Would you know it?!
Toronto was once called Toronto the Beautiful.
Now, Toronto is named Canada’s high tech hub!
City of Toronto, MaRS Discovery District, KPMG, Toronto Region Research Alliance (TRRA), IDC Canada, the Impact Group, the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) and the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MEDT) got together to produce a report titled “Canada’s High Tech Hub: Toronto“, which provides participants at Technicity 2010 (www.technicity.ca) with a brief overview of Toronto’s ICT (Information, Communications and Technology) sector.
The relevant findings of “Canada’s High Tech Hub: Toronto” include:
- A full 30 per cent of Canada’s Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) industry is based in the Toronto region.
- GTA (Greater Toronto Area) remains the nation’s centre for ICT research and development, and is enjoying sustained growth and high employment.
- Toronto’s ICT sector is comprised of 11,522 companies that generate $52.2 billion in annual revenues.
- It’s dominated by small to medium-sized firms, with 97.7 per cent of firms having fewer than 100 employees.
- The sector employs over 161,000 workers, representing 56.4 per cent of all ICT workers in Ontario and 30 per cent of all ICT workers in Canada.
- This represents an increase of 30,000 jobs since the last analysis was completed in 2004.
- ICT sector is young, with over 60 per cent of its workforce under the age of 45.
- It also enjoys an exceptional 95.9 per cent employment rate and an average annual wage of $64,725.
- ICT workers are well educated, with 96.8 per cent holding a post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree, compared with 88.9 per cent for the city’s total labour force.
- Entrepreneurship is thriving with the number of ICT service firms increasing by 2,000 companies (mostly smaller-sized firms) since 2002.
- Research and development activity in the Toronto region is greater than that in any other single jurisdiction in Canada, accounting for approximately 30 per cent of total nationwide activity.
Please note that: “not included in these employment figures are the ICT jobs that are being created in the emerging ICT area of interactive digital media nor the thousands of jobs that are embedded in other sectors that have a high reliance on ICT, like financial services and healthcare.”
There are limitations to the findings of this report because these changes (“adaptive shift away from traditional large enterprise to high-value, knowledge-based, small business) have been so rapid that much of today’s ICT job growth is hard to capture in traditional statistical measures.”
Today the report was presented to Toronto’s Economic Development Committee meeting as part of a broader look at the city’s ICT and Interactive Digital Media (IDM) sectors. The Committee also heard from prominent representatives of Toronto ICT and IDM related businesses, institutions and programs.
Also, the second annual Technicity industry forum will be held in November 2011 for more ICT intelligence and networking opportunities.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
News Release
March 30, 2011
Toronto named Canada’s high tech hub
A full 30 per cent of Canada’s Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) industry is based in the Toronto region, a new report by the City of Toronto’s Economic Development and Culture staff concludes.
According to “Canada’s High Tech Hub: Toronto”, the GTA remains the nation’s centre for ICT research and development, and is enjoying sustained growth and high employment.
“It is great to have our enthusiasm for the high technology sector confirmed,” said Councillor Michael Thompson (Ward 37 Scarborough Centre), Chair of Toronto’s Economic Development Committee. “We see Toronto as an increasingly important global ICT centre. Encouraging and supporting public, private and academic collaboration will accelerate growth and raise our international profile. The better we collaborate, the more successful we will be in energizing our economy and attracting new companies and new talent to our city.”
The information report notes that Toronto’s ICT sector is comprised of 11,522 companies that generate $52.2 billion in annual revenues. The sector is dominated by small to medium-sized firms, with 97.7 per cent of firms having fewer than 100 employees. The sector employs over 161,000 workers, representing 56.4 per cent of all ICT workers in Ontario and 30 per cent of all ICT workers in Canada. This represents an increase of 30,000 jobs since the last analysis was completed in 2004.
The ICT sector is young, with over 60 per cent of its workforce under the age of 45. It also enjoys an exceptional 95.9 per cent employment rate and an average annual wage of $64,725. ICT workers are well educated, with 96.8 per cent holding a post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree, compared with 88.9 per cent for the city’s total labour force.
Toronto is also on the leading edge of innovation. Research and development activity in the Toronto region is greater than that in any other single jurisdiction in Canada, accounting for approximately 30 per cent of total nationwide activity.
The report will be presented to Toronto’s Economic Development Committee at its Thursday, March 31 meeting as part of a broader look at the city’s ICT and Interactive Digital Media (IDM) sectors. The Committee also will hear from prominent representatives of Toronto ICT and IDM related businesses, institutions and programs, including:
- Michael Gregory – Senior Economist and Head of Canadian Rates Strategy, BMO
- John Davies, President, Humber College
- Shane Schick, Editor In Chief, IT World Canada
- Sergio Mateus, President, Sapphire Technologies
- Nabil Harfoush, CIO, EVP Corporate Development, Helpcaster Technologies Inc.
- Valerie Fox, Director – Digital Media Zone, Ryerson University
Copies of “Canada’s High Tech Hub: Toronto” are available at http://www.toronto.ca/business_publications/pdf/ICT-Report_March2011.pdf
More ICT intelligence and networking opportunities will be forthcoming at the second annual Technicity industry forum to be held in November 2011. More information about Technicity is available at http://www.technicity.ca.
Toronto is Canada’s largest city and sixth largest government, and home to a diverse population of about 2.6 million people. Toronto’s government is dedicated to delivering customer service excellence, creating a transparent and accountable government, reducing the size and cost of government and building a transportation city. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can dial 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.