Toronto is the top-performing Canadian city when looking at some key economic indicators such as population growth, employment rates and the number of bankruptcies, a new report by CIBC finds.

In its Canadian Metropolitan Economic Activity Index, CIBC pointed to Toronto’s growing population – rising at an annual pace of nearly 2 per cent – as well as the city’s housing market as reasons for its success. In addition, Toronto’s consumer bankruptcy rate is among the lowest in the country.

The index studied population growth, housing sales, and bankruptcy rates as well as six other factors to determine the rankings.

“Simply put, the multi-channel nature of Toronto's economic engine is the secret not only behind its current top ranking, but also behind its ability to maintain a relatively high ranking position over the past two years," CIBC deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal said in a statement.

“Key here is Toronto's vibrant labour market. During the first quarter of the year, overall employment in the city rose by just under two per cent with many of these jobs being relatively high quality jobs. More than 80 per cent of the increase in employment over the past quarter was in full-time positions,” Tal added.

CIBC noted the Big Smoke didn’t lead the pack in any of the categories – but it placed high enough in each of them to garner the most points overall.

Last year, Montreal took the top spot – but dropped to fifth in this year’s rankings. Rounding out the top three this year were Kitchener and Winnipeg.
 
Here are the nine categories:
•    Population growth
•    Employment growth
•    Unemployment rate
•    Full-time share in total employment
•    Personal bankruptcy rate
•    Business bankruptcy rate
•    Housing starts
•    MLS Housing resales
•    Non-Residential building permits.

Here are the top ten cities:
1.    Toronto
2.    Kitchener
3.    Winnipeg
4.    Regina
5.    Montreal
6.    Quebec City
7.    Vancouver
8.    Halifax
9.    Ottawa
10.    Hamilton