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 An
Overview
Toronto,
Ontario, Canada lies on the shore of Lake
Ontario, the easternmost of the Great Lakes.
Toronto is ideally located for operations
with a world-wide focus. The city is 1.5 hours
by air to cities such as New York, Philadelphia,
Hartford, Boston, and Chicago, with direct
flights available to most major world cities.
The city is located in the Eastern Time Zone
which allows for convenient communications
with key people in the eastern seaboard of
North America, while providing excellent windows
of communication to European centres. The
multi-cultural nature of the city (over 100
ethnic groups) provides international companies
a large pool of the language skills necessary
to operate in international markets.
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Cultural Diversity
Multiculturalism
- it's what sets Toronto apart from other
big North American cities. Toronto is home
to virtually all of the world's culture groups
and is the city where more than 100 languages
are spoken. Once primarily a British and protestant
city, immigration has played a dynamic role
in the changing face of Toronto since the
end of the Second World War. In 1997 , 42
per cent of all Canadian immigrants choose
Toronto as their destination and as such,
Toronto's visible minority population now
accounts for more than 40 per cent of the
population compared to 11 per cent nationwide.
The world has brought its best to Toronto
and in return, the city has embraced the many
cultures of the world. Toronto has bilingual
street signs, specialty stores, ethnic restaurants
ethnic publications and a variety of ethnic
shopping centres.
Do you know that ?
Toronto received 80,000 immigrants in 1997
from 169 countries
Over
100 languages are spoken in Toronto, and one
third of Toronto residents speak at home a
language other than English
48 per cent of Toronto's population are immigrants
Foreign-born
residents comprise more than 50 per cent of
population
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Key Facts
There are more than 90 different ethnic groups
in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA)
and over one million non-English or French
speaking people. The top six are European
(997,180), East and Southeast Asian (488,350),
British (457,990), Canadian (311,965), South
Asian (291,520) and Caribbean (167,295). The
top ten source countries for immigration to
Canada were China, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong,
Iran, Sri Lanka, The Philippines, Taiwan,
Russia and Jamaica in 1996.
Do you know that
?
The biggest non-english and non-french speaking
Toronto's population group are the chinese
- 192,200 (Source: Statistics Canada, 1996
Census)
The second biggest non-english and non-french
speaking Toronto's population group are the
italians - 114,100 (Source: Statistics Canada,
1996 Census)
In Toronto by first language there are 70
700 portuguese speaking, 54 900 spanish speaking,
48 100 polish speaking, 46 900 tamil (sri
lanka) speaking, 40 000 tagalog (pilipino)
speaking, 37 800 greek speaking, 25 600 german
speaking, 24 000 vietnamese speaking, 23 200
punjabi speaking, 22 700 farsi (iranian) speaking,
22 100 arabic speaking, 18 900 korean speaking,
18 200 ukrainian speaking, 17 400 russian
speaking, 14 900 hungarian speaking, 14 400
urdu speaking, 11 400 macedonian speaking
(Source: Statistics Canada, 1996 Census)
Toronto's population in 1996 was 2,363.900
In Toronto's there are 3 939 people per square
km.
Toronto covers 632 sq.km. and is located on
the northwest shore of Lake Ontario
One third of Canada's population is located
within 160 km radius of Toronto
One half of the population of the United States
is within one day's drive of Toronto
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Toronto's
Economic Profile and Safety
Toronto is Canada's corporate capital,
with more nationally and internationally top-ranked
companies than any other Canadian city. Toronto
is Canada's biggest gateway to the international
market place. Thanks to NAFTA and other international
agreements, Toronto is positioned to become
the hub for goods, services and people throughout
the western hemisphere. The city is the region's
financial, commercial and administrative core.
Do
you know that ?
Toronto is Canada's largest retail market,
representing $33 billion or 14 per cent of
total Canadian retail sales.
Toronto is the second largest automotive centre
in North America after Detroit.
Toronto is the financial centre of Canada,
4th largest in North America, employing 125,000
in financial sector
Toronto's
office market is the largest in Canada and
larger than many other major American cities.
Toronto
is known as "Silicon Valley North"
with seven of the top 10 information technology
companies, including the Canadian headquarters
and research centres of Apple, Hewlett-Packard
and Sun Microsystems
Toronto
is the fourth highest concentration of commercial
software companies in the world, and one of
North America's hottest animation centres
The
Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) is ranked North
America's third largest by dollar value traded.
In fact, the TSE is the tenth largest stock
exchange in the world and.
Toronto
is a home of 90 per cent of Canada's foreign
banks, and its top accounting and mutual fund
companies, and 80 per cent of Canada's largest
R&D, law, advertising and high-tech firms.
Toronto voted best global City for business,
(Fortune, 1996)
Toronto is ranked 27th for homicides, 25th
for robberies and 24th for break-ins (Source:
Statistics Canada, TBOT, DOJ, FBI)
Toronto is more safety then Washington D.C,
Saint Louis, MO, Atlanta, GA, New Orleans,
LA, Kansas City, MO, Chicago, IL, Milwaukee,
WI, Dallas, TX, Phoenix, AZ, Miami, FL, Hartford,
CT, Fort Worth, TX, Houston, TX, Oklahoma
City, OK, Los Angeles, CA, Buffalo, NY, New
York, NY, Seattle, WA, Boston, MA, San Diego,
CA, Vancouver, BC, Winnipeg, MB, Edmonton,
AB, Montreal, QC, Ottawa, ON and Calgary,
AB.
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Trade
Shows
Trade
and consumer shows create business for the
City. With nearly 2.3 million square feet
of exhibit space at the four main tradeshow
venues, in a single year Toronto hosts more
than 120 business trade shows, and many more
consumer shows. Average spending by each tradeshow
exhibitor is $5400, and nearly $1300 by each
delegate attending. In particular, at the
National Trade Center in Exhibition Place,
Economic Development can offer support to
organizations planning to establish new business
shows in Toronto.
The four main show venues are:
National
Trade Centre at Exhibition Place
Metro
Toronto Convention Centre
Toronto
Congress Centre
International
Centre, Mississauga
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Universities and Colleges in Toronto
The Greater Toronto Area is home
to three universities, an art college and
four community colleges - and a host of private
educational institutions.
University of Toronto (U
of T)
Established in 1827, the University of Toronto
(U of T) is Canada's largest university, granting
both undergraduate and graduate degrees. It
has an operating budget of $930 million, assets
of over $2 billion, three principal campuses,
8,848 full and part-time employees and close
to 53,000 students. U of T offers a full range
of courses in the humanities and the social
and physical sciences, as well as professional
programs in medicine, dentistry, engineering,
architecture, nursing, social work and teaching.
There is a breadth of research at U of T with
more than 16,500 researchers on campus and
at its affiliated teaching hospitals. Its
Faculty of Medicine and was recently recognized
by the United Nations as one of four international
centres of excellence for its multi-disciplinary
approach to leading-edge research.
York University
Founded in 1959, York University is Canada's
third-largest university. It has approximately
2,000 faculty members and 1,700 staff. Around
38,000 students pursue full or part-time degree
studies on the York campus in the northwestern
part of the Toronto Region or at Glendon College,
Ontario's bilingual liberal arts institution
located in downtown Toronto.
Ryerson
Polytechnic University
Ryerson Polytechnic University, Canada's only
polytechnic university, is home to more than
14,000 full-time students. Thirty-six programs
are offered through the Faculties of Arts,
Applied Arts, Business, Community Services,
Engineering and Applied Science. Of particular
note are its journalism, multi-media arts
and business programs.
Ontario College of
Art and Design
The Ontario College of Art and Design is devoted
to the education of professional artists and
designers. Its specialized programs include
illustration, advertising design, interior
design, ceramics, textiles, sculpture, print
making and industrial design.
Community colleges
of Applied Arts and Technology
Community colleges, known more formally as
"Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology,"
provide training in a wide range of practical
and technical skills. Programs are planned
in co-operation with industry to provide maximum
employment opportunities. The four community
colleges in the Toronto Region are: Centennial
College, George Brown College, Humber College
and Seneca College. In particular computer-based
programs and business and professional services
are their focus
Do you know that
?
The U of T Department of Computer Science
is the largest and most highly rated in Canada
and is one the top 10 on the continent.
In 1923 faculty members Sir Frederick Banting
and J.R. Macleod were the first in Canada
to win the Nobel Prize for their work with
Charles Best in the isolation of insulin,
a discovery that revolutionized the treatment
of diabetes.
In 1957, Lester B. Pearson, a U of T graduate,
won the Nobel Peace Prize
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