COMING MAY 2023

Urban Work Index 2023

Youthful Cities, in partnership with RBC Future Launch, will soon be releasing a brand new Urban Work Index. Now in its third iteration, this ranking will cover key topics that make a city a great place to work and live.

Advanced analyses and dashboards are available as add-ons for the cities included in the index.

Youthful Cities will also be holding a Future of Urban Work Summit in Vancouver in the fall of 2023. Click here to learn more.

30

Cities*

10

Topics

167

Measurements

The Index

The Urban Work Index will rank 30 cities* to find the best places in Canada for people ages 15 – 29 to work and live. 

The Index will examine over 150 measurements across 10 topics that make a city a great place to work and live. The primary 5 topics make up the ecosystem of work — Education + Training, Affordability, Good Youth Jobs, Entrepreneurial Spirit,  and City Economy. The secondary topics make up urban attractions for work — Equity + Diversity, Climate Action, Health,  Transportation, and Digital Access.

The measurements for the 2023 Index have been completely revised and updated to make them as accurate and relevant as possible. The results will be used by young people making a decision about where to work and by cities trying to attract a youthful workforce.

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*”Cities” refers to both individual cities or city groups (e.g. Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge).

Topics in the ecosystem of work — Good youth jobs, city economy, entrepreneurial spirit, affordability, and education + training.

Our Experience

Youthful Cities has been developing and releasing indexes since 2013 globally. We’ve launched two Canadian indexes ranking large cities as the best place for youth to work supported by RBC Financial Group. In 2019, we hosted a Future of Urban Work Summit in Edmonton, Alberta. We’ve worked with economic development agencies to better position cities for attracting youth.  

The Opportunity

Is your city part of the Urban Work Index 2023? Use our data to showcase what your city excels at and to better position your city to attract youthful people.

Free Web Report

  • Find out how your city ranks against 30 other cities across Canada
  • Use the Urban Work Index 2023 web app to see how your city scored overall in each topic
  • Access the raw data that the rankings are based on using our open data portal, THE GRID
Releasing May 30

Data Tier

  • Access fully scored data from the Urban Work Index 2023
    • See exactly why your city ranked where it did
    • Scoring includes per capita calculations, where applicable, as well as min-max normalization for each measurement
    • Easily build custom visualizations using the tools on THE GRID
  • Interact with your city’s data on a custom dashboard
    • Compare scores with cities in your region and with similar population
    • Visualize how your your city and others ranked on each topic, indicator, and measurement
Cost: $5000 + applicable taxes

Custom Solutions

Want key recommendations for your city based on the Urban Work Index 2023? Interested in getting young people involved with a workshop or lab? Get in touch with us to collaborate.

The Cities

Stoplights on a street in St. Catharine's, Ontario
St. Catharines – Niagara

Ontario

Ambassador Bridge, Windsor, Ontario
Windsor

Ontario

Halifax ship.
Halifax

Nova Scotia

Edmonton

Alberta

Mississauga, Canada, skyscrapers
Mississauga

Ontario

Fall Country Road
Oshawa

Ontario

View of an iron bridge in a park in Sudbury, Ontario
Sudbury

Ontario

Toronto skyline.
Toronto

Ontario

Brampton

Ontario

Hamilton, Canada
Hamilton

Ontario

Colorful facade of the Waterloo Regional Museum in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo

Ontario

Condos in downtown London, Ontario, Canada
London

Ontario

Footbridge in Fredericton
Fredericton

New Brunswick

Rainy Day in Moncton
Moncton

New Brunswick

Afternoon Light in Charlottetown
Charlottetown

Prince Edward Island

Yellowknife, Northern lights.
Yellowknife

Northwest Territories

View of Canada Parliament building in Ottawa during tulip festival
Ottawa-Gatineau

Ontario / Québec

Frontenac Castle in Old Quebec City at sunrise
Québec

Québec

The tunnel of lights at Illumi, a lights event in Laval (Quebec, Canada)
Laval

Québec

Biosphere of Montreal in spring
Montreal

Québec

Vineyard in Okanagan Valley
Kelowna

British Columbia

Vancouver.
Vancouver

British Columbia

Parliament building, Victoria, Canada
Victoria

British Columbia

Saskatoon, Canada, University Bridge at sunset
Saskatoon

Saskatchewan

Whitehorse, Yukon
Whitehorse

Yukon

Lethbridge, Alberta
Lethbridge

Alberta

Regina, Canada
Regina

Saskatchewan

Want to get involved? Let’s talk.