Toronto the great continues to attract newcomers

Every year, I am astounded at how many international rankings list Toronto as one of the best cities in the world. We are fortunate to live in a place where quality of life is paramount. One of the many reasons why Toronto is so attractive globally is the superior health care we have here. In fact, our hospitals are admired on a global scale. In Newsweek’s World’s Best Hospitals 2024 annual report (created in partnership with Statista), Toronto General Hospital (TGH) was ranked the third best publicly funded hospital in the world. When broken down by country, TGH was ranked number one in Canada in that same report. Part of Toronto’s health care and medical research organization University Health Network (UHN), TGH is home to world-class programs and is Canada’s top research hospital.

Health and wellness strategy

In addition, the listing for Canadian hospitals shows Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre as second in the country, Mount Sinai Hospital third, North York General Hospital fourth, and Toronto Western hospital tenth. In Newsweek’s ranking of The World’s Best Specialized Hospitals, UHN’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre was ranked 13th for oncology, and Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children received special recognition as the second-best pediatrics hospital in the world.

The City of Toronto was also named one of the Greater Toronto’s Top Employers in 2024. This distinction is based on the city’s health and wellness strategy and family support for employees, as well as ongoing employee education with tuition subsidies for courses at outside institutions and in-house and online training initiatives. The reasons for this acknowledgement include dedicated health and wellness strategies for managing workloads and promoting connections in the workplace, maternity and parental leave top-ups, and the support of ongoing employee education with tuition subsidies, training initiatives, paid internships, co-op programs and summer student roles.

Employment diversity

On another front, last year the City of Toronto was recognized as one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers. One of the reasons why our city was singled out is the “Profession to Profession Mentoring Immigrants” program that was implemented in response to employment barriers faced by skilled newcomers. Plus, in 2023, the City was recognized as Canada’s very first “Best Workplace for Commuters” because of its support for employees commuting in sustainable ways such as transit, walking, cycling, carpooling and, of course, opportunities for hybrid work, which enable employees to work remotely at least two or three days per week.

Of course, being the largest city in Canada has a lot to do with Toronto’s appeal. U.S. News & World Report published the 2024 Best Countries global ranking of countries in the world, and Canada came in fourth overall out of 89 nations. They surveyed more than 17,000 people from 36 countries and based rankings on the categories adventure, agility, cultural influence, entrepreneurship, heritage, movers, open for business, power, quality of life and social purpose. Canada was praised for its policy of multiculturalism, which celebrates the country’s diversity.

Toronto is continually declared among the most livable and competitive cities in the world. We have ample reasons to celebrate.