Toronto continually ranked among top cities in the world

Every year, the city of Toronto is considered among the top in the world in a variety of surveys. Recently, the cloud-based access control system organization Kisi found Toronto among the top economic hubs around the globe for supporting work-life balance. Toronto ranked 19th out of 100, and it is easy to understand why. The study focused on the categories of city livability, work intensity, society and institutions, and Toronto shines in all of them.

City livability includes parameters such as culture and leisure, safety, outdoor spaces, wellness and fitness. Toronto is home to world-class cultural, sports, dining, shopping and educational venues, as well as a generous coverage of parks and greenery – all within walking, biking and public transportation distance. Toronto also continually ranks among the safest major cities in North America. Another consideration in this category is perceived happiness, which is evident in the number of pre-pandemic and reawakening festivals across the city celebrating life here.

Multicultural city

Society and institutions looked at healthcare, COVID support, access to mental healthcare, inclusivity and tolerance. Toronto boasts some of the world’s finest hospitals. We are also a multicultural city, where all cultural backgrounds are embraced. And work intensity has to do with, among other things, the ability to work remotely – and didn’t the pandemic put that parameter to the test?

This Kisi ranking comes hot on the heels of Toronto being named by MovieMaker magazine as one of the top places to live and work in the film industry. In fact, Toronto ranked second, which is up 10 spots since last year. The list is based on surveys, production spending, tax incentives, additional research and personal visits when possible.

Even during the pandemic, the film industry remained robust in Toronto, thanks to collaboration and cooperation among employers, governments, unions and guilds concerning health and safety. Production volume here grew 10 per cent year over year for the three years before COVID made its appearance. Toronto is home to numerous sound stages and highly skilled film crews. This ranking is a testament to the City working with the industry and the arts to create outstanding film content.

World of challenges

Another of Toronto’s many accolades was ranking first out of 15 major global cities in the 2021 Bloomberg Women and Cities study. This study looked at safety, mobility, maternity, equality and wealth. In all these hubs of commerce, Bloomberg used publicly available data, as well as a survey of at least 200 women in each location. In addition, senior women in finance and industry were asked to share their personal experiences.

In North America alone, Toronto, beat out New York City and Los Angeles. The study also pointed out that around the world, women would benefit from more mobility through transportation infrastructure, something the City of Toronto is working on.

In a nutshell, in this world of challenges brought on by the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and rising inflation, it is still a privilege to live and/or work in Toronto.