Bouncing back from recession, Toronto leads Canada’s growth

Globe and Mail Update

 

 

For the second quarter in a row, the city with the most bustling economy in the country is Toronto.

It tallied Canada’s fastest economic momentum in the third quarter of last year, according to CIBC’s ranking of the country’s 25 largest municipalities. Edmonton is second, followed by the tech hub of Kitchener, Ont.

The recession slammed Canada’s largest city harder than elsewhere, resulting in steep job losses. But in recent years, Toronto has also shown a quicker recovery, to a point where economic momentum is running at its highest level in more than a decade.

In fact – other than the recession in 2009 – the city has been in the top five in the rankings for the past six years.

“The consistently strong performance of Toronto reflects the growing diversity of the city’s economic engine,” wrote the bank’s deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal. Though the labour market “is showing signs of fatigue, the quality of employment continues to improve.”

Several measures point to strength. The city’s population has risen 3.9 per cent since bottoming out in the third quarter of 2009, outpacing the 2.5-per-cent growth in the country as a whole. Employment has climbed 4.6 per cent, led by full-time positions, more than the 3.4-per-cent average.

Personal and business bankruptcies fell much faster in Toronto than elsewhere, and housing starts rose more quickly.

Edmonton lands in second place, thanks to robust population growth and job growth that is leading the rest of the country. Kitchener is in third place because of its population growth, high quality of employment and growth in construction activity.

Halifax, Vancouver and Ottawa are also seeing strong economic activity.

Cities with the most lacklustre economic momentum are concentrated in Central Canada. They are Windsor, Ont., Saguenay, Que. and, in last place, Thunder Bay, Ont.

CIBC compiles the index by tracking changes in nine macroeconomic variables, including employment, home sales, bankruptcies and population growth.