Toronto is the fourth-largest city in North America and a vital financial and technological hub — not only for the province of Ontario but for all of Canada. A growing talent pool, a diverse economy, a multicultural community, a clean environment, a high quality of life, and limitless opportunity for growth. These are but a few things that make the Toronto one of the best places in the world to live, work, play and grow.
Toronto is known for its quality of life, job opportunities and diversity. This and comprehensive immigration system makes Toronto a desired destination for talent from around the world. Recent reports have suggested that thanks to its massive growth, favourable conditions for starting a company and a diverse talent pool, Toronto is catching up with Silicon Valley. Not only that, Toronto also became the fastest growing city in North America.
Booming, bustling, and ever evolving – Toronto is a dynamic destination consistently ranked as one of the most livable cities in the world. As the fastest growing City in North America, Toronto’s population has doubled over the past 40-years and the employment opportunities are endless.
Home to top notch healthcare, education and public facilities, Toronto offers one of the best standards of living in the country.
The city offers endless opportunity resulting from expanding residential development and major investments in education, finance, health science and technology.
The Toronto Financial District, is at the heart of Canada’s finance and banking industries and accounting for almost 10% of Canada’s GDP, never miss an opportunity when it knocks. As the most densely built-up area in the city, it’s home to top tier banking companies, corporate headquarters, high-powered legal and accounting firms, insurance companies and the Toronto Stock Exchange.
With over 240,000 jobs in Toronto’s tech ecosystem, the city is taking the lead as the fastest growing technology market in North America. The city has experienced a steady rise in the number of startups, VC investors and global tech giants calling Toronto home. Even amid the pandemic major tech companies including Google, Amazon, Tiktok, Netf lix, Reddit, DoorDash, Pinterest, Uber, IBM and Wayfair have either expanded or beefed up their presence in Toronto with new downtown offices.
Toronto boasts over 40 hospitals as well as renowned medical research facilities and teaching institutes. The Discovery District is a health inspired hub featuring 9 teaching hospitals, 30+ specialized medical research centers and MaRs (Medical and Related Sciences), an innovation incubator which supports Canada’s most promising startups. To date, MaRS helps more than 1,400 Canadian startups grow into successful global companies!
The downtown core is also home to the University Health Network (UHN) – the largest health research organization in North America with approximately 17,000 employees and ranks first in Canada for total research funding of approximately $500 million in total research funding and over 1 million square feet of dedicated research space.
It’s no surprise that Toronto is recognized as one of the best hospital cities in the world, ranking 15th out of 100 global cities with an overall score of 94.7.
Toronto draws hundreds of thousands of students to the downtown core with easy access to top ranked schools offering diverse programs, practical studies, and internationally acclaimed educational choices.
Second Place in Business Friendliness
Aside from outperforming its nearest competitor, San Francisco, in Economic Potential, Toronto also advanced from third to second place in Business Friendliness, while San Francisco dropped from fifth to seventh. Foreign investors took notice – FDI figures form part of the Economic Potential category and are an indicator of a location’s appeal to foreign investors. fDi Markets data shows that FDI inflows peaked in 2018, but remained strong in 2019 and even in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic. The software and IT services sector is the top recipient of foreign investment in Toronto and received only two fewer projects in 2020 than 2019. Among others, Google announced in February 2020 that it will open a new 37,160 square metre office tower in the city.
John Tory, the mayor of Toronto, says: “I am proud that Toronto has ranked high in the Americas Cities of the Future list and that we continue to demonstrate that we are a vibrant, successful and liveable city in North America. We have a longstanding reputation as being a leader in a variety of sectors including technology and innovation, finance and healthcare, and we continue to invest in the infrastructure that all successful cities need to update and expand including housing and transit — all of which have created an environment that people and businesses want to come and experience. As we begin the reopening and rebuilding of our economy post-pandemic, I will focus on how we can continue to grow and succeed and attract people from all over the world to come to our city to work, play and live.”
Of all the Canadian cities mentioned, Toronto ranked the highest in 18th place. The report called the city “the fastest-growing tech market in North America,” that’s also celebrated for its renowned multiculturalism, making it a “top global destination to visit, meet, invest, work, and live.”
According to a recent study by money.co.uk, Toronto is one of the highest-ranked Canadian cities to relocate to (but also noted that it is one of the more pricy choices, too.)
It boasted being the second-best city in Canada to move to. In November, it was deemed one of the top 20 healthtech capitals of the world. The city also topped the global list of cities ideal for working women and made it into a curation of the best cities for remote workers.
It might come as shocking to some Torontonians, but we also officially live in one of the most tranquil cities out there.
But not everything has been rosy; Toronto was also among the most sleep-stressed cities in the world, and the second-most expensive in all of Canada. Back in May, an Oxford Economics study found that Toronto housing was actually less affordable than the notoriously unaffordable New York and Los Angeles.
The 6ix is also considered to be the second safest city worldwide, and the top business city in the whole world for working women.
