The 2019/2020 year marked a significant milestone for Toronto Global, with a record 49 investments, $482 million in capital expenditure, and 2,441 jobs created over three years.
contributed to GDP*
This GDP number will have a multiplier effect on the Toronto Region’s economy and will continue to increase with new successful investments in future years.
*Based on estimates provided by the City of Toronto (2017), $110,000/employee. This number is an average of GDP in current dollars for all industries. These GDP numbers are based on immediate and short-term hiring but do not include future projected growth and expansion, which will further enhance and benefit the region.
51% Technology
23% Business & Industrial Services
4% Food & Beverage
22% Other
47% Technology
23% Business & Industrial Services
15% Food & Beverage
15% Other
59% Technology
14% Business & Industrial Services
11% Food & Beverage
16% Other
43% United States
39% Europe
8% Asia
10% Other
59% United States
33% Europe
3% Asia
6% Other
68% United States
23% Europe
2% Asia
7% Other
Source: Statistics Canada, Interprovincial Input-Output Model (2016), based on Toronto Global investment wins 2017/2018 to 2019/2020
Management Discussion & Analysis
Daniel Hengeveld, Senior Director, Investment Attraction
The 2019/2020 fiscal year marked Toronto Global’s third year of operations in attracting foreign direct investment to the Toronto Region, representing a year of continued growth for the organization.
Overall, we successfully facilitated 49 new investments into the Toronto Region, creating 2,441 jobs and delivering $482,759,472 in capital expenditure over three years. This represented a 48 percent increase in investments compared to 2018/2019, with growth largely driven by firms looking to take advantage of the highly skilled talent found in the Toronto Region.
For 2019/2020, our average investment size was $9.9 million, increasing 8% from 2018/2019
While the majority of our investments continued to come from the U.S. and European markets, in-line with our approach that focused on the markets with the highest potential for FDI, we also saw nine investments from markets like India, Asia and Brazil. These are markets that represent strong future growth potential for FDI opportunities into the Toronto Region.
Overall, we continued to grow the average size of our investments relative to previous years. For 2019/2020, our average investment size was $9.9 million, increasing eight percent from 2018/2019 and reflecting our continued push to target and land higher-value investments that deliver a greater impact in terms of job creation and total investment dollars. Accordingly, sectors with higher economic multipliers, like life sciences and advanced manufacturing remain a priority in our prospecting efforts. While ICT and technology-related investments continued to represent the majority of the organization’s investments at 51 percent, sectors like financial services (8 percent), advanced manufacturing (8 percent) and business and industrial services (22 percent) remained strong. Investments continue to be driven by the need for access to talent, Canada’s stable political environment, open immigration policies and cost advantages.
As part of our goal to deliver greenfield investments to the Toronto Region, as well as distribute these investments throughout the region’s municipalities, we will continue to push for sector and market diversity within our pipeline – focusing on sectors for which the supply chain, customer focus, or cluster participation provide a strong business case to locate within the 905. In 2019/2020, we facilitated a total of seven investments within the GTA. Recognizing the importance of increasing investment within the 905, we will continue to prioritize this regional focus.
Looking forward, the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will undoubtedly present challenges, particularly as firms rethink their business plans and operations. Working with our existing clients and protecting our pipeline of FDI opportunities will become even more important in this regard. While it is too soon to predict the full effects of the pandemic on the regional and global economy, Toronto Global will remain flexible in its approach to attracting investments. That being said, our goal remains the same: supporting our funders, partners, and residents of the Toronto Region by attracting economic investment that helps our economy grow.
Download our 2019/2020 audited financial statements.