APRIL 2016
H
business elite canada
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Nevertheless, factors, apart from econom-
ical fluctuations, have pushed Circle P Pav-
ing towards a westward expansion. The
company has had to migrate into Hamil-
ton due to the sluggish rate of population
growth in the Niagara region.
“Without local market growth, without
population growth, without commercial
tax base growth, it’s made it increasingly
difficult on the municipalities to fund to
the level things need to be funded. So as
a consequence to that, we have had to go
further west,” Phibbs said.
The incorporation of Hamilton has com-
pensated for the limitations of the Niagara
market. According to the Ontario Chamber
of Commerce, the Hamilton-Niagara Pen-
insula (HNP) is home to 1.45 million resi-
dents, accounting for 11 per cent of the
province’s population. The number is pre-
dicted to gradually rise due to the migra-
tion attracted by low interest rates and ap-
pealing house prices.
“To be in business for a number of years,
you’ve got to have flexibility, you’ve got to
expand and contract … At the same time
you’ve got to be cognisant of what the
industry is doing, what the market condi-
tions are and what the trends are doing,”
Phibbs said about the Hamilton expansion.
Although a bright future is predicted for the
HNP, shortages in infrastructure spending
present an additional challenge to compa-
nies like Circle P Paving.
“There’s a shortfall of systemic money
in the system through conventional taxa-
tion and of course, over the last number
