CleanTech
Sector Facts – York Region
- Local Green Business cluster of over 400 companies and service providers
- Global Smart Grid innovation hub – GE Digital Energy GridIQ R&D centre, IBM Energy & Utilities, Siemens, AEG Power, Sensus
- Canada’s 2nd largest Solar PV industry cluster (100 plus firms) including such players as SunEdison, Silicor, Sungrow and Mitsubishi Electric
- Home to PowerStream – Ontario’s 2nd largest municipally-owned LDC and Canada’s 2012 Solar Industry “Developer of the Year”
- One of Canada’s largest clusters of green building products/technologies. Some of North America’s largest mixed-use green development construction projects
- Water & Wastewater Technology cluster led by leading industry players as Siemens Water Technologies, Napier Ried and H2Flow
- $260M Energy-from-Waste (EfW) municipal facility – 17.5 MW capacity, enough electricity for 10,000 homes
- Established supply chain: Over 4,000 local manufacturers – electronics & electrical, fabricated metal, plastics & rubber
- Award-winning municipal sustainability strategy
Sector Facts – Greater Toronto Area (GTA)
- $2 billion in annual sector revenue (City of Toronto)
- 36,000 employees at over 1,700 companies providing alternative energy and cleantech products and services (City of Toronto)
- Over 25% of Canada’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) professionals are located in the Toronto area (City of Toronto)
Area Workforce
- Toronto area’s workforce of 4 million is Canada’s largest and most concentrated (25% of total in Canada)
- 67% of York Region’s workforce have post-secondary education (vs. 51% Canada-wide; 37% in the U.S.; 27% in EU)
- Over 1/2 of York Region’s workforce with post-secondary education majored in Engineering, Information Sciences or Business Administration
- 45 post-secondary programs in environmental science, engineering and sustainable and renewable energy
- 4,000 university graduates, annually, in hydrogen related programs and more than 3,400 graduates in solar related programs; 19 wind technology related experts in five universities
- Connected to world’s fastest growing markets – 45% of York Region’s population is foreign born; over 70 languages spoken locally
- Toronto ranks as a city with one of the lowest degrees of overall staffing risk, globally (PwC 2012)
Business Costs
- York Region has the lowest commercial and industrial property taxes in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) — 25% lower on average
- 11% lower Corporate Income Tax than U.S. avg. (State-Fed) and up to 50% lower employer healthcare costs
- Lower salary costs and lower employee attrition for technology and management roles compared to major U.S. metro areas
- Federal and Provincial SR&ED incentives can cut R&D costs by 40%-60%
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The Bottom Line for Your Business
Locate/Expand in York Region, Greater Toronto: Maximize Your Market Access | Leverage Top Global Talent | Locate Cost-Effectively