October 26, 2015
Mayor John Tory and Councillor Michael Thompson (Ward 37 Scarborough Centre), Chair of the City's Economic Development Committee, today spoke of the results of the City of Toronto's business mission to London, England from October 21 to 23.
"We have told and shown London that Toronto is under new leadership and is open for business. Our meetings with investors – existing and potential – strengthened our business relationship with London," said Mayor Tory. "I returned from this business mission feeling more motivated and energized to get on with transformative initiatives, like SmartTrack, that will make our city even greater on the world stage."
On the business mission, Mayor Tory was joined by Councillor Thompson as well as Michael Williams, General Manager of the City's Economic Development and Culture division, and Janet Ecker, President and CEO of the Toronto Financial Services Alliance.
Mission highlights included a meeting with City of London Mayor Boris Johnson, as well as the Mayor's address at a Canada-United Kingdom Chamber of Commerce business reception.
London's transportation planning and development success was explored at meetings with the Honourable Patrick McLoughlin, U.K. Secretary of State for Transport, and Terry Morgan, Chairman of Crossrail. The delegation also toured a construction site for Crossrail, which has many parallels to SmartTrack.
The delegation visited the Canary Wharf business district and met with U.K. businesses looking to invest in Toronto or expand their current Toronto-based operation, as well as meeting with a number of Toronto technology companies currently operating in the U.K.
The delegation worked closely with Gordon Campbell, Canada's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and staff of the High Commission of Canada to the United Kingdom in London.
"Our meetings and interactions with London's public and private sector influencers have strengthened our current and potential business relationships with U.K. companies and with Toronto companies operating in the U.K." – Councillor Thompson
"The mission established some important connections to help start-ups and young firms go global – both those in Toronto that want to enter Europe and those in London that want to enter North America?." – Michael Williams
“As a growing top 10 international financial centre, Toronto continues to benefit from our partnership with London, the world’s top ranked global financial centre. This trip produced leads from the financial sector and the financial technology sector, which could produce more jobs and investment for Canadian companies there and U.K. companies here. All in all, very worthwhile.” – Janet Ecker
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Media contacts:
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Keerthana Kamalavasan, Office of the Mayor, 647-460-7507, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
