LONDON, Ontario - On July 17, 2009, London was ranked 1st in Ontario and 7th in Canada as a best-managed city by Macleans's magazine. The survey of 31 Canadian cities was completed by Atlantic Institute for Market Studies and assessed which cities offered the best services at the least cost.
Mayor Ann Marie DeCicco-Best was very pleased with the results. As headlined in the London Free Press, she said, "It's positive that we're in the top 10 and our aim is to improve year-to-year, to continue to be successful in managing the corporation."
This survey, the first of its kind in Canada, provides citizens in 31 cities across the country with comparative data on how well?or poorly?their city is run, measured by the cost and quality of the public services it delivers.
Peter White, President and CEO of the London Economic Development Corporation said this type of ranking does help London stand up and be noticed by potential investors. "When companies are looking for communities to invest in, they look at many elements including cost of land and buildings, availability of a skilled workforce, transportation networks, and quality of life. Good governance impacts each of these categories, and this type of competitive comparison and external validation as a top-ranked community can help put London on an investors short-list. We are very pleased with these results."
Researcher Bobby O'Keeffe said the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies looked at areas including finance, taxation, police and fire services, transportation, health and environment, water and sewer costs, garbage collection and recreation and culture, measuring "efficiency versus effectiveness."
The top 10 cities in Canada include Burnaby, Saskatoon, Surrey, Vancouver, Longueuil, Sherbrooke, London, Saint John, Quebec City and Toronto.
The full report can be found at CLICK
For more information, please contact:
Lesley Cornelius
Director, Marketing and Communications
LEDC
519-661-5009
lcornelius@ledc.com
