Prairie Post

Canada’s Most Creative Cities

In his article in the Huffington Post, author Richard Florida discusses the 20 most creative cities in Canada and why creativity is so crucial to urban centers, especially in Canada where the majority of our population resides in metropolitan areas. Ottawa tops the Canadian Creativity Index list, followed by Victoria, Vancouver, Montreal and Quebec. Calgary, one of our own Spectator Tribune cities, ranks in at number 6 on the creativity list; Edmonton sits at number 9, Regina at number 12, Saskatoon at 18, and Winnipeg at 19.

Florida states that, “The rankings for the Canadian Creativity Index, developed by my Martin Prosperity Institute research team, are based on my “3Ts of economic development.” The first T is technology, or the ability to create new ideas and inventions and high tech companies, which we measure as a combination of innovation and high-tech companies. The second T is talent, or the skilled, ambitious and talented people who generate new ideas and create new companies. We measure it by the share of the workforce in the Creative Class. The third T is tolerance, the non-judgmental environment that attracts open-minded and new-thinking kinds of people. We measure it as the share of foreign-born people and gays and lesbians in a community, plus its level of integration.”

What do you think about the rankings? Personally, I’m surprised that Winnipeg is so far down the list, as it is a city that seems to ooze with creativity. It doesn’t surprise me at all, however, that every city represented by the Spectator Tribune has made the top 20.

Krista Wiebe is a writer for The Spectator Tribune. Follow her on Twitter @KristaWiebe