Stronger Than Ever Summit
In partnership with the International Economic Forum of the Americas, Toronto Global hosted the Toronto Region’s great relaunch event, “Stronger Than Ever,” on Thursday, September 9, 2021 at the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.
With the city’s iconic skyline as the backdrop, this event celebrated the beginning of the end to the restrictions imposed by COVID-19. The Summit was a global media and business event that showcased the Toronto Region, Ontario and Canada’s economic potential and attractiveness for foreign direct investment to an international audience.
Representing the fastest growing urban metropolitan region and tech hub in North America, Toronto Global and its partners are committed to continuing that pace of growth and investment - not only to get back to where the Toronto Region was before the pandemic, but to go beyond what has been achieved already. The primary goal is to ensure that the Toronto Region leads the country’s recovery and cements its place as the best location for investment in North America.
The theme for the event, Stronger Than Ever, was a celebration of the team at Toronto Global and all the partners in the region, in the province and in the country, that are working together to reimagine how to emerge from this pandemic even stronger. Toronto Mayor John Tory and Ontario Premier Doug Ford kicked off the summit by showcasing how the City of Toronto, the Province of Ontario, and Canada are safely re-opening the economy, safely re-opening business, re-igniting business investment and creating new, diverse and inclusive jobs.
The event features a series of discussions with domestic and global business leaders, including:
Registered
Over 1,500 global business leaders, dignitaries and politicians registered for the event from over 56 countries globally.
Countries Represented
Countries represented include: Canada, U.S., Mexico, Europe (U.K., Netherlands, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain), India, South America (Guatemala, Nicaragua, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Venezuela), and Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Madagascar).
Attended
Over 1,250 people attended live on the day of the event.
International VIPs
Of the 465 attendees on the VIP platform, 150 were from international audiences.
Online Editorial Pickup Total Reach
Social Media Pickup Total Reach
Using hashtag #StrongerThanEver
The World Looks to Toronto
Toronto’s Bid for the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)
In 2021, the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation, the provider of international financial reporting standards in more than 140 jurisdictions around the world, sought to establish a new International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).
The ISSB will create a single set of consistent and internationally recognized sustainability reporting standards. The current level of sustainability reporting varies by region, sector, and entity. Canada is uniquely positioned to serve as the ISSB headquarters from a public policy, geopolitical, language, and skills perspective, as the IFRS Foundation looks to establish a new global ISSB.
Toronto Global was given the opportunity to produce a comprehensive bid book and panel presentation with key leaders of the environmental, social, governance (ESG) community in the Toronto Region. Toronto Global’s submission on behalf of the City of Toronto, and the wide range of supporting organizations across government, private and not-for-profit sectors made a comprehensive case for establishing the headquarters of the ISSB in Toronto.
Central to this value proposition is the idea that the world looks to Toronto, as a diverse and connected global financial centre at the forefront of the sustainability movement. We are Canada’s business capital, and a leader in stability, global connectivity, innovation, diversity and inclusion, and buoyed by a history of working collaboratively to solve the world’s challenges.
In Fall 2021, the IFRS communicated to our offices the news that Montreal had been selected as the location for its new ISSB headquarters. The IFRS’ commitment to Montreal signals its steadfast commitment to Canada. Canada has an important role to play in shaping the future of sustainability reporting as Canada has long been known both for the quality of its standard setting and for its independent and transparent governance and oversight for the delivery of those standards. We were thrilled that Montreal was chosen as the location for this new headquarters. The world will now look to Canada as we usher in a new set of standards and accountability, providing the foundation for a sustainable future.
We would like to acknowledge our partners throughout the process of submitting Toronto’s bid for the ISSB Headquarters. Much of the credit for our extensive bid document and process is owed to a deeply collaborative effort between all three levels of government, and the wide range of supporting organizations across private and not-for-profit sectors. We would like to thank all of our partners for their assistance, valuable insights, and cooperation throughout this unique process, which allowed us to produce a comprehensive pitch book, highlighting the largest financial and innovation ecosystem in Canada.
