Contacts: Dave Barrow, Mayor, 905-771-2493, dave.barrow@richmondhill.ca and/or Gwen Manderson, Director of Strategic Initiatives, 905-771-2411, gwen.manderson@richmondhill.ca

RICHMOND HILL – Richmond Hill is the fourth best municipality in all of Canada! According to the Conference Board of Canada’s City Magnets 2014 Report, the Town is fourth of six Canadian ‘A’ cities that are best at attracting new educated residents. The report analyzes and benchmarks the features that make Canadian cities attractive to skilled workers and mobile populations.

“It is great that Richmond Hill is once again recognized as one of the top places to live and work in Canada,” said Mayor Dave Barrow. “Attracting skilled, educated residents will help Richmond Hill to remain an economic leader.”  

Richmond Hill earns the distinction of having the highest percentage of population with at least a bachelor’s degree at 38.1 per cent and the highest number of graduates in engineering, science and math per capita. Living close to large engineering and high tech businesses is a draw for Richmond Hill workers.  The Town also boasts the second-highest share of computer and information systems employees and is ranked third in the top ten income earners. With over 54 per cent of Richmond Hill’s population foreign-born, it is the third-most diverse city in Canada after Toronto and Mississauga.

The Conference Board's third analysis of the attractiveness of Canadian cities uses 43 indicators of economic and social performance across seven different categories: Society, Health, Economy, Environment, Education, Innovation and Housing. Richmond Hill achieved strong results in Education, Society and Innovation, where it ranks third. Innovation recognizes municipalities which create, diffuse or transform knowledge to produce new or significantly improved products or processes. The Conference Board identifies innovation as the most highly valued factor when choosing where to live.

“As noted in the report, Richmond Hill is particularly strong on knowledge-economy employment, which certainly contributes to our solid economic growth,” said Mayor Dave Barrow.

The top six cities all received “A” grades and have the ability to act as ‘magnets’ and attract new people, which supports the future health of the local economy. The magnetic appeal has stood the test of time as the top six cities - Waterloo, Calgary, Ottawa, Richmond Hill, Vancouver and St. John's – are the same top six as the last report in 2010.

The Conference Board of Canada is the leading, independent, not-for-profit applied research organization in Canada. The Conference Board creates and shares insights on economic trends, public policy and organization performance.

For more information on the Conference Board’s City Magnets III report, visit www.e-library.ca or www.conferenceboard.ca and/or Gwen Manderson, Director of Strategic Initiatives, 905-771-2411,