Shelburne, Ontario

SHELBURNE , ONTAR IO will soon follow. As Mills explains, “This is big news in a still relatively small town like ours, but those are the sorts of things that, as the community grows, we need to have in place to support that growing and changing population.” Millions of cars also travel through Shelburne each year. When the pandemic jeopardized the town’s small business sector, members of the Business Improvement Association (BIA) and the economic development committee banded together to form a small business working group. They drew up plans to support Shelburne’s mom and pop shops, organized online workshops, and relaxed many bylaw restrictions for restaurants to open patios without paying application fees for an extended period. For added support, the council started an online platform that Mills calls “a virtual shopping mall” to keep business thriving during lockdowns, particularly in Shelburne’s downtown. Town council found that many business owners don’t have the expertise, money, or time to shift their business to e-commerce, leading it to provide more hands-on guidance. “We tried to spearhead that on their behalf and make it as easy as possible for them to tap into, so they have the benefits of a fairly robust e-commerce presence without having to do a lot of the legwork themselves,” says Mills. These initiatives benefitted the community’s workforce, which has shifted over the past few years. Many people assume the town is mainly a bedroom community, yet while a lot of residents continue to commute outside of town for work, specifically to Orangeville, Alliston, the northern Greater Toronto Area, Brampton, Mississauga, and Toronto, a rising number are staying in town for employment. More professionals in neighboring Dufferin County and other areas north and west of town are also beginning to commute into