2018-2022 Financial Plan

PROFILE and DEMOGRAPHICS

As amazing as the natural setting is, the spirit of those original pioneers is alive today in the current citizens. Maple Ridge is a community where any evening or weekend you’ll find a community festival underway, arenas and sports fields full of kids playing their favourite sports and service clubs and community organizations working to make the community and the world, a better place to live. All of these events are powered by volunteerism. From the day-to-day operation of the many sports associations to the Caribbean Festival, Country Fest and the annual Santa Parade, this is a place where people get involved. A REMARKABLE PLACE TO LIVE AND WORK. Maple Ridge is well-known as a family-oriented community that offers its residents an outstanding quality of life. The city is located just minutes from Golden Ears Provincial Park and boasts a unique combination of outstanding recreational opportunities, a vibrant local economy and the most affordable real estate in Metro Vancouver. Over the past five years, Maple Ridge has been one of the fastest growing and most affluent cities in BC. In 2016, Maple Ridge’s population surpassed 82,000 residents and the median household income was almost $100,000. This growing population, coupled with an increasing disposable income, presents great opportunities for savvy entrepreneurs and investors. Maple Ridge is a proven market for quality home builders, boutique shops and artisan food producers and is regularly welcoming new high-end farm markets, craft brewers and restaurants to its Town Centre. A key economic development priority of Maple Ridge Council is to actively foster a business climate that encourages private investment by new and existing companies to help meet the growing demand for the high-value local jobs. The Employment Land Investment Incentive Program is designed to accelerate investment and job growth in Maple Ridge by providing municipal tax exemptions, reduced development cost charges and reduced building permit fees for new construction and renovation on designated employment lands. NAIOP Vancouver, the association for commercial real estate development professionals, has recognized Maple Ridge for the past three years in a row as the “Most Business Friendly” municipality in the Lower Mainland and was also recognized as the “Most Fiscally Responsible” municipality in 2017. Maple Ridge has also recently launched the Open Government Portal, a new online service that provides open access to a wide variety of municipal data sets for residents, business owners and investors. Creating a welcoming business climate is what we’re all about. If you’re looking for a new home for you or your business, it’s easy to see why moving to Maple Ridge might be the best move you’ll ever make.

REALIZING THE DREAMS OF OUR FOUNDERS On September 12, 1874, a group of settlers met at John McIver’s farm and decided that they should incorporate and become a municipality. At that time there were less than 50 families but these early pioneers saw the potential of their new home as a place raise their families and create prosperity and opportunity for future generations.

With a vote of the assembled citizens, one of BC’s first municipalities was born. The choice of the name came from the trees and topography of John McIver’s farm. There was a magnificent stand of maple trees along the ridge that ran along the edge of the McIver farm and followed the line of the Fraser River. This new Municipality officially became ‘Maple Ridge.’

Over time, the character of Maple Ridge would begin to form and bring with it all of the opportunities that those who first settled the area hoped would come. Neighbourhoods like Hammond, Whonnock, Webster’s Corners, Ruskin, Albion and Yennadon sprung up and provided the homes where families could flourish. Each had their own post office, community centre, churches, stores and schools. Maple Ridge grew alongside the province’s earliest transit route – the Fraser River. When the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed in 1895, the community gained further benefits as the railway ran along Maple Ridge’s southern border adjacent to the Fraser River and brought with it the enormous economic benefits associated with ‘The National Dream’ of a coast-to-coast rail system. The railway helped local agriculture, forestry and manufacturing industries grow and prosper as the markets for local products expanded both east and west. Since those early days Maple Ridge’s economy has grown to encompass manufacturing, high tech, educa- tion services and has become a favourite destination for the television and film production industry. Today Maple Ridge has a population of over 80,000 and this area has been identified as one of the high growth areas of the Metro Vancouver Region. The community boasts one of the most diverse natural settings, with the Fraser River to the south, the Golden Ears Mountain to the north and a series of rivers and parks that allows citizens to escape to nature within minutes of their home. Add to this the top quality arts and recreational facilities and you can see that the vision of the families that met at the McIver farm has been realized.

Maple Ridge  Financial Plan 2018-2022

16 | P a g e