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Q:  We’re looking for land in the GTA to build our company headquarters. Where would you suggest?

-S.G.

A:  On the heels of a similar announcement from Air Canada in late 2012, Canon Canada Inc recently announced that they, too, are building new corporate head offices in the GTA. After careful assessments, each company chose to headquarter in Brampton, Ontario.

Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell announced in January, “I’m thrilled that Canon Canada, a globally renowned company, will open its new corporate headquarters in Brampton. It’s a great boost to Brampton’s economy.”  Mayor Fennell later added, at the February Board of Trade State of the City speech, that Canon had hired architectural firm Moriyama & Teshima to build its corporate head office at the intersection of Mississauga Road and Steeles Avenue.

Mayor Susan Fennell

In her annual speech to local business and trade representatives, Mayor Fennell, who also announced intent to seek a fifth term in 2014, credited City Council for resisting pressures to rezone the Mississauga Road/Steeles Avenue corridor for strictly residential development. “Council led by planning and zoning land for business use,” she said. “Canon is proof our plan is working.” Mayor Fennell echoed real estate’s Location! Location! Location! credo, declaring Brampton the “Right place, right time, right now” for commercial growth.

The Brampton Board of Trade’s theme for this year’s February luncheon was international trade, and the Mayor reported that Brampton had been well-represented during recent trade missions to India and China. Air Canada’s new 65,000 square foot head office and Canon’s future headquarters, combined, will create more than 1000 jobs for the local economy.