Toronto is fastest growing North American city
Toronto is growing faster than any other city in North America.
New data released by the Centre for Urban Research and Land Development at Ryerson University on June 10 shows that the city of Toronto as well as its surrounding metropolitan area grew faster than any other region in North America in 2019.
The centre drew the conclusion by comparing data released by the United States Census Bureau in May and similar estimates released by Statistics Canada in February. That data compares the population growth of major Canadian and American cities, as well as metropolitan areas for a 12-month period ending July 1, 2019.
The data show that the city of Toronto grew by 45,742 people last year. The second fastest growing city in North America was Montreal at 31,565 people. Canadian cities—including Calgary, Ottawa, London, Winnipeg, Halifax, Vancouver, Kitchener and Hamilton—accounted for 11 of the top 20 fastest growing central cities in terms of population growth. The two fastest-growing American cities were Phoenix and San Antonio, which grew by 26,317 and 17,237 persons, respectively.
Toronto gained almost as many people in 2019 as New York City lost (53,264).
In the past 40 years, Toronto’s downtown population more than doubled and more than one-third of all jobs in the city are now in the core.
“I’m incredibly proud of the growth we saw in the City of Toronto again last year, as one of the most livable and diverse cities around the world,” said Toronto Mayor John Tory. “Toronto is Canada’s economic engine—home to residents with incredible talent and innovative businesses. The steady increase in population helps fuel the economy and will be an important part of our recovery efforts as we emerge from this pandemic absolutely determined for our city to come back stronger than ever.”
Toronto also topped the list as North America’s fastest growing metropolitan area in 2019. The Greater Toronto Area added 127,575 persons in 2019, and outpaced Dallas-Fort Worth Arlington which grew by 117,380 persons. Metropolitan Montreal was the sixth fastest growing area, with a population increase of 65,205.
Construction is of the principal characteristics of a growing city, and Toronto’s construction industry, pre-pandemic, was booming. A report issued by international project management advisory firm Rider Levett Bucknall in March confirmed that Toronto has the most tower cranes in use of any of 14 major North American cities.
At the time of the report, Toronto accounted for 27 percent of the 455 cranes in use across the index cities. Most were servicing residential projects, followed by mixed-use projects.
The city is also benefiting from a surge of investment in public infrastructure and transit to meet the needs of this rapidly expanding region.
Other significant projects underway in the GTA include the redevelopment of Union Station, the revitalization of the city’s waterfront—the largest urban renewal project currently underway in North America—and the Regent Park Revitalization project, which will transform a former 69-acre social-housing development into a self-sufficient mixed income, multi-use community.