22 October 2013

PRESS RELEASE – Sherbrooke continues to climb the entrepreneurial city rankings, landing this year in 14^th place (out of 107) on the list of Canada’s Top Entrepreneurial Cities 2013 compiled by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

Sherbrooke’s overall score of 62 tied it with Wood Buffalo, Alberta, but moved it 14 spots higher than last year and 25 spots higher than its 2011 ranking. Out of Québec cities, it finished fifth in the overall rankings behind Rivière-du-Loup, Rouyn-Noranda, Saint-Georges, and Victoriaville, but first in Québec and fifth in Canada for cities or metropolitan regions with a population of over 150,000.

“Sherbrooke’s continuous ascent in the CFIB rankings in recent years clearly shows that the efforts of all economic-development actors are paying off,” pointed out Josée Fortin, Director General of Sherbrooke Innopole. “The CFIB survey also confirms that our focus on entrepreneurship and developing a knowledge-based economy; our ongoing support for innovation in industry through concrete assistance, mentorship, and funding measures; and our close cooperation with partners has put us on the right path.”

The CFIB ranking, which is published in the CFIB’s annual report entitled Communities in Boom, is designed to assess the extent to which cities have helped entrepreneurs and SMEs start up, grow, and prosper.

In an effort to determine the entrepreneurship quotient of the 107 (CMAs) and census agglomerations (CAs) with populations of 25,000 or more in Canada, CFIB analyzed 14 indicators grouped into three categories and drew on data from Statistics Canada and direct perspectives from its members, which include over 109,000 Canadian businesses.

CFIB’s 2013 report is available at www.cfib-fcei.ca/english/index.html.