Vancouver falls from 12th to 14th in prosperity rankings
Vancouver falls
from 12th to 14th in prosperity rankings
By Derek Abma, Postmedia News March 28, 2011
11:12 AM
OTTAWA - Toronto has fallen four spots to No. 8 in the Toronto Board of Trade's annual measure of prosperity among world cities. Vancouver, meanwhile, fell to 14th from 12th.
For other Canadian cities, Montreal declined to 20th from 15th, while Halifax rose to 17th from 20th.
Assessing economic performance and livability, the ranking report - done with the Conference Board of Canada - said issues such as low productivity and long commute times hurt both Vancouver and Toronto's rankings in this report, meant to compare the standing of Canada's biggest city with other major centres around the world.
``With decent employment growth, and a good high-tech and professional- employment sector, Toronto's problems stem more from under-investment in productivity-enhancing machinery and equipment,'' the report said.
As well, the average 80 minutes of commute time (round trip) for Toronto was ranked the highest of the 24 cities measured.
Vancouver ranked lower in the economic factors included in the rankings. The city ranked 18th overall economically out of the 24 cities being compared. While Vancouver's labour attractiveness finished higher at 8th, its transportation commute times, infrastructure and ridership was abysmal when compared to the 23 other cities, finishing at 21st (ahead of only Sydney and Halifax).
There were five Canadian cities in the rankings. Calgary was top among them, moving to third from fifth last year. The report said the ``robust economy'' in Calgary helped attract workers, and it was also noted for ``housing affordability and clean air.''
The top spot overall was Paris, which was praised for its highly educated workforce, good air quality and low homicide rate.
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