. The goal is to build a self-sustaining community, with a sound infrastructure and an excellent quality of life. With the Long-Term Financial Plan, the City recognized the need to adopt a new budgeting process with a new approach to financial management, one that shifts the emphasis from bottom line financial concerns to service delivery within a longer term financial planning horizon.

The result was a document called "Coming of Age in the 21^st Century - An Economic Development Strategic Plan for Greater Sudbury 2015".

The Plan identifies five economic engines of growth:

Engine 1: The best mining and supply services in the world

Engine 2: A city for the creative, curious and adventuresome

Engine 3: One of Ontario's top four destinations

Engine 4: A leader in health innovation and biotechnology

Engine 5: A model for eco-industry and renewable energy

Five grassroots Task Forces have been created to spearhead action on these important engines for economic growth.

Because of the City's internationally recognized success in mining, Engine 1 offers the greatest potential for wealth creation. By becoming the best mining and supply services centre in the world, our City will capitalize on its rich history to secure a prosperous future. Greater Sudbury has developed tremendous expertise in mining and has already begun to export that expertise around the world.

The ideas that were suggested were grouped into five areas:

• new ways of doing business
• alternative service delivery
• e-government technology
• new revenue generation
• partnerships

Staff reviewed these options and prepared a discussion paper called "Building the City of Tomorrow". A follow up consultation session was held. The resulting document will assist with City policy development over the months and years to come.

The document proposes a range of options for the City to consider in addressing the need to be financially sustainable. Principles are also proposed to govern new ways of working. These are intended to help increase the organization's capacity to adapt to new realities and to change.

Together, the City's Long-Term Financial Plan, the Economic Development Strategic Plan, and the Building the City of Tomorrow Discussion Paper provide tools for financial sustainability and a vision for economic prosperity.