On September 28, the Ottawa Board of Trade brought together business, tourism, education, municipal, and community partners from across the National Capital Region (NCR) for a productive meeting with the NCR Caucus, focused on advancing Ottawa-Gatineau as one integrated economic region.
Chaired by Mona Fortier, Member of Parliament for Ottawa–Vanier–Gloucester, and Greg Fergus, Member of Parliament for Hull–Aylmer, the meeting provided an opportunity for regional partners to present a shared economic agenda for 2027–2028 and discuss the opportunities and challenges shaping the region’s future.
The agenda, Canada’s Capital Region: Economic Priorities 2027–2028, moves the region’s work from advocacy toward execution, organized around three shared economic missions: building a sovereign innovation and defence economy; building the talent base for the next economy, and creating an investment-ready, connected, and powered NCR.
Together, the priorities focus on converting the region’s considerable assets – including its talent, research institutions, technology and defence capabilities, infrastructure, tourism economy, and federal presence – into measurable economic outcomes, including business growth, commercialization, investment, exports, productivity, and high-value jobs.
A central theme throughout the discussion was the importance of approaching Ottawa-Gatineau as one economic region. Workers, students, visitors, entrepreneurs, researchers, and businesses already move across the river every day, while the region’s economic partners increasingly collaborate on areas including defence innovation, tourism, talent, and infrastructure.
The meeting also emphasized the need for sustained collaboration and accountability. Regional partners are proposing a year-round working relationship with federal and regional leads, quarterly progress reviews, and a shared dashboard to track progress toward measurable outcomes.
“The National Capital Region has tremendous assets and an opportunity to play an even greater role in Canada’s economic future,” said Sueling Ching, President and CEO of the Ottawa Board of Trade. “By working together across jurisdictions and sectors, we can turn our regional strengths into greater investment, innovation, talent, and economic growth. The strength of this agenda is that it is shared – and that we are focused on what we can accomplish together.”
The regional economic partners participating in the work include Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology, Carleton University, Chambre de commerce de Gatineau, City of Ottawa, Collège La Cité, Invest Ottawa, Ottawa Coalition of Business Improvement Areas (OCOBIA), Ottawa International Airport Authority, Ottawa Tourism, Regroupement des gens d’affaires de la Capitale nationale (RGA), Tourisme Outaouais, University of Ottawa and Ville de Gatineau, alongside the Ottawa Board of Trade.
The shared agenda calls for regional partners to align their federal advocacy around the three missions, provide accountable leadership, build shared measures of progress, and work together on both sides of the Ottawa River.
The Ottawa Board of Trade will continue working with partners and the NCR Caucus to advance the priorities and build momentum toward a more connected, competitive, and prosperous Capital Region.