Toronto Takes Top Spot in Latest Canadian Economic Activity Index Rankings and Other News

Being a Toronto call centre, eBusiness and letter shop mail house that operates 24/7, we definitely benefit from having access to the brilliantly diverse and talented labour pool the city has to offer.  We also benefit from the opportunity that comes with being a leading centre of finance, culture and commerce even if it doesn’t come cheap.  So we were quite thrilled to read that our city took top spot in CIBC World Markets’ latest Metropolitan Economic Activity Index Ratings led by its vibrant labour market.

Image courtesy of research.cibcwm.com (click image to enlarge)

The ratings take factors such as employment, consumer and business bankruptcy, and housing sales and starts into consideration and although Toronto didn’t top any of these categories, it did place high enough that its overall score left it at the number one spot on the list.

The complete list of macro variables used to develop the index are:
–    Population growth;
–    Employment growth;
–    Unemployment rate;
–    Full-time share in total employment;
–    Personal bankruptcy rate;
–    Business bankruptcy rate;
–    Housing starts;
–    MLS Housing resales; and
–    Non-Residential building permits.

By combining these nine economic variables into one measure for each city and correlating them with overall GDP results in a reflection that goes “beyond the headline GDP numbers.”

“Simply put, the multi-channel nature of Toronto’s economic engine is the secret not only behind its current top ranking, but also behind its ability to maintain a relatively high ranking position over the past two years,” said Benjamin Tal, CIBC deputy chief economist.
Toronto moved up from second to claim first in the latest rankings and according to Mr Tal “This can be easily seen in the robust activity of the city’s economy during the economic recovery, with the city outpacing the national average by a wide margin.”

Other points that contributed to Toronto’s ranking as noted by Mr Tal are:
–    During the first quarter of the year, overall employment in the city rose by close to 2% and more than 80% of the increase in employment was  in full-time jobs;
–    The city’s population growing at a quick annual pace of almost 2%;
–    Housing starts were 47.8% higher than the same period in 2010; and
–    Consumer bankruptcy in Toronto has been declining over the past year and currently ranks among Canada’s lowest.

Kitchener, Winnipeg, Regina and Montreal rounded out the top five performers on the index, while Vancouver ranked seventh and Calgary came in at 15. You can read more on the overall rankings within each economic variable by city here.

Ontario Nonprofit News:

Ontario opens infrastructure loan program to nonprofits – The Ontario government is expanding its infrastructure loan program to non-profit groups across the province to give them access to low-interest loans for new projects. Read more here.

Ottawa announces $10-million health care funding boost for Vaughan Hospital – The planned Vaughan Health Campus of Care is getting a $10-million funding boost, courtesy of Ottawa. Read more here.

A bit of Fluff:

Toronto by Names – this Toronto Star article takes you on a tour of some of the most well-known places in Toronto and explains the story behind their name.

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