Lethbridge isn’t just the community we serve; Lethbridge is our home and we love this city! Whoop-Up Days, the Wind Gauge, the Oldman River, Galt Gardens, High Level Bridge, Henderson Lake, and Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden — these are the landmarks that we, like every Lethbian, know well.
So it’s with some pride that we learned of the national recognition Lethbridge recently received in PROFIT’s annual ranking of best places for business in Canada. Lethbridge came in as the fourth-best place for business in the country for 2016, and second-best for “most business friendly.”
The rankings can be found on PROFITguide.com where they describe our beautiful city as having a population of about 120,000, an unemployment rate of 8.34 percent, an average household income of $86,514, and an average home price of $233,071.
The high score was a result of a good balance of affordability, strong markets, and favourable regulation and taxation.
Grand Prairie took top honours as the best place for business in Canada. Edmonton and Saskatoon followed, then Lethbridge in fourth place, and High River in fifth. That means that four out of the five best places for business in the country are in Alberta.
Of course, there is more to the story than just the numbers. It’s hard to quantify the benefit of being one of Canada’s sunniest cities, the flourishing downtown business core, the great small-town-like community and support for local businesses, and the beautiful, old neighbourhoods like the one London Road Media was named after.
An important way that Lethbridge stands out from most other Albertan cities is by the fact that the local economy is highly insulated from the ebbs and flows of the oil and gas industry. Local industry is stable and is made up of many diverse sectors.
According to Economic Development Lethbridge, there are 45 businesses in the city that employ more than 100 people. Nine of the top 10 are in the public sector in health care, education, and government services. Other largest employers in the city are composed of 12 in retail and hospitality, 11 in manufacturing and logistics, five in agri-food, and three in finance.
This breadth of economic activity is Lethbridge’s strength and one of the biggest reasons the city sees stable, steady growth and is one of the greatest places in the country to do business. We’re proud to serve this community!
We know Lethbridge to be the greatest city in the greatest province in the greatest country in the world.
