OECD Territorial Review of Toronto (Apr 2010)

Prepared by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract

Toronto is one of the chief economic powerhouses of Canada. The Toronto metro-region is Canada’s biggest metropolitan economy. It generates almost a fifth of national GDP, and 45% of Ontario’s GDP. It is home to 40% of the nation’s business headquarters.

Toronto is an international centre for business and finance. Toronto is also a main manufacturing hub with major companies in the automotive, biomedical and computers/electronics sectors. the Toronto region is one of the most diverse metropolitan regions in the world. Half of its population is foreign born versus 28% in cities like New York and London. It hosted 40% of all immigrants to Canada during 2001-06.

The Toronto region is challenged by recent developments. The Toronto region has had a mixed economic performance. GDP per capita and GDP growth rates are below the Canadian average. It has had lower annual economic and labour productivity growth than the average of OECD metropolitan regions over 1995-2005. It also witnessed sharp decline in manufacturing (10% of jobs have been lost since 2002).

ICE Committee