Toronto third to London and Singapore, overtakes Paris and New York City as one of the top cities to live and work

TORONTO, Sept. 7, 2016 /CNW/ - Toronto rises to third position and remains in the company of global powerhouses such as London (#1), Singapore (#2), Paris (#4), Amsterdam (#5), and New York (#6) as one of the best cities to live and work in PwC's latest Cities of Opportunity 7 report. The biennial global study benchmarks 30 cities against an extensive set of indicators and underlying variables to examine the social and economic qualities that make cities thrive.

"It makes us proud to see Toronto performing so well against many of these renowned global cities," says Raj Kothari, Managing Partner, Greater Toronto, PwC Canada. "Toronto's strong performance in metrics related to quality of life and economic potential are consistent with the realities of a city that has been internationally recognized for its cultural diversity, growing community of entrepreneurs, and accessible health care system, social services and education."

Toronto's rise from fourth most desirable city in 2014 to third position this year can be attributed to its consistent performance and steady improvements in a number of social and economic indicators. This year, Toronto ranks first in Quality of Life, second in Health, Safety and Security, and performs within the top 10 for Ease of Doing Business (#4), Intellectual Capital & Innovation (#4, tied with Amsterdam), Entrepreneurial Environment (#5) and Technology Readiness (#9).

"By 2050, more than 2.5 billion people are expected to move into urban centres, making cities home to 69% of the world's population, compared with 55% today. Toronto's population of 6.6 million is also expected to grow by nearly 3 million over the next 10 years," says Kothari. "Rapid urbanization of this nature will have a profound impact on our environment, connective infrastructure, economic prosperity and social system. To support this growth, we need to engage in strategic public-private partnerships and re-examine traditional governance and investment models to create a truly advanced urban ecosystem."

However, Toronto continues to be challenged by various connectivity factors which are integral to a city's ability to move, integrate and connect its people, businesses and communities. For example, Toronto ranks #12 in the study's overall Transportation & Infrastructure indicator. This result can be attributed to the city's ongoing challenges with Traffic Congestion (#12), Ease of Commute (#13) and Mass Transit Coverage (#13) – improvement areas which are top of mind for businesses and governments today.

Toronto's #9 ranking in Technology Readiness also demonstrates an opportunity to improve in areas such as Digital Security (#10), Broadband Quality (#14) and Software Development & Multimedia Design (#23).

To access the full report and additional Toronto highlights, visit pwc.com/ca/cities

About Cities of Opportunity 7
PwC's Cities of Opportunity 7 study is a benchmark of 30 global cities across a set of 10 indicators and 67 underlying variables to gain insights into the social and economic strengths that contribute to vibrant and resilient urban centres. Each variable must be relevant; consistent across the sample; publicly available and collectible; current; free from skewing; and truly reflective of a city's quality or power. The publicly available data are compiled using three broad groups of sources: global multilateral development organizations such as the World Bank; national statistics organizations such as UK National Statistics; and commercial data providers. In the few instances in which verifiable city data are not available or appropriate, country-level data are used as a proxy. To make the study most usable and understandable, we avoid complex weighting schemes and give each variable equal importance. Moreover, data are normalized in most instances, minimizing the likelihood of a city doing well solely because of its size or historic strength.

Three key factors govern the chosen cities: they are economic as well as financial centers; they represent a broad geographic sampling; and they reflect a balance between mature and emerging economies. The 30 cities are sorted from best- to worst-performing in each variable, and then assigned a score from 30 (best) to 1 (worst). In the case of a tie, cities are assigned the same score.

About PwC Canada
At PwC Canada, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. More than 6,500 partners and staff in offices across the country are committed to delivering quality in assurance, tax, consulting and deals services. PwC Canada is a member of the PwC network of firms with more than 208,000 people in 157 countries. Find out more and tell us what matters to you by visiting us at www.pwc.com/ca.  

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SOURCE PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers)

Pierre Campeau, Manager, Public Relations, T: 416 687-8643, Email: [email protected]; David Gollom, Senior Manager, Public Relations & Social Media, T: 416 869-2386, Email: [email protected]