Brampton has emerged as a winner and is among the Top 10 Mid-Sized American Cities of the Future 2013/14 as ranked by fDi Intelligence, a division of the Financial Times (UK). Brampton has come in second as Business Friendly City and eighth in the Infrastructure (Americas) and City of the Future in the Americas (North, South, Central) categories.

“The international rankings are a huge achievement for Brampton and I am very proud of this global recognition,” Mayor Susan Fennell said. “This is proof that our hard work to market Brampton to the world – including our trade missions focused on job creation and economic growth – is working.” Fennell added that “In Brampton we look beyond our own borders and welcome global entrepreneurs to choose us to expand service offerings, innovate, create jobs and achieve success.”

To create the shortlist for the American Cities of the Future 2013/14, fDi’s research team collected data using the specialist online FDI (foreign direct investment) tools such fDi Benchmark and fDi Markets, as well as other sources. Data was collected for 422 cities under six categories: Economic Potential, Human Resources, Cost Effectiveness, Infrastructure andBusiness Friendliness and FDI Strategy. Cities scored up to a maximum of 10 points under each data point, which was weighted by importance to the FDI decision-making process in order to compile both the subcategory rankings as well as the overall American Cities of the Future 2013/14 ranking.

These awards recognize Brampton not only as a leader in the global marketplace, but also a great place to invest in. It is of particular value when competing internationally to attract business to the city. Over the past years, the Economic Development Office has been focused on generating awareness for Brampton as a competitive location for new business investment. And, this strategy is a fundamental component of the City’s Economic Development Plan. In 2012, the City of Brampton participated in six trade missions to countries including China, India, Brazil, USA and France.

fDi Intelligence provides leading industry insight on globalization and foreign direct investments intelligence. According to the fDi report, “A sound financial system, relatively low corporation tax rates and an open and affluent economy have resulted in Canadian cities dominating the category for business friendliness across all city sizes.”

 The 2012 Brampton economic indicators reveal a growing and vibrant marketplace in Brampton and the City of Brampton has retained a Triple ‘A’ rating from Standard and Poor’s for the last seven consecutive years. As a designated growth centre in the Province of Ontario, the City of Brampton has identified more than 2,700 acres of land in its strategy for future businesses and employment opportunities. Brampton ranks first in average annual GDP growth; second in employment growth; and tenth in the economy category among the 50 largest cities nationwide, according to a recent Conference Board of Canada report.

In 2012, Brampton’s non-residential Industrial Commercial Institutional (ICI) construction investment topped $466 million, ranking 11th in Canada. In the past five years Brampton has been able to attract international and national companies such as Medtronic, Loblaw, Air Canada Strategic Operations Centre, Canadian Blood Services and Canon Canada Inc.