Compared to other Canadian cities, Winnipeg offers a low cost of doing business, high labour productivity and easy access to key markets. This winning combination makes the region an appealing place for businesses to relocate or expand -- and we use good quality, reliable data to help us back up these claims.

As Winnipeg’s lead economic development agency and data experts, industry looks to Economic Development Winnipeg (EDW) for expert analysis and our in-house collection of data. To paint the full picture of Winnipeg’s competitive advantages and help site selectors better promote our city, we have enhanced the data sets available on our website in Excel format. We consulted with several site selectors, which led us to increase our focus on business expansion and investment, as well as include new information on talent attraction, such as labour market indicators. 

EDW’s refreshed site selection web page is easy to use and provides current, relevant information in such areas as utilities, cost of living, types of industry, availability of labour, construction costs and average salaries. 

Data highlights Winnipeg’s strengths, such as: 

• low and stable utility costs for clean energy – a cost advantage for businesses who choose to operate here and makes it easy to comply with green energy standards;  
• slower growth rate for the average cost of water, fuel and electricity (36.8 per cent) compared to Canada as a whole (55.9 per cent) from 2002 to 2018; 
• relatively young and educated population with a median age of 38 compared to Canada’s 40.8; 
• variety of workforce development and subsidized training programs that equip the labour force with important skills required for employment;  
• strong growth in educational attainment, with a 4.7 per cent compound annual growth in workers who obtain above a Bachelor’s or undergraduate degree;  
• central location with close proximity to markets, which allows highly competitive transportation costs and an advantage in the transportation distribution sector; and   
• short commute times – it takes the majority of working Winnipeggers (approximately 65 per cent) less than half an hour to get to work. 

The refreshed website includes new tools to confirm cost effectiveness by industry sector. Enhanced spreadsheets provide data in a granular way that makes it easy to compare Winnipeg with other jurisdictions – and see why the city comes out ahead in many areas. 

EDW also provides a single access point to information on city services, government programs and business networks in this community. 

We are working hard to attract business and investment dollars to grow the economy – and being the number one source for data and analysis is yet another way we can win in this area. 

View EDW's new and improved data tables here.