Results show Canadian cities looking to
attract young talent have work to do
TORONTO, Feb. 4, 2019 /CNW/ - Today, YouthfulCities
launches its inaugural Urban Work Index, the first of its kind to
look specifically at urban work in Canada. The Index, which was funded by RBC
Future Launch, ranks 21 Canadian cities based on 48 urban work
indicators, and found Edmonton to
be the top-ranked city in the country. Edmonton scored 713.86 points out of a
possible 1,310 available points.
"As Canada's population ages,
we need to make sure our cities are vibrant places for youth to
work," says YouthfulCities Co-founder Robert Barnard. "Using this new Index as
inspiration, we have a challenge for Canada and Canadian cities: make full youth
employment (youth unemployment below 6%) a goal by 2024. Clearly,
we can, and we need to do more. We need to spark a national
dialogue on the future of urban work and youth's critical role in
it."
With 87% of Canadian youth aged 15-29 living in cities, the
YouthfulCities Urban Work Index creates a way for youth to explore
the best cities for them to work. It uses an expansive,
youth-driven definition for work that includes four thematic
areas: Education (affordability, access, work-integrated learning
experiences), Entrepreneurship (spirit, spaces, programming)
Affordability (housing, utilities, transportation, food/clothing,
leisure, health) and Employment (basic, career-oriented, city
economic profile, programs).
Canadian cities were ranked out of a total 1,310 points based on
scores on 48 urban work indicators. The results are:
- Edmonton (713.86)
- Montreal (708.13)
- Ottawa (697.91)
- Sudbury (681.52)
- Kitchener/Waterloo
(665.63)
- Hamilton (655.40)
- Quebec City (645.90)
- Mississauga (641.81)
- Victoria (635.37)
- Toronto (622.60)
- St. John's (620.34)
- Moncton (614.50)
- Calgary (600.69)
- Kelowna (583.77)
- Vancouver (571.00)
- Oshawa/Durham (560.77)
- Yellowknife (555.35)
- Charlottetown (541.73)
- Saskatoon (540.73)
- Halifax (535.75)
- Winnipeg (488.55)
Valerie Chort, Vice-President,
Corporate Citizenship, RBC, sees a clear link between the
YouthfulCities Urban Work Index and RBC's commitment to empowering
Canadian youth for the jobs of tomorrow through RBC Future
Launch.
"Canada's job market is changing and we have a collective
opportunity to help young people prepare for, and navigate the
ambiguities of the future," says Chort. "The Urban Work Index
aims to expand the dialogue around urban work to include
government, educators, public sector, not-for-profits and most
importantly young people. The Index is not a list of winners and
losers, instead it provides a closer look at the opportunities that
exist within our urban centres. It helps validate the investments
we're already making in our communities and suggests where more
support is needed."
The top three Canadian cities in the Urban Work Index —
Edmonton, Montreal and Ottawa — each demonstrated different
strengths. Edmonton's greatest
strength was its consistency, with a number of top-ten finishes
across all four themes. Overall, Montreal is a great city for youth to work,
but the city didn't take top spot due to its higher cost of living.
Ottawa's most notable strength, on
the other hand, is tied to its affordability, but the city ranks
lower on employment measures such as youth full-time jobs.
No matter the ranking, all Canadian cities have something to
celebrate. Based on the Urban Work Index, Halifax takes top spot in new jobs created
(followed by St. John's and
Kitchener/Waterloo), and
Sudbury has the most affordable
rent (followed by St. John's and
Hamilton). Winnipeg is tied for first with Vancouver and Victoria on the Indigenous Education scale,
and Yellowknife might be the best
place for young women to work given its top place on the Gender
Parity Scale (followed by Hamilton
and Charlottetown).
"While there is room for improvement across the board, all 21
cities ranked near the top in one or more indicators. Let's use
that as a great starting place to build from." Barnard says.
How the cities were ranked
The YouthfulCities Canadian
Urban Work Index ranked the 21 cities across 16 Urban Work
Attributes using a total of 48 indicators. The indicator data
consists of primary and secondary data collected by young urban
researchers in each community. Data is collected locally, submitted
using collaborative, cloud-based research workbooks, checked
centrally, normalized and then scored to create rankings for all 21
cities.
About YouthfulCities
Since 2012, YouthfulCities has
designed programs that build a unique base of urban knowledge while
engaging youth (15-29 years) to design and develop innovative
solutions to their cities' critical issues. Our urban indexes
ignite an important dialogue about the importance of youth to the
future of cities.
About RBC
Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with
a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading
performance. Our success comes from the 84,000+ employees who bring
our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients
thrive and communities prosper. As Canada's biggest bank, and one of the largest
in the world based on market capitalization, we have a diversified
business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional
experiences to our 16 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 34 other countries. Learn
more at rbc.com.
We are proud to support a broad range of community initiatives
through donations, community investments and employee volunteer
activities. See how at rbc.com/community-sustainability.
SOURCE RBC