Planning and Economic Development Committee

That Correspondence Item PDS-C 48-2021, dated September 15, 2021, respecting Recommendations from the Women's Advisory Committee meeting held on July 28, 2021, BE RECEIVED, and the following recommendations BE APPROVED: 1. That the presentation respecting Women Owned/Led Businesses BE USED to inform policies and programs offered to support businesses ensuring a gender based lens; and 2. That a Gender-based Analysis Plus process BE COMPLETED for all economic development surveys where appropriate.

WHEREAS Regional Council recognizes that climate change is a real and significant threat to both Niagara’s natural environment and economy; WHEREAS Niagara Region has already been impacted by climate change through shoreline and escarpment destruction, millions of dollars of infrastructure damages caused by extreme storm events and increase freeze–thaw cycles destroying our roads and subsurface infrastructure; WHEREAS Niagara Region’s agriculture sector struggles with irrigation challenges that are linked to drought-like conditions caused by climate change; Planning & Economic Development Committee Open Session Minutes PEDC 9-2021 September 15, 2021 Page 3 WHEREAS Niagara Region recognizes all the existing, albeit fragmented, climate change work that has occurred across all Regional departments; WHEREAS Niagara Region recognizes that all levels of government, including municipalities, have a crucial role to play in the mitigation and adaption of climate change; WHEREAS many municipalities across Ontario have formal strategies to manage climate change, investing resources to help combat the effects of extreme weather in their communities; WHEREAS Niagara Region recognizes that addressing climate action and transitioning to lower-carbon options represents an important opportunity for economic stimulation and job growth; WHEREAS a 2020 study conducted by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) found that climate adaptation costs C

That Report ED 17-2021, dated September 15, 2021, respecting Economic Development Strategy Update and Economic Base Analysis, BE RECEIVED for information.

That Report PDS 35-2021, dated September 15, 2021, respecting Initiation Report for Port Colborne Quarry Regional Official Plan Amendment 20, BE RECEIVED and BE CIRCULATED to the City of Port Colborne, the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, and IBI Group.

That Report PDS 36-2021, dated September 15, 2021, respecting Consultation Response and Further Policy Development, BE RECEIVED and BE CIRCULATED to the Local Area Municipalities.

That the motion respecting Industrial Space Economic Development Opportunities BE