Windsor-Essex is Canada’s premier border location for access to the North American market.
An enviable lifestyle in Canada’s most temperate region
The Windsor-Essex region features Ontario’s balmiest weather, with average daily temperatures above 50ºF(10º C) seven and a half months of the year – perfect for golfing, gardening, boating and much more. Agriculture and award winning wine making are major industries.
The area’s rich multi-cultural diversity is celebrated in dozens of annual festivals and county fairs. We are a global destination and a rapidly growing part of Canada.
For those looking for urban pursuits, the area offers major league sports, world-class gaming, big-name stage performances, and international art exhibits in several galleries. All in all, it’s a truly exciting and rewarding place to call home.
Four Great Reasons Why
Location
One of the most obvious advantages of the Windsor-Essex region is our location, at the heart of the richest consumer market in the world, with more than 200 million people located within a 13-hour drive. The Windsor-Detroit crossing is the busiest commercial border crossing between Canada and the U.S., handling approximately one-third of all trade between the two countries (about $500 million per day).
Talent
Windsor-Essex is home to a diversified workforce with demonstrated capacity in advanced manufacturing, engineering, connected and autonomous vehicles, zero emission and clean tech, agriculture and agri-tech, transportation and logistics. Education and our deep history in automotive are also major sectors in which we offer extensive expertise.
Connected
Our location, deep in the heart of North America, makes us an excellent location for multimodal logistics. With direct access to continental air and rail systems, major land routes and deep-water ocean ports, we’re an ideal point of interchange for North American logistics operations.
Affordable
Land prices here are among the continent’s most attractive. Housing costs are among Canada’s most affordable and commercial and industrial space are both available and offer competitive lease and purchase prices.
Key Industry Sectors
Advanced Manufacturing
Known as North America’s manufacturing powerhouse, Windsor-Essex is a well-known leader and innovator in advanced manufacturing. Parts suppliers and mold makers across the region are at the forefront of using innovative technology to remain competitive in a changing global marketplace. Our area is home to four of the top 10 mold makers in the western hemisphere.
Superior technology, developed through advanced and experimental research, has led to the emergence of a highly specialized network of suppliers. Hundreds of manufacturers supply tool and die, mold making, machining, automation transfer equipment, machine building, deep raw metal stamping, micro-electronics and laser guided robotics systems to meet the demands of leading manufacturers worldwide.
Agriculture & Agri-Tech
Our area’s 4,500-plus acres of greenhouse operations make Windsor-Essex home to the largest vegetable greenhouse cluster in North America, and second-largest in the world. Businesses enjoy a very productive 212-day growing season, on average, every year.
A major driver of the regional economy, the food and beverage processing sector generates over $3 billion in annual GDP, making it Windsor-Essex’s second-largest manufacturing sector. Approximately 80 per cent of Ontario’s greenhouse vegetable acreage is in Windsor-Essex and over 70 per cent of our farmers’ produce is exported to the U.S. Because it is primarily an export industry, our lower Canadian dollar helps food processing companies by offering food and beverage products at very attractive prices in export markets.
Connected & Autonomous Vehicles
The Windsor-Essex automobility ecosystem fosters a vibrant innovation and competitive entrepreneurial network. The region’s research and economic development partners coordinate to advance the development and deployment of technologies and infrastructure to support the next-generation of automobility innovation – connectedness, autonomous, shared and electrification.
These efforts have shifted Windsor-Essex from Canada’s Automotive Capital to the Automobility Capital of Canada.
Education and R&D
Windsor-Essex is home to several major research facilities and institutes of higher education, as well as many facilities and programs that enable career based training. With several strategic initiatives linking higher education and workforce development, it’s no wonder our area’s post-secondary programs are internationally recognized.
Information & Communications Technologies
The fast-growing information and communications technologies (ICT) sector in Windsor-Essex is helping the region diversify its economy to fit modern communications and information technology needs. Many companies in the burgeoning industry are putting down roots in Windsor-Essex, helping the sector grow at a rate faster than the overall economy.
With more than 11,500 people working in ICT across 250 companies in the region, taking advantage of more than 2,000 km of fiber optic cable, the region is quickly becoming well-known for ICT in Ontario and beyond. Many of the industry’s organizations partner with other key sectors, such as manufacturing and healthcare, to develop best-in-class, cutting-edge solutions to information technology and communications needs.
Life Sciences
Windsor-Essex is the cross-border hub of research and innovation, where dynamic and life-changing discoveries are made. Our proximity to Detroit, Michigan opens opportunities for cross-border medical research studies, a diverse population for clinical trials and a direct link between Canadian and U.S. health networks. We work together to expand our medical equipment and device manufacturing, clinical trials and nutraceutical development for the benefit of our community.
We provide a business friendly location to help advance our medical knowledge and expertise and support our communities for a sustainable future.
Known for the largest producing region of softgel capsules in Canada, our highly-skilled manufacturing workforce attracts major pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing companies
Professional & Back-Office Operations
There are many reasons why our business owners and investors choose to operate their professional services in Windsor-Essex. With a uniquely positioned, thriving environment, we top the charts in various industry strengths. We are Canada’s largest catchment area with over 7.7 million people within a 90 minute drive; over 85 per cent of businesses in the region have access to fibre optic/broadband; multi-national corporations report high retention rates of employees; and over 140,000 financial services employees in Windsor-Essex and southeast Michigan.
Transportation & Logistics
Found at the heart of North America’s consumer population, Windsor-Essex has long been recognized as a leader in transportation and logistics as the proximity to the United States results in numerous cost savings to store and transport goods.
With the nation’s busiest commercial border crossing, Windsor-Essex handles one-third of all trade between Canada and the U.S, reaching over $100 billion in goods that cross the Detroit-Windsor border annually. Windsor-Essex is designated as a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ), which allows tax and tariff exemptions to promote cross-border business and production.
Zero Emission & Clean Energy
Windsor-Essex is on the forefront of forming the next big economic growth sector. Our geographic location is arguably the most desirable Canadian location for electric vehicle manufacturing.
Our region has built up a strong industry for eliminating our emissions and advancing our clean technologies sector including electrification, battery supply, connected and autonomous vehicles, cybersecurity and green energy.