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The Greater Toronto Area

"The Greater Toronto Area is the fifth-largest metropolitan region in North America, and the second-fastest growing after Dallas-Fort Worth," writes Doug Lindeblom at the Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance. The GTA is also Canada's economic hub, accounting for a fifth of its GDP, and its financial capital in addition to being a major manufacturing and IT center, he adds. As the GTA continues to fan out, the region's infrastructure is expanding. Examples include expansion of Pearson International Airport, a new subway line and the extension west and east of the new Highway 407, which runs north of Toronto. While a boom has occurred in the GTA's IT and call center sectors, Lindeblom reports that manufacturing (automotive, biomedical/pharmaceutical), warehouse/distribution and hospitality/tourism are also growing.

In its spring 2000 report, Colliers International (www.colliers.com) cites that the GTA West region, comprising Brampton, Burlington, Milton, Oakville and Mississauga, has the largest concentration of available commercial space, with 8.9 million sq. ft. (827,000 sq. m.). With 96 percent of all new construction in the GTA leased, says the report, "demand is keeping pace with supply. . .The total dollar volume of industrial property sales at year-end 1999 totaled C$355 million," representing "an increase of 71 percent over the first six months of last year." The spring report forecasts a drop in space availability to 3 percent by the close of 2000.

The GTA houses the Canadian headquarters of such companies as Silicon Graphics, Cisco, EDS GEAC, IBM, Nortel, Oracle and Microsoft. IT companies flourish in the GTA in part because of the large and highly educated labor pool, and the fact that it has one of the most sophisticated telecommunications infrastructures in Canada. Recent major IT investments include Nokia's new 44,000-sq.-ft. (4,000-sq.-m.) Canadian Corporate Headquarters, and Celestica's new 151,000-sq.-ft. (14,000-sq.-m.) facility in Richmond Hill. IT-related industries, such as digital media, are expected to see explosive growth, the GTA reports, citing as examples the new multi-million dollar telecomm facility of 360 Networks in downtown Toronto, and the soon-to-open 30,000-sq.-ft. (2,800-sq.-m.) Internet incubator by Techspace.