

Chris Fox, CP24.com





Ontario is not “reaching its full potential” when it comes to international trade and must “seize opportunities in new markets” in order to realize future economic growth, according to a new report from the Toronto Region Board of Trade.

The TRBOT’s annual Scorecard on Prosperity graded 24 major urban centres on their economic performance and Toronto ranked fifth overall, down from third in 2014. Paris had the highest overall grade for the fifth straight year while Stockholm and Calgary rounded out the top three.

Of the 15 indicators of labour attractiveness, Toronto was assigned 6 A’s, 6 B’s, 2 C’s and 1 D while the city received 5 A’s, 2 B’s, 6 C’s and 5 D’s on the 18 economic indicators.

In an 85-page report accompanying the rankings, the Toronto Region Board of Trade said the city possesses “excellent business conditions” and a “professional and highly-skilled” workforce but “is not yet maximizing its economic potential,” partly due to comparably low levels of trade with international markets province-wide.

In an effort to highlight this problem, the report compared Ontario with Illinois due to their similar sized economies and large urban centres (Toronto and Chicago), pointing out that the province has slipped behind Illinois in exports to China. Ontario’s exports to China were US $1 billion in 2004 compared to US $900 million for Illinois while in 2013 Illinois recorded exports of US $5.7 billion and Ontario recorded exports of US $2.2 billion.

“Toronto region’s initiatives must reach beyond North America. Ontario’s heavy reliance on the U.S. as a trade partner and the failure to expand to other fast-growing export markets and exploit them, particularly those located in Asia, helps explain why the 2000s were largely a lost decade for provincial trade,” the report stated. “While the province cannot afford to ignore its traditional export markets, like the U.S., a key component of any export strategy for Ontario is to seize opportunities in new markets, particularly high-growth markets.”

The report added that Toronto is “well positioned” to take advantage of global markets given its diversity, but it noted that immigrants have not had a “important influence on exports” despite previous research showing a connection between immigrants and trade with their native countries

The report then suggested that instituting new “policies enhancing the influence of immigrants on export performance” could be one way to “utilize their skills and talents.”

"Immigrants have an important role to play in Ontario’s export agenda," it states. "The fact immigrant-led business are more likely to trade beyond the U.S. shows there is potential for immigrants to play a key role in helping Ontario boost its export volumes."

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