Toronto: Bad For Business

The collective sense of smug self-satisfaction that hangs over Toronto like the summer smog may have been bruised a little by Canadian Business magazine calling it the worst city in Canada to do business in:

It's no surprise that Toronto is expensive to live and work in, but costs are only half the story. The survey also looks at corporate building permits,
unemployment and crime rates in 40 cities. The combination of these factors
propelled booming St. John's, Nfld., to the top of the list and shoved Toronto
to the bottom, despite it having one of the lowest crime rates in the country.


"It's a wake-up call for upper-level politicians and business leaders,"
says senior writer Andy Holloway. "Because what really turns the tables
against Canada's largest city is that business activity appears to have
stopped growing." While Toronto's housing boom continues, non-residential
building permits declined 18% during the first six months of 2005, compared to
the same period a year earlier. Meanwhile, the city's unemployment rate grew
by 1.4% from June 2004 to June 2005.


Toronto households still fund much of the social infrastructure for the
rest of the country, paying almost $9,500 more in tax than they receive in
government service. Allowing Toronto to keep some of the money it raises would
be nice, say city officials.

People who don't have to, don't want to live here. And now, they don't have to work here either. Toronto isn't New York run by the Swiss any more. Heck, New York run by New Yorkers is doing better than Switzerland run by the Swiss. To say nothing of Toronto, run by the NDP.

Source: Canada News Wire