City ranked high in BMO study

By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express

Oshawa has placed in the top 10 best locations to work according to a labour market study from the Bank of Montreal.

The report, written by senior economist Robert Kavcic, compares labour market trends of 33 cities throughout Canada.

Based on data from Statistics Canada, Oshawa was ranked ninth out of the 33 cities, jumping up from 28th over the previous year.

Only Guelph, Kitchener and Peterborough were ranked higher among Ontario municipalities.

Oshawa placed above cities such as Ottawa, Barrie, Toronto, Thunder Bay, St. Catharines and Kingston.

The city experienced job growth of 4.9 per cent from 2017, and an unemployment rate of 5.8 per cent, an increase of 0.3 per cent.

Mayor Dan Carter said the recognition shows “Oshawa’s path forward has been a successful one.”

“Diversification and innovation over the last 15 years have led to a strong economic base and provided tremendous job opportunities in several fields including education and health care,” Carter said. “Oshawa is also home to top-notch post-secondary options and a wide variety of leisure and recreational opportunities making it an ideal community in which to live, work and invest.”

Ward 2 regional councillor Tito-Dante Marimpietri, chair of the city’s development services board, said the city’s “aggressive” revitalization plan is working.

“We have strategically driven diversification, tangibly-positioned Oshawa as a hotbed for knowledge-based investment and industrial development, and have continued to climb in the rankings of major banking institutions as one of the most attractive places to work and grow business start-ups of all sizes and depths,” Marimpietri added.

However, Marimpietri says the city can’t rest on its laurels.

“Call us now. We want to help grow your business and create new jobs,” Marimpietri says. “Our goal is to move Oshawa up to its historic spot as the number one place to work in Canada.”