Community Benefits

Workforce Development and Participation Strategy

As part of the Community Benefits Plan, a strategy geared toward engaging businesses and providing employment opportunities has been developed and is centered on (i) workforce development, (ii) training and (iii) pre-apprenticeships/apprenticeships.

There are three sections to this strategy:

I. at least $250 million of the total value of the work during the design-build phase in Canada will be performed by, contracted to, or supplied by the workers or contractors located in the City of Windsor, Essex County or within 100 kilometres of the City of Windsor

II. engaging and employing Canadian Indigenous Peoples in and around the City of Windsor, Essex County and Walpole Island, Ontario and contracting their businesses

III. engaging, employing and contracting Detroit residents and Detroit-based and Detroit-headquartered businesses.

In addition, the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) goal established for this project is 2.15% of the cost of the construction and engineering work needed to complete the Michigan Interchange and the portion of the Bridge located in Michigan.

Collectively more than 80 initiatives have been identified for implementation to ensure that Windsor, Detroit and Canadian Indigenous Peoples have opportunities for employment or to provide goods and services to the project.

These initiatives focus on ways to engage the following entities:

• General Public/Stakeholders
• Elementary and Secondary Schools,
• Post-Secondary Institutions
• Subcontractors
• Unions
• Vendors
• Workforce Development Agencies

A full list of the initiatives including timelines and delivery partners is available in the Community Benefits Plan. Here are a few highlights:

Learn more about project opportunities and how to get involved

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The second component of the Community Benefits Plan is the Neighbourhood Infrastructure Strategy, a $20 million community investment focused on priorities identified through the two-phase consultation that occurred between 2015-2019 with communities, businesses, First Nations and other stakeholders in Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan. The Neighbourhood Infrastructure Strategy is comprised of initiatives that are consistent with the Crossing Agreement and the key regional priorities identified through consultation including: community partnerships, community safety and connections, economic benefits and aesthetics and landscaping. The initiatives target the Sandwich/west Windsor area and the Delray/Southwest Detroit area ensuring that the communities adjacent to the project are the ones benefitting most from the Neighbourhood Infrastructure Strategy.

Collectively, 29 community investment initiatives have been identified and will be implemented collaboratively with local delivery partners during the design and construction period of the Gordie Howe International Bridge project. A detailed list of initiatives is available in the Community Benefits Plan. Here are a few highlights:

Canadian Initiatives for Delivery:

US Initiatives for Delivery:

Initiative Expansion Allocation

The allocations for initiatives currently do not total $10 million for each side. BridgingNA is committed to expending the full amount. In Canada, the $2.8 million remains unallocated and in the US $2.35 million remains unallocated. These monies are identified as the Initiative Expansion Allocation.

The Initiative Expansion Allocation will provide additional funding to initiatives noted in the Community Benefits Plan Neighbourhood Infrastructure Strategy in the event that final costs for an initiative are higher than originally planned. The funds may also be used for new initiatives not included at the time of the plan finalization.

Following the announcement of the Community Benefits Plan in June 2019, Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA) began recruitment for the Local Community Group. This group will act as informal partners in the implementation of collaborative activities related to the Community Benefits Plan for the Gordie Howe International Bridge. The Local Community Group is composed of a variety of stakeholders that collectively represent the communities of Detroit/Delray and Windsor/Sandwich, Windsor-Essex County, and the Greater Detroit Area. The Local Community Group will provide valuable input and formal linkages to the region that will enable WDBA and Bridging North America to better understand the perspective of project stakeholders regarding the Community Benefits Plan.

The Local Community Group will work directly with WDBA’s Manager Community Benefits and Bridging North America’s Community Benefits Coordinator. It is anticipated that the Local Community Group will participate in the following activities:

• Participate in quarterly meetings. Each meeting is anticipated to be scheduled for a two-hour duration.
• Provide input into the implementation of initiatives within the Community Benefits Plan.
• Provide input into the assessment and review of community funding applications as part of the Community Organization Investment within the Neighbourhood Infrastructure Strategy.
• Participate on at least one subcommittee, including: Community Art and Community History. Other subcommittees may be created as necessary. Subcommittee meetings are to be scheduled on an as- needed basis during the Design-Build period of the project.

Applications for the Local Community Group are no longer being accepted.

Read the Local Community Group Terms of Reference.