A leading trade publication has placed Windsor-Essex on its list of the best places to invest.
The region has been included among Site Selection magazine's 20 best locations in Canada for investment. Canada has also been ranked second among the best countries in the world, only to the United States, for investment, and the province of Ontario tops in the nation.
Mark Arend, editor-in-chief for Site Selection, said the locations were ranked in the third annual Global Groundwork Index, published in the September 2020 issue of the publication.
"The annual Canada’s Best Locations feature sheds additional light on Canada’s many location options for corporate site selectors," said Arend. "We salute the provinces and communities that made this year’s rankings."
The Global Groundwork Index is based on proprietary data from Conway Analytics’ Conway Projects Database and an equally robust database from global infrastructure advisory and events firm CG-LA, according to a release from the Windsor-Essex Economic Development Corporation (WEEDC).
"Site Selection Magazine is the gold-standard in global foreign direct investment, and economic development publications," said WEEDC President and CEO Stephen Mackenzie. "To be recognized as one of Canada’s Best Locations is quite a strong endorsement of the Windsor-Essex region. This recognition will go a long way to building the global profile of our region as a destination to live, work and play. We should all be proud to call this region home."
Matthew Johnson, the WEEDC's director of investment attraction and marketing, said Windsor-Essex is getting the attention of investors from all over the world.
"Windsor-Essex is seeing a lot of interest from firms all over the globe including spikes of interest from Mexico, Netherlands, Germany, and the United States," said Johnson. "Investment attraction built strong leads in 2019 and is seeing some of those leads land here in 2020. We expect fourth-quarter 2020 and all of 2021 to be a very strong year for foreign direct investment into the region."
The Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation, and Trade is top-ranked among similar ministries across Canada, with Alberta and British Columbia coming in behind.