Toronto Board of Trade Releases Inaugural Benchmarking Report on Global Urban Prosperity

TORONTO, ONTARIO, Apr 07 (MARKET WIRE) --
The Toronto Board of Trade has released a new report which benchmarks the
Toronto region against 20 other global metropolises, entitled Toronto as
a Global City: Scorecard on Prosperity. This new ranking is unique among
such indices as it measures both social and economic indicators across a
global sampling of cities, and breaks down the Toronto region's outcomes
between those of the city centre and those of its surrounding region.

"Cities are the engines of our national economies," says Carol Wilding,
President and CEO, Toronto Board of Trade. "It is important that we take
stock of their general health because their competitiveness is critical
to the prosperity of Canada. These results show Toronto is a diverse and
attractive place to live, filled with well-educated people, but strong
economic performance has not followed in concert."

The Board of Trade intends to make the annual Scorecard a springboard for
targeted policy initiatives. It will be the focus of two upcoming policy
development roundtables and will form the basis of a "Report of
Recommendations" to be released later this year.

RESULTS: "LIVEABILITY" MEETS "MEDIOCRITY"

Overall, the Toronto region ranks in a fourth-place tie in the index,
thanks largely to its status as an attractive and livable city. However,
for its performance across all indicators, the Toronto region earned an
overall grade of "C" alongside Boston, London and New York.

In the Economy Domain, the Scorecard shows that the Toronto region did
not fare as well as many others during the most recent period of
prosperity: it has languished while other cities have gained ground. On
economic indicators such as GDP per capita and Productivity, Toronto fell
squarely in the middle of the pack (12th and 13th).

In the Labour Attractiveness Domain, the Toronto region ranks 1st in
terms of immigrant population and 3rd in population growth, underscoring
the city's attractiveness to people from around the world. It also ranked
highly for its proportion of the population with at least a bachelor's
degree.

Behind Toronto's "C" grade, there are some starker, more troubling
findings, including:

- Fourth lowest of all in "annual GDP growth"

- Bottom of the list and far behind Calgary in "disposable income growth"

- Stalled "annual productivity growth", behind all US metros and
exceeding only Barcelona, Montreal, Oslo and Rome.

"This benchmarking study reveals the Toronto region as 'mediocre' in
terms of its current global economic competitiveness and at risk of
further decline," says Wilding. "Unless there is substantial, strategic
cooperation on policy initiatives from business, government and the
community, Toronto risks lagging further in its future growth, prosperity
and sustainability."

TORONTO: THE NEW BEDROOM COMMUNITY?

The report further broke down the data between the city centre and its
surrounding region and showed, in essence, a role reversal: downtown is
the magnet for living, while the surrounding municipalities form the more
powerful economic engine. Indicators show the city centre to be
outperformed economically by its surrounding region. The Toronto region's
respectable 4th place ranking overall can be attributed in part to the
economic strength of Toronto's surrounding municipalities.

The results underscore the critical importance of Toronto-area
municipalities working together as an integrated whole - uniting the
strengths of the surrounding region with those of the city centre.

LOOKING AHEAD WITH CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM

This study is the first of an annual series of scorecards and is a key
part of the Board's emphasis on empirical research to support its
longstanding policy work.

"Before the global recession took hold, cities around the world enjoyed a
prolonged period of prosperity, but some performed better than others,"
says Wilding. "The Toronto region's showing gives us reason for optimism.
However, these results, coupled with the effects of the recent turndown,
drive the need for a stronger, more targeted economic platform."

Future editions of the Scorecard will be able to track the progress of
recent policy initiatives such as the tax reforms contained in the 2009
Ontario budget. The Scorecard will also serve as a base for developing
targeted policy initiatives relating to such issues as immigration,
taxation, transit and infrastructure.

"The Scorecard shows that immigration is providing Toronto with a
globally diverse workforce, but also that we could be making more of this
resource," says Wilding. "The Board of Trade has called upon both the
federal and provincial governments to work with business to do more to
integrate new immigrants into the workforce. We will continue to do so,
and we will track progress in future editions of the Scorecard."

ABOUT THE RESEARCH

Toronto as a Global City: Scorecard on Prosperity benchmarks the
performance of Toronto's Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) against 20 other
metropolitan areas on a set of 25 statistical indicators, divided into
two domains: Economy and Labour Attractiveness.

For the purposes of this release, Toronto region is defined as the
Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), the city centre is defined by the
region represented by the 416 area code, and the surrounding region by
the rest of the CMA. For the first time ever, researchers analyzed
Toronto city centre's performance in relation to its surrounding regional
counterparts. The study was commissioned by the Toronto Board of Trade
and research was conducted by the Conference Board of Canada.

The Scorecard on Prosperity is unique among city indices for its breadth
of inquiry, measuring both social and economic indicators across a global
sampling of cities. It is also the first comprehensive benchmarking
report to break down results within the greater Toronto area, contrasting
the city centre with its surrounding region.

About the Toronto Board of Trade (www.bot.com)

Founded in 1845, the Toronto Board of Trade is Canada's largest local
chamber of commerce, connecting more than 200,000 business professionals
and influencers throughout the Toronto region. The Board of Trade
advances the success of its members and the entire Toronto region by
facilitating opportunities for knowledge sharing, networking, business
development and city building.

Contacts:
Counsel Public Relations
Dorenda McNeil
(416) 961-5898 x 216
Email: dmcneil@counselpr.ca

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