It’s not your grandfather’s Oshawa.

The long-time home to GM Canada has evolved into a health sciences and education hub — and one of the nation’s top performing urban economies — thanks to what the Durham Workforce Authority calls a “creative push for growth” after the credit crunch and global auto sector implosion in 2008.

The city, along with Windsor, is expected to boast the fastest-growing economy this year among 15 medium-sized census metropolitan areas analyzed by the Conference Board of Canada in a report published Thursday. What’s more, the growth isn’t just about cars.

While GM remains a major employer and has unveiled new investment in Oshawa this year, health sciences, the professions, construction and retail have become key to what the report calls “red hot” jobs growth in the city about 60 kilometres from Toronto.

The city has seen the growth of nearly 30,000 jobs since 2011, including a record 18,000 in 2016.

“We’ve reinvented ourselves as a community,” said Oshawa Mayor John Henry, adding that the city has made strategic investments in universities and colleges, boasting 20,000 full-time students at three post-secondary institutions, as well as the largest, multi-specialty medical group practice in Canada.

The investment has helped the city on the eastern edge of the GTA attract and retain young people, along with business investment that includes Costco’s 2012 construction of a 146,500-square-foot outlet at the former site of the north General Motors plant at Ritson Rd. and William St.

Henry said Oshawa has a diversified economy with roots in advanced manufacturing and transportation, in part by virtue of its natural deep water port on the shores of Lake Ontario.

If you are looking at buying or selling real estate in Oshawa or anywhere in Durham Region, contact Team Bryant today.  We look forward to helping with all of your real estate needs.