Community Dashboard

Diversified, Thriving Economy

City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan

Diversified, Thriving Economy Priority Statement

Our local economy is as diverse and vibrant as our community. We attract business investment to balance our tax base and provide employment opportunities across different sectors and our businesses are supported in their growth and innovation goals. Our community is a destination for seekers of arts, culture and outdoor adventure.

Initiative Status Snapshot
Diversified, Thriving Economy

Loading...

Status Legend

Symbol	Status Title
	Key Result or Initiative in Progress
	Key Result Partially Met - No Further Action
	Key Result Fully Met - No Further Action
	Initiative Complete
	Initiative Under Review
	Initiative Needs Attention
	Key Result or Initiative Not Started
	Key Result or Initiative Not Met

Key Results	KR End Date	Initiatives	Initiative End Date	Initiative Status Icon		Initiative External Update
Key Results	KR End Date	Initiatives	Initiative End Date	Q1-25	Q2-25	Q2-25
Objectives Attract, retain and expand business investment to diversify the tax base and increase local employment
Develop an Incentive Strategy for New Business Attraction	9/30/25	Develop an Incentive Strategy for new business attraction	9/30/25	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	As part of the Investment Attraction and Business Retention and Expansion strategies, the city also prepared an updated report on incentives, focusing on those most applicable to Maple Ridge’s potential target industries, including film, professional services and technology, manufacturing, value-added agriculture, and transportation and warehousing. Work on this key result is linked to outcomes from these other strategies and will be undertaken in Q3.
Ensure that the business licensing process and service delivery is capable of processing 20% more applications annually	12/31/25	Increase staffing levels for business licensing processing	12/31/25	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	Planning for staffing level changes to support business license processing has commenced but the initiative will likely be brought forward in late 2025 to inform budget allocations for 2026. The goal of this work is to improve staffing coverage for business license applications and renewals and will take place in the context of other customer experience improvements.
	12/31/25	Complete business license process and digital application review	12/1/25	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	Work is well underway to make continuous improvements to the business licence processes to streamline and improve the experience for our business community. Several elements of this work have been completed including process mapping to look for efficiencies and development of new tools including online review of applications to accelerate the process and get businesses operating or renewed faster. The updates are expected to be in place by the end of 2025.
Objectives Expand training and educational options in Maple Ridge to build a skilled workforce that attracts innovative businesses
Establish a collaborative Tech Hub to specifically nurture the growth of technologically inclined entrepreneurs	9/30/25	Establish a collaborative Tech Hub to specifically nurture the growth of technologically inclined entrepreneurs	9/30/25	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	This project may be rescoped. Early work focused on establishment of a Tech Hub but new key results may be brought forward in Q3 to focus this work more precisely on targeted industries such as Creative Industries as outlined in the City's investment attraction strategy.
Complete a Labour Market and Gap Analysis	9/5/25	Conduct Labour Market Gap Analysis	9/5/25	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	This work underpins the City's efforts to ensure that it bases investment attraction efforts and business retention and expansion efforts on sound data regarding labour market needs and projections. Additional discussions are planned to inform the research on labour market gaps and projections and target this on areas identified in strategies completed in early 2025.
Objectives Explore and maximize tourism opportunities as a means to further diversify the local economy
Implement a net promotor score for Adventure Hub, Urban Hot Spots, and Farm Fresh experiences , set the baseline, and improve by 20%	12/31/26	Implement Net Promoter Score for Adventure Hub, Urban Hot Spots, and Farm Fresh Experiences with a set baseline and improve by 20% by the end of 2025	12/31/26	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	A net promoter score is a useful measurement of the degree to which a service is meeting the needs of the community and whether service users would recommend the service to others. With respect to eco and adventure tourism, a net promoter score has now been benchmarked, and this initiative is substantially complete. The initiative is kept in progress until future surveying confirms a 20% improvement in the net promoter score.
	12/31/26	Complete regulatory review of eco-tourism, adventure tourism and agri-tourism policies	12/31/25	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	This work will conduct a comprehensive examination of policies governing nature-based travel, thrilling experiences, and farm-oriented getaways to ensure City regulations enable sustainable development, safeguard natural habitats, and foster economic growth. Once analysis is completed it will be brought forward for Council review in late 2025.
Objectives Foundational Initiatives for Diversified, Thriving Economy
Foundational Initiatives for Diversified, Thriving Economy	N/A	Facilitate Downtown Revitalization Initiatives	12/31/25	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	Economic Development collaborated with the BIA on the 2025 Downtown Sparkle Week (May 12-16) and Clean-up Blitz Day (May 14) to encourage businesses to clean up their storefronts and create a more welcoming environment for customers and visitors. Nearly 90 volunteers collected more than 100 bags containing more than 200 kg of litter and detritus before coming together for a picnic-style lunch in Memorial Peace Park. Items of note that were collected included a sofa, a chair, a bed frame, several shopping buggies, and the side mirror from a car or truck. Initial conversations with the BIA have taken place regarding the final 18 months of the current Business Improvement Area Establishment Bylaw, its expiration at the end of 2026, and potential paths forward. The BIA's new executive director and new board of directors are reinvigorating the organization, looking to engage with their members, the City, and the community going forward.
		Conduct Albion Industrial Land Use and Servicing Analysis	6/30/25	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	The project was completed in partnership with Metro Vancouver and KFN. It is expected that the study will advance to the MV planning committee in June. This land use and servicing analysis can now be used to inform city planning and engineering investments in the Albion area and inform updates to plans based on technical data.
		Refresh Agricultural Plan	10/30/25	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	This project is anticipated to be advanced in future business planning cycles. It was not approved for funding in 2025 due to competing priorities. However, the City is committed to remaining focused on developing the agricultural sector in Maple Ridge and will be proposing new related actions under the forthcoming Climate Action Plan that relate to the refresh of the Agricultural Plan.

Diversified, Thriving Economy Completed Key Results

Key Results	KR End Date	Initiatives	Initiative End Date	Initiative Status Icon		Initiative External Update
Key Results	KR End Date	Initiatives	Initiative End Date	Q1-25	Q2-25	Q2-25
Objectives Attract, retain and expand business investment to diversify the tax base and increase local employment
Complete a Business Retention & Expansion (BR&E) Analysis and Implementation Plan	5/30/25	Develop business retention and expansion analysis and implementation plan	5/30/25	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	This initiative was a collaborative effort across multiple departments. A plan for business retention and expansion has been completed. Staff are now reviewing the plan to align it with the Investment Attraction strategy which will focus on targeting industries that enhance tax diversification and create jobs in Maple Ridge. The focus will also include short-term objectives and strategic planning to attract long-term investments. New Key Results will be identified in Q3 to advance delivery of the plan to achieve business retention and expansion targets.
Develop an Investment Attraction Strategy for targeted industries, including a value/supply chain strategy	5/5/25	Conduct investment attraction analysis and Implementation plan for targeted industries	5/5/25	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	An investment attraction strategy has been developed that provides guidance on possible targeted industries on which to focus. This was a collaborative effort across multiple departments, and staff are now working on setting up new key results for Q3 that will drive achievement of investment attraction results in the industries selected. The focus is on industries that enhance tax diversification and create jobs in Maple Ridge.
Objectives Expand training and educational options in Maple Ridge to build a skilled workforce that attracts innovative businesses
Create a formal, collaborative partnership with a post-secondary institution	9/30/25	Collaborate with post-secondary institutions on feasibility study to develop and sustain program training that addresses workforce needs	3/31/25	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	In 2024 and early 2025 considerable work was done to build a collaboration with key partners to encourage location of a post-secondary institution in Maple Ridge. Establishing a collaboration model is now completed and will continue to be maintained. Future work will focus on connecting the post-secondary engagement and collaboration to investment attraction needs regarding the future labour force. This aspect of the feasibility study for post-secondary intuitions is now completed. It will remain a longer-term focus for the City to prepare for an upturn in growth of the post-secondary sector as current external factors such as immigration policy have made the operating environment more challenging in the medium term for post-secondary institutions expansion and growth in satellite campuses.
	9/30/25	Pre-work for: Creating a formalized partnership with a post secondary institution	9/30/25	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	This work is now completed. Foundational work to build partnerships with potential post-secondary institutions that may locate facilities in the community in the future has been successful. External factors have caused a realignment in the post-secondary sector which mean that the viability of a new institution locating in Maple Ridge in the short to medium term is less likely. Staff are continuing to engage with the sector to prepare for future expansion of the post-secondary sector and align this with the Investment Attraction and business expansion needs of the community.
Objectives Explore and maximize tourism opportunities as a means to further diversify the local economy
Increase film-based tourism by 10%	12/31/24	Electrification of Railway Lot for film (Creative BC Reel Green Grant) and continued through BC hydro incentive offer	11/29/24	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	Electrification of the Railway Waterfront Filming Location was completed in 2024. Staff are now working to attract film companies who have shown strong demand for these facilities. The work will be ongoing, but this part of the initiative is now completed. Film companies save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by using the lots so it serves multiple purposes for industry while increasing the number of film productions that choose Maple Ridge as an attractive destination for filming.
Increase film-based tourism by 10%	12/31/24	Implement a circular economy program to re-purpose film set materials	2/28/25	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	Initial investigative work to determine if a circular economy model could work for film sets was undertaken in 2024 and 2025. This identified barriers to implementation that would prevent this moving forward in the short to mid-term for the film sector. The City is committed to looking for new opportunities to prioritize recycling and circular economy projects for industries to support economic growth and achieve climate goals and lower costs by reducing waste to our landfills. No further action will be taken at this time on the Film Set circular economy model originally proposed.
Develop an event attraction strategy for tourist-driven events aligned with community-based events	3/21/25	Develop an Event Attraction Strategy for Tourist-driven Events Aligned with Community Based Events	3/21/25	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	City of Maple Ridge Corporate Plan	The event attraction strategy has been prepared and was reviewed by Council for input in Q1, 2025. Staff are now working though the strategy recommendations determine next steps to foster events that have multiplier benefits for the community through tourism attraction, business development and aligns well with existing community based and recreational events. Future initiatives will be put in place to enact the strategy and undertake work in earnest to target the attraction of specific high profile events (e.g., concerts, cultural events and festivals, film festivals, sports and games events) that can generate tourism and community outcomes.