The selection of Canada as the host country for the headquarters of the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank is monumental news and an unequivocal sign of Canada’s international credibility during tumultuous times.
With Ottawa being a top contender for the headquarters, now is the time for our community to step up in support.
There are a multitude of reasons why Ottawa is the clear choice as the location for the headquarters. I will let others wax eloquent on the advantages of having the most educated workforce in Canada (or the most bilingual), or the fact that DND, the Bank of Canada, EDC, 130 diplomatic missions and Parliament are all within easy access. There will be countless efficiencies and synergies identified. These alone are reasons for the headquarters to be located here.
I come at things from a different angle, one where the “Faustian bargain” between Ottawa and the federal government can be softened, allowing both the government and Ottawa to dilute their dependence on one another.
By virtue of government density in Ottawa, there is always great political injury incurred whenever workforce contraction is required, as can be seen now. Conversely, growth can prove challenging when Ottawa has limited office vacancy, thereby limiting the government’s ability to grow. We saw this when Ottawa had the lowest vacancy rates in North America, making growth slow and expensive.
By choosing to locate the DSRB in Ottawa, the federal government has the opportunity to prime the pump for Ottawa’s economic advancement, while continuing to contract its workforce. Better still, the government can continue to rightsize without paralyzing or diminishing Ottawa’s economy. Alternatively, should future growth be required, the federal government could look to other parts of the nation and diversify its presence across Canada in a manner that is strategic and in support of the national interest.
In the short term, the DSRB would provide opportunities for downsized civil servants to find new and meaningful employment, providing a soft landing for those impacted by the cuts currently being implemented in the civil service.
Spin-off business from the DSRB, whether through growth in professional services, tech and innovation, or defence, would also allow the development of meaningful private-sector employment in Ottawa. This would allow the city to fully deploy the educational concentration of our population and leverage the technological density of our workforce, which is the highest in North America.
With this growth comes increased per capita GDP output, which will benefit all. This new dynamic would create a perpetual cycle of positivity for the city, while reducing its dependence on the vicissitudes of federal government growth and contraction.
The location of the DSRB in Ottawa would provide a recipe for a thriving city, one that moves away from the monoculture of federal government employment to one that is dynamic, diversified, engaging and – most importantly – self-determining.
We’ve had a good relationship with the federal government in Ottawa, but sometimes you can have too much of a good thing, meaning change might be required.
The DSRB provides an elegant way for Ottawa and the federal government to reduce their inter-dependence. More importantly, it provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to diversify our economy, while sowing the seeds for long-term prosperity.
A true win-win.
Shawn Hamilton is a principal at Proveras Commercial Realty in Ottawa
