The fifteenth annual TORONTO report card is out. We can always do better but “by many measures it appears our city is doing quite well,” says Sharon Avery, President & CEO of the Toronto Foundation.
Environment: Air quality has improved. Greenhouse gas emissions have declined 24% since 1990. We have almost double the rate of greenhouse gas emissions of London, a third more than Amsterdam but half the rate of Los Angeles.
Gap Between Rich and Poor: Hunger is shifting from downtown to the inner suburbs where food bank visits have gone up 48% since 2008. TORONTO is the child poverty capital amongst Canada’s large cities, with rates consistently between 27% and 32% since 1997.
TORONTO ranks as the best place to live among 50 global cities; first among 35 global cities on youth opportunities; 5th among 24 global metropolitan areas on prosperity.
Learning: In 2015, 59% of the Toronto Region’s population had a post-secondary education, up from 55% in 2010, and higher than Melbourne, Boston, London, Amsterdam and Los Angeles.
Getting Around: Torontonians take four times more public transit trips per capita than people who live in Los Angeles but less than half as many as residents in London.
Work: The overall unemployment rate dropped to 7.7% in 2015 from 9.5% in 2014.
