Toronto residents leery about city's future

Toronto - A research report released today by George Brown College says that Toronto residents are pessimistic about whether Toronto will be any better when it comes to social and economic issues in 10 years.

The study, conducted by Leger Marketing for George Brown College, asked half of the city's employers and Generation Y (residents aged 18-35) if they believed that Toronto will have changed very little or be a worse place to live 10 years from now. Most of those questioned believe that the city's cultural diversity is one of its strongest assets. That diversity is also considered to be an area to improve because of Toronto's inability to integrate new immigrants into society -- 52 per cent believe the city has fared equally poorly in leveraging immigrants to fill existing and future skill shortages. "It is critical for Toronto to improve as a city and address the core socioeconomic indicators that will be instrumental to its future competitiveness," said George Brown College President Anne Sado in a press release. "Unless we raise the bar significantly with respect to our level of research and innovation, the integration of newcomers, narrowing the gap in skills and modernizing our infrastructure, it won't be long before we lose our domestic and international stature." One in five questioned do not think that they will be Toronto residents in 10 years and of those who do believe that they will remain in the city only one in five say it is because of a love for the city. Only 30 percent believe Toronto's science and technology sectors are better than those of other international cities and only one in three sees the city's workforce as skilled, demonstrating a general lack of confidence in its economic competitiveness. "As we enter the fall mayoralty and city council election, I can't emphasize enough the need to judge candidates on their willingness to genuinely collaborate with constituents, business, other levels of government and non-governmental agencies as that will be the key catalyst to fast change and an escape from the status quo," said Sado. Five-hundred Toronto residents between the ages of 18 and 35 were included in the study as well as 300 of the city's employers.