Mayor Rob Ford is set to lead a business mission to Chicago next month to mark the beginning of a renewed Partner City relationship, the city says.
Ford, who will tout the benefits of doing business in Toronto, discussed the trip at a news conference in Toronto on Tuesday morning.
At the news conference, Ford was joined by Team Toronto co-chairs George Cohon, founder of McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada, Robert Deluce, president and CEO of Porter Airlines, and city councillors Michael Thompson and Doug Ford.
According to the city, the business mission focuses on “forging strategic alliances and encouraging investment, trade and learning opportunities” between the two cities.
Rob Ford and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel – U.S. President Barack Obama’s former chief of staff – will also reaffirm and endorse a renewed version of the 1991 Chicago-Toronto Partner City Agreement, the city said in a news release.
Toronto is partnering with Chicago because the cities share several similarities. Among them, the cities have similar population sizes, they are the two largest cities on the Great Lakes, and they are two of the top three financial sectors in North America.
According to city officials, the goal is to sell Toronto abroad, not just to Chicago.
To do that, the group will trumpet the fact Toronto has the third largest stock exchange in North America and is home to four of Canada’s five largest banks.
The group will also tout an International Alliance Program that is already in place.
The mission stems from recommendations made at the mayor’s executive business roundtable earlier this year.
With files from CP24's Katie Simpson
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