With its mild climate, world-class entertainment, affordable housing, and the beautiful 100-mile peninsula, Windsor is giving everyone a reason to retire here.

The new “Retire Here” campaign is the brainchild of the Windsor-Essex Active Retirement Community Initiative (WEARCI), a nonprofit cooperative marketing partnership formed in April 2008 by the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Windsor-Essex County Real Estate Board, and the Greater Windsor Home Builders Association. Mike Dinchik, Executive Officer of the Home Builders Association, sits on the board of directors for WEARCI and is taking the lead in the project. Thanks to the board of directors at the Home Builders Association, he is allowed to spend 20 per cent of his work time on the initiative. His role involves organization and getting out into the community.

“We’re looking to promote the entire Windsor-Essex region as an area to look at for your retirement. We’re not creating specific developments, that will come from local developers as we move on and the numbers of retirees increase,” explained Dinchik.

Linda Smith, President of the Chamber of Commerce, is excited about the project launch.  “The Chamber is a partner, and as an equal partner, we have put resources into the project, staff and monetary. The Chamber brings with it our membership, as well as a means to communicate through our network of businesses,” said Smith.

Krista Del Gatto, Executive Officer of the Real Estate Board, also sits on the WEARCI board. “We’re looking at partnerships now, trying to obtain additional funding,” she said.

WEARCI is currently reviewing their advertising strategy, but plans to focus on the Greater Toronto Area. From there, they will broaden to Ontario, and then to the rest of Canada. It may seem strange that Windsor is being considered a hotspot for retirees, but when you consider all that Windsor-Essex has to offer, it makes sense.

 “Geographically, we have a very unique location. Our location offers a whole host of amenities, especially when you take in a bit of Southeastern Michigan, that allows people to have the big city amenities with a smaller centre,” said Dinchik.

Windsor-Essex’s ideal temperature climate is warm and inviting for retirees. The average daily temperature is 10° celsius for 223 days a year, giving its residents seven months of short-sleeve weather. The Windsor-Essex peninsula is bordered by Lake Erie, the Detroit River, and Lake St. Clair, boasting over 100 miles of shoreline, 16 conservation areas, and two islands—perfect for hiking, bird watching, kayaking, camping, and diving for shipwrecks. Retirees want to stay active and be involved within the community.

“Our location here is busy with a lot of community events throughout the year that offer opportunities for many to get involved in. We have a variety of events here that offer retirees and semi-retirees a lot to do,” said Dinchik.

The area has many entertainment options, including 24-hour gaming and star performers at Caesars Windsor and slots and live harness-racing at Windsor Raceway, not to mention the area’s 13 award-winning estate wineries, fairs, festivals, botanical gardens, bird sanctuaries, major-league sports teams in Detroit, multi-cultural celebrations, art galleries, orchestras, theatre, sculpture gardens, and much more. The area also offers two major post-secondary institutions—the University of Windsor and St. Clair College. If the Windsor International Airport does not serve your needs, you’re only 45 minutes away from the Detroit Metro International Airport. The Via Rail train station, located near downtown Windsor, has frequent daily departures. In Detroit, there are two Amtrak stations, also 45 minutes away. Windsor is located close-by many major cities. By air, it is 45 minutes from Toronto, one hour from Chicago, two hours from Ottawa, and two and a half hours from New York.

When the three organizations comprising WEARCI were in the beginning stages, they became aware of the American Association of Retirement Communities. One element of the AARC that spoke to Smith was NORC: Naturally Occurring Retirement Community. To qualify as a NORC, a community must have certain amenities that Windsor-Essex already has.

“When you start taking inventory of things and our lists of natural amenities, it becomes natural that this would appeal to an active retirement lifestyle,” said Smith.

Del Gatto points to the real estate market as a major benefit to relocating to Windsor. “There’s no doubt, if you look anywhere across Canada, Windsor and Essex County is the most affordable place,” said Del Gatto.

With Windsor-Essex’s affordable real estate market, purchasing a home in the area is 30 per cent to 50 per cent less expensive than in a comparable market. According to 2007 MLS data, the average resale home price in Windsor is $163,215. The same house would be $202,908 in London, $252,429 in Kitchener, $261,684 in Barrie, $268,857 in Hamilton, $273,058 in Ottawa, and climbing to a staggering $377,029 in Toronto. Likewise, an average two bedroom apartment rental property in Windsor-Essex is $733 per month, reaching $1,061 for the same in Toronto. Windsor-Essex can offer more than any other area in Ontario in terms of housing affordability.

“There’s the opportunity to do more with your money. At the end of the day, if you live in Toronto in a million dollar house, and you come here and buy a comparable $300,000 house and invest the rest of your funds, you’ve got a healthy nest egg,” said Del Gatto.

Jon and Shirley Hitchcock recently moved to Amherstburg from Etobicoke, ON, after researching nearby surrounding areas. “We wanted a place that was close to the border because we have some property down in the south that we go to, and we wanted a nice place to live,” Jon Hitchcock explained.  The Hitchcocks began their search around the Niagara peninsula region, continuing on to Lake Erie, Leamington, Kingsville, and LaSalle before finding their home in Amherstburg.  “We found this place in Amherstburg which we fell in love with and have been happy with ever since,” said Hitchcock.  The couple continues to be impressed with what Windsor-Essex has to offer.  “We have the benefits of living in a small town in Amherstburg and we’re a few minutes away from the city of Windsor, which has lots of amenities,” explained Hitchcock. The Hitchcocks are also pleased with the housing market. “That was one of the benefits in the area. We certainly got a good value in the real estate market. There’s a really good selection of homes available at reasonable prices,” said Hitchcock.

The initiative is also beneficial to homeowners looking to sell. “Considering the situation of our real estate market, this type of program introduces a new market to sell your home to,” said Smith.

According to the Statistics Canada 2006 Census: Tracking Trends in Windsor document, 47.9 per cent of Windsorites aged 65 and over live with a spouse without children, 28.4 per cent live alone, and 13.7 per cent live with their children. Of those aged 85 and over, 20.6 per cent live with a spouse without children, 42.4 per cent live alone, and 11.1 per cent live with their children. Only 4 per cent of the 65 and over crowd and 17.5 per cent of the 85 and over crowd live in nursing homes or senior residences.

With the trend moving toward retirees living in houses as opposed to nursing homes, Windsor is the perfect area to relocate to in terms of affordability. Even though the Windsor-Essex real estate market is more affordable than most markets, WEARCI knows they cannot depend solely on that. “We understand that’s one of the attractions, however, we can’t depend on the fact that because we have lower housing costs, it will attract people. We have to promote what other amenities we have in this region because retirees today are pretty active,” said Dinchik.

WEARCI wants to ensure that the Windsor-Essex community will benefit from the changing demographics in the area. The number of Canadians aged 55 to 64 has risen by 28 per cent to 3.7 million over the last five years. The number of those aged 65 and over has risen to more than 4.3 million. Those not at the retirement stage in their lives can still reap the benefits of retirees relocating to the area. “It’s a job generator to about four and a half jobs per migrating retiree family. We’re looking at it from that perspective. The first beneficiary of this whole initiative is the tourism industry because people are certainly going to come here and check us out. They’re going to stay in our motels, they will take part in our concerts, our golf courses, our wineries, our restaurants, and tour the area,” said Dinchik. The initiative is essential for job creation in the area. “When retirees relocate to our community and purchase the homes and live and flourish here, there will be ancillary businesses created to service that sector,” said Smith.

Business will see a rise in sales once more retirees relocate to the area. “The more money you bring into the area, the more they’re going to shop at the stores, go to the museums and restaurants. That in itself will have an effect on everyone,” said Del Gatto. Dinchik predicts it will take five to seven years to see solid results on the community with the long term project. “Hopefully it will be sooner, but we realize we’re going to have to do a little bit of marketing of this area to actually attract retirees,” said Dinchik. With the three strong organizations backing the initiative, Dinchik is optimistic it will show success. “All three organizations are committed to maintaining the integrity and following through with our marketing initiative to this area.

This area has a lot to offer, and we’re confident that once people start to see that, they will start to consider us in their plans,” he said. The three groups realize this is not going to be an overnight success, but their careful planning and Windsor-Essex’s variety of amenities are working in their favour. The next step for WEARCI is sending out informational packages as well as booking familiarization tours. “Marketing to the communities that we target, and having them come down for familiarization tours and booking a weekend in Windsor-Essex, is essential. The familiarization tour is the next step, and certainly translating those actually interested in home purchases or condos or relocation is going to take some time,” Smith explained.

For more information about retiring in Windsor, visit retirehere.ca or call 1-877-963-2323 to request an information package.