Civil Municipal - Mar 2024

visitors, and industry. Set against the sparkling waters of the St. Clair River, this picturesque township offers a true Southwestern Ontario experience,with an abundance of recreational opportunities, from camping and boating, to golf and riverside trails, as well as museums and historic towns to be explored. “It’s just a great spot to live,” summarizes Mayor Jeff Agar. “We live on a beautiful river. We have a good agricultural section, and we have a great industrial section.” INDUSTRIAL TRIUMPHS Mayor Agar highlights St. Clair’s impressive industrial landscape, which includes three Nova refineries, a Shell refinery, an ethanol refinery, a fertilizer plant, and three gas hydro plants. He notes that the township’s substantial 4000 hectares of industrial land set it apart in Ontario, offering unparalleled growth potential compared to neighboring areas like Sarnia, which is near its maximum capacity. “Our major growth is our Nova’s, and that’s a big player in the world. They just installed over a $3.5 billion expansion, which is unheard of nowadays. Places don’t build that kind of stuff anymore,” he boasts. Once home to an Ontario Power Generation plant, which was shut down in 2013, the township is looking for something to fill this space.“I’d like to see some bio stuff, batteries, come down the pike. I don’t know what’s going to be coming in on the OPG plant site, but we’re versatile,” the mayor adds. St. Clair Township serves as a hub for numerous smaller industries, catering to the ‘Chemical Valley’ in the neighboring city of Sarnia, which boasts over 60 plants and refineries. In addition, the township’s industrial park is at full occupancy, after witnessing a surge in demand driven by Nova’s substantial expansion project. “There’s several industries that are in our industrial park that are geared towards doing maintenance and or construction for the Chemical Valley. And so obviously, when they have a project that’s of that size, it does nothing but help the smaller industries as well,” says Agar. Key players in the industrial 153 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 5, ISSUE 03 ST. CLAIR TOWNSHIP, ONTARIO