Benchmarking Canadian Cities in North America
In 2012 Consider Canada commissioned Local IDEAs to produce a benchmarking system for their 11 city-regions. The purpose was to identify the North American cities with the most similar economic profiles and provide performance indicators. The analysis allowed the member cities to identify who were their closest competitors and assess their relative standing. Four categories were used to measure city likeness: demographics, human capital, occupational structure, and industrial structure. Three basic performance indicators were used to create benchmarks: employment growth, employment incomes, and unemployment.
It was a challenge to produce internationally comparative indicators at the local level. Much work and cooperation is needed in this respect going forward. Many of the city representatives felt the analysis reflected who they instinctively thought were their natural competitors while others were surprised and disagreed. Have a look at the reports and let us know what you think. The reports were prepared by Marissa Soohoo and Greg Spencer.
You can download each of the benchmarking reports here:
Calgary Benchmarking – Edmonton Benchmarking – Halifax Benchmarking – Montreal Benchmarking – Ottawa-Gatineau Benchmarking – Quebec (City) Benchmarking – Saskatoon Benchmarking – Toronto Benchmarking – Vancouver Benchmarking – Waterloo Benchmarking – Winnipeg Benchmarking
Local IDEAs 