Rural Municipality of Hanover, Manitoba

RURAL MUNI C I PAL I TY OF HANOVER , MANI TOBA Stahn shares, “On the economic sustainability side, I look back to the 1990s and 2000s and the hog industry expansion; how that provided growth and stability to the RM of Hanover, while other RMs were struggling with no growth or weren’t sure what direction they were taking. We also have strong dairy and poultry industries in our area, but we’re looking to diversify into manufacturing, construction, service, and retail, which is something we never really promoted before.” Every two years, Hanover does a new strategic plan that sets out goals for the following two years. Economic development is always a high priority on that plan. CAO, Luc Lahaie, notes, “The RM of Hanover has a Community Development Corporation (CDC) that we use as our investment arm of the municipality. Seven years ago we constructed six highway commercial lots in our community of Mitchell. All six are sold and we’re going to Phase Two. In 2019 and 2020, we’ll be constructing 12 more lots to relocate some rural residential home businesses that have outgrown their location in the country; moving them into a light manufacturing zone conducive to cabinet making, window making, auto body shops, etc., in a more urban area.” John Giesbrecht is a new councillor, elected last October. As a realtor, he has the pulse of what goes on in the business world, and he’s been a main driver on council for economic development. He explains, “One of the biggest challenges in economic sustainability involves finding jobs for the very large youth population we have coming up. The increase in immigration we’re experiencing, here, tends to bring in large families. So we have a tremendous amount of young people who will be looking for jobs, and as a result, we need to bring in some sort of economic driver that will keep these people in the community. Or they will find jobs elsewhere in general labor – construction, manufacturing, agriculture.” The population in the RM is growing, and housing is constantly expanding and selling; for every new house filling up, there’s an older house being filled by a first-time buyer. Several residential subdivisions have just been approved. According