Kingston, Ontario, Canada is Eastern Ontario’s largest city outside Ottawa, home to over 172,000 residents at the historic confluence of the Cataraqui River, St. Lawrence River, and Lake Ontario. This dynamic community leads Canada in research and development, boasts one of the country’s most entrepreneurial workforces, and due to its quality of life consistently ranks among the best places to live, seamlessly blending its rich heritage as Canada’s first capital with cutting-edge innovation and world-class academic institutions.
Kingston was first settled in the 1600’s on First Nation lands named Katarokwi and was later referred to as King’s Town in honour of King George III, until the name was shortened to Kingston in 1788. The city was the First Capital of Canada from 1841 until 1844.
With a long history of a strong public sector, Kingston is home to Canadian Forces Base Kingston, Corrections Canada, Queen’s University, the Royal Military College of Canada, St. Lawrence College and offices for various departments of both the federal and provincial governments.
The city of Kingston is a leader in the Canadian Economy ranking number one in industrial and academic research and development (FDI Benchmark compared to 15 Canadian Cities). Its post-secondary institutions are developing world-class talent along with specialized research institutions and dedicated incubators and accelerators positions the city as an innovative, leading economy. Kingston has one of the smartest workforces in Canada with the most PhD graduates (Statistics Canada) and is home to 45 Canadian Research Chairs. The strength of its startup ecosystem has earned the city the honour of being named annually as the top small city in Canada for startups (StartupBlink).
Over 1,000 km of fibre optics cable, proximity to markets, and its workforce make Kingston an ideal location for investment. Global companies such as DuPont, INVISTA, Frulact, Feihe (Canada Royal Milk), IDEXX, IPG Photonics and Umicore chose the Kingston region for their Canadian operations.
The City of Kingston’s vision is to be Canada’s most sustainable city and focuses municipal efforts on environmental responsibility, social equity, economic health and cultural vitality. In 2019 Kingston was the first city in Ontario to declare a climate emergency, and as a result it developed it’s Climate Leadership Plan outlining objectives and actions to become carbon neutral by 2040. As one of these actions it adopted a protocol for sustainable energy procurement. Kingston was also named the “Best Small City in Energy & Environment Ecosystems Worldwide” by StartupBlink which highlights Kingston’s strength in fostering a sustainable and innovative startup ecosystem, especially in areas like electric vehicle battery components and rare earth minerals recycling.
In addition to the many economic and developmental opportunities available, Kingston also provides a world-class quality of life. The city is known as one of the best places to live in Canada (Maclean’s Magazine), with a thriving downtown district, a vibrant art and theatre scene, and a high-class, yet eclectic, restaurant and bar district. Also, according to StatsCan, Kingston can boast as the most walkable city in Ontario. Kingston is found at one end of the Rideau Canal, North America’s best preserved “slackwater” canal with 47 locks and 202 km of waterway between Ottawa and Kingston, was designated as a World Heritage Site in 2007 by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Kingston is a city that refuses to standstill, and it’s next chapter is already unfolding in labs, studios, on campus and in other places where collaboration and innovation thrive. The city’s focus areas of Cleantech/Sustainable Manufacturing and Life Sciences/Health Innovation are creating breakthrough ideas and the goal now is on ensuring that local firms have access to the capital and expertise needed to scale these solutions to create innovative products and services and high-value jobs. The result is a city that invites collaboration, celebrates creativity and confidently positions itself as a beacon of sustainable innovation for Canada and beyond.
Population: 172,000
Labor Force: 90,000
Website: www.cityofkingston.ca
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