Entrepreneurial cities are measured by a variety of indicators designed to assess the success and development of small to medium enterprise (SME). With 53 per cent of all working individuals in Canada employed by SME’s, this information will be of strong interest to migrants researching destination and employment options.
Some of the main indicators of entrepreneurial hot spots in the study are, the high concentration of entrepreneurs, high business start-up rate, high levels of business owner optimism and success and the presence of supportive local government tax and regulatory policies.
City Entrepreneurial Index: Top 10 Rankings, 2010
1. Grande Prairie, Alberta
2. Lloydminster, Alberta/Saskatchewan
3 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
4. Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
5. Kelowna, British Columbia
6. Edmonton, Alberta
7. Red Deer, Alberta
8 Parksville, British Columbia
9. Saint-Georges, Quebec
10. Wood Buffalo, Alberta
According to the study by Ted Mallett and Queenie Wong, 'Scores are slightly higher than last year, mainly because the economy is further in recovery. However, only two out of 100 cities scored higher than 70 out of 100- which shows there is room for considerable improvement…”.
Alberta has been reported to have 57,774 foreign workers present, as at December 1, 2010, according to preliminary data released by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). This is the third highest province home to foreign workers after Ontario with 99,747 and British Columbia with 67,755. The preliminary data also indicted there were a total of 283,096 foreign workers present in 2010, up from 160,908 in 2006.
