With a rich history of renowned achievements, London, Canada has built a solid economic foundation based on diversity, innovation and forward thinking. The city of 450,000 residents situated midway between Detroit and Toronto is currently the 11th largest city in Canada, offering big-town appeal with community charm. New foreign direct investment as well as growing local companies in defence, aerospace, food and beverage processing and technology have contributed to building a diverse economy. As a result, a cohort of newcomers to London are enjoying our vibrant downtown, safe and affordable housing, festivals, and arts and entertainment activities for the entire family.
The London Advantage
Home to Canadian headquarters for industry leaders like 3M, Goodlife Fitness, Libro Credit Union, Trojan Technologies, Diamond Aircraft and McCormick Canada, London, Ontario’s workforce is driving economic prosperity. Not only is London building on its already solid manufacturing and food processing sectors, but it is increasingly being recognized as a hotbed for digital creative companies and a new generation of entrepreneurs.
City assets like affordable, shovel-ready land encourage manufacturers to set up shop close to London’s international airport and Highways 401, 402 and 403, providing quick access for business trips and service shipping. The 400-series highways carry $1.5 billion in trade every day and provides London with access to more than 150 million consumers within a one-day drive. Technology companies and startups are drawn to London’s downtown core, where resources like incubation and co-working spaces or fibre optic connectivity are available to help take their company to the next level.
While assets are a driving force behind a vibrant business community, it’s the city’s energy, culture and quality of life that have so many people calling London home. The city offers picturesque parks, hiking trails and a variety of outdoor activities for everyone from the adventure seeker to the nature lover. Outdoor skating rinks, pools, splash pads, sports fields and recreational facilities provide outdoor entertainment year round. Summers in London are transformed into an outdoor haven for culture, music and food, where more than 15 festivals take place including Sunfest, the second largest outdoor festival in Canada attracting over 200,000 visitors.
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Despite the sprawling urban landscape, London is surrounded by lush farmlands feeding the city with local dairy, beef, fruits and vegetables. A growing number of award-winning and world-class eateries like Abruzzi, David’s Bistro, the Covent Garden Market and The Only on King, offer everything from homegrown favourites to international cuisine. Many of these restaurants host live music nights, and other venues like London Music Hall, Budweiser Gardens and The Grand Theatre are minutes away for after-dinner entertainment.
We are merely scratching the surface in exploring the advantages the city offers. There is so much to discover about living, learning, playing and working in London, Canada.
The Fresh Approach
London’s food processing sector boasts an employee base of over 6,000 people – a number that has grown steadily over the past decade. The city is in lockstep with the province of Ontario’s goal to create more than 100,000 jobs in agri-food by 2020 with the expectation that food processing will account for at least half that number. By building on the successful legacies of robust companies like McCormick Canada, The Original Cakerie and Cargill Canada, London is poised to harvest rich rewards in this sector.
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The Original Cakerie has found sweet success in the agricultural heartland of Southwestern Ontario and London’s proximity to raw materials. According to Suzanne Pottinger, Vice President of Employee Experience, being surrounded by raw materials was a key factor in deciding to buy land and build a 125,000 sq ft facility in London.
“We could have built this plant anywhere but London’s robust manufacturing sector, proximity to key distribution networks and overall receptivity to growing its food processing sector was significant to our decision,” said Pottinger.
In London’s beverage sector, locally brewed beer, raw juices, spirit mixed drinks and organic fair trade coffee provide the city with a virtual drinking well of options.
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As one of Canada’s oldest and most successful companies, Labatt started in London as a small craft brewery founded by John Kinder Labatt in 1847. Today, it is credited with paving the way for London’s next generation of beverage producers.
“Londoners are very proud of their businesses. There is a strong spirit of support to shop local and help companies succeed,” says Cathy Siskind-Kelly, co-founder of Black Fly Beverage Company.
London’s entrepreneurial culture is evident at The London Brewing Co-operative, where the nano-sized brewery is organized as part of a worker’s co-operative sharing space with The Root Cellar Organic and On the Move Organics.
Deep-Seated Innovation
With a workforce of 750 and investments totaling $170 million, Brose, the international auto parts maker based in Germany, is one of London’s largest players in the advanced manufacturing sector. Since setting up shop in London, Brose Canada has stamped more than 180 million seat frames and 22.5 million seat adjusters at its two plants. Much of this success is credited to a deep-seated commitment to innovative processes and talent development in an industry that constantly evolves to meet the needs of its global customers.
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London’s advanced manufacturing sector employs over 16,000 in direct automotive assembly and parts jobs. Amongst those providing research and development support within the manufacturing space are Fanshawe College’s Canadian Centre for Product Validation (CCPV), Fraunhofer Project Centre (FPC), National Research Council (NRC) and Western University’s Wind, Engineering, Energy and Environment Research Institute (WindEEE Dome). The CCPV is one of only three such centres worldwide and the first of its kind in Canada, offering comprehensive expertise for prototyping, validation and failure analysis. Western University’s The WindEEE Dome is the world’s first hexagonal wind tunnel and the only facility capable of reproducing a real tornado vortex.
London’s Got Game
Video game and mobile application development companies are on the rise in London and leaders in this niche technology sector are growing at record rates. With a 309% increase in revenue growth from 2011 to 2014, London’s Big Blue Bubble recently ranked 30th on the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 List. The company’s growth matches that of the digital gaming industry overall. More than 500 employees work at London-based video game development companies including Big Viking Games, Digital Extremes, Tactic Studios and more.
“London’s business ecosystem of infrastructure, real estate, education and talent is very strong and supportive of companies, CEOs and entrepreneurs,” says Vikas Gupta, CEO of Big Blue Bubble.
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Video games were an estimated US $75.4 billion global industry in 2015, and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.6% over the next five years in Canada.
“London has emerged as a hotbed for creating video games. Our niche companies are developing content, animation, video and sound production, coding and the many aspects involved in creating digital interactive games,” says Kapil Lakhotia, President and CEO at the London Economic Development Corporation.
Science for Life
London’s robust health-care ecosystem of teaching hospitals, long-term care facilities, and rehabilitation and research institutes makes it a prime location for one of the most innovative suppliers of medical products – 3M Health Care.
Infection prevention is one of the fastest growing areas in health care. Every year more than 200,000 patients acquire infections while receiving health care in Canada; more than 8,000 of those result in fatalities. London is behind many of the 3M sterilization and infection prevention products used in hospitals across the country and around the world.
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According to Matthew Pepe, Vice President, Health Care Business at 3M Canada says 3M’s location in a mid-sized urban centre like London allows the company to be more nimble and responsive to the needs of the health-care sector than it would in a larger city.
Another company in London is thinking outside of the box for health care and more. Founded in 1882, Jones Packaging is a success story of generational entrepreneurship, responsive innovation and global leadership. Be it a box of candy, a blister pack of cold medicine or a bottle of vitamins, Jones has found its way into millions of homes worldwide. At some point in our lives, many of us have touched one of their products.
Smart pharmaceutical packaging is an example that is taking the company and its clients into a new realm. The packaging allows users with a smart phone to access information on everything from side effects and dosage to product tampering and company recalls. Jones recently partnered with Thin Film Electronics, a Norwegian global leader in printed electronics, to develop a physical package that connects with today’s virtual world of information and communications.
Financial Powerhouse
London’s financial sector breaks away from tradition with new technologies and innovative approaches to client services.
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London Life Insurance Company, a business icon that has been part of London’s economic landscape for over 100 years, was founded at a time when London was growing as a financial hub for Western Ontario. Together with sister companies Great-West Life and Canada Life, the company offers a broad portfolio of financial and benefit plan solutions to more than 12 million people across Canada. With more than 3,000 employees in London, the company’s impact as a financial powerhouse is unparalleled.
“London has been incredibly good to us. It has a competitive cost structure advantage and a wonderful pool of talented people that make it a preferred location to operate a business,” says Dave Johnston, President and Chief Operating Officer at London Life.
The Ideal Test Market
From Swedish furniture to Chicken McNuggets™, London, Ontario has proven to be the ideal test market for new products and services prior to nationwide launch.
Companies require a sample city that is representative of Canada’s entire population to test out new advancements, and London serves this purpose well. In this past year alone, IKEA, a Swedish-based furniture company, made London its new flagship for expansion in Canada by introducing a new ‘Pick-up-Point’ location.
“The Pick-Up-Points allow IKEA to expand quickly into markets that have been identified as having potential, resulting in consumers having easier access to our products,” said Stefan Sjӧstrand, President of IKEA Canada when making the announcement.
London is also a test market in the food and beverage space. In 1968, McDonald’s set up their first ever store in Eastern Canada in London. This iconic location at Oxford Street and Wonderland Road is still serving customers today. The Chicken McNugget™ was tested next in London, and as a result every single McNugget ordered in Canada comes from the London, Ontario factory Cargill.
Made in London
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From baking dog treats to building rowing sculls for elite athletes, London is at the manufacturing forefront of world renowned products. Some examples include:
- Harring Doors provides the White House, Western University, Harvard and Yale with stile and rail wood doors that are sustainably sourced.
- London’s Bosco and Roxy’s high-end bakery provides dogs in North America with major incentives to sit pretty. Today the company supply stores such as Pet Valu and over 1,000 Bed Bath and Beyond locations with hand-decorated treats.
- Sourcing many ingredients from Southwestern Ontario producers, Dr. Oetker’s first North American facility produces over 77,000 frozen pizzas a day in London, Ontario.
- Since 1984 elite athletes have been rowing Hudson shells and scooped up 80 World and Olympic medals on the way.
- Nestle Canada has made London a real sweet spot for manufacturing. 200,000 Drumsticks are produced every day at the London plant.
Around the world, pizza crusts rise, high-tech cameras capture aerospace engineers in flight, and White House doors provide solid security to the President of the United States. We are proud of these products made right here in London, Ontario.
