Translation Services in Burlington - Economic Profile

The City of Burlington is a growing city with a population of about 157,000. It is a part of the Greater Toronto Area, located at the head of Lake Ontario and Burlington Bay harbour across from Hamilton in the centre of the Golden Horseshoe, in Halton Region, Ontario, Canada.

Burlington has quite a diversified economy due to its convenient geographic location, proximity to Toronto as well as other large industries in southern Ontario coupled with the fact that it is home to one of the largest consumer markets in Canada. The major industry sectors in the city include finance, services, biotechnology, health care, IT, manufacturing, food processing and packaging, electronics, transportation, and head quarter operations etc. These companies have strong connections to local suppliers of products and services, as well as local post secondary college and university resources.

Burlington has set up enticing business strategies benefiting both national and global companies, to encourage investment in the city. One of its goals is becoming an international “headquarters” in many of its business sectors. As a result, the city’s business investment has been very active, and many businesses are either relocating to or expanding their businesses in Burlington. For instance, in 2006, UPS Supply Chain Solutions, a Fortune 500 company, opened its 80,000 sq ft facility in the city. In the meantime, UCB Pharma of Belgium, a leading global biopharmaceutical company opened its first Canadian location in Burlington.

In November 2006, Burlington was recognized by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), a New York based think-tank, as one of their Smart 21 Communities—for the second year running. The Smart 21 list is populated with communities that demonstrate and adhere to the goals and vision of the Intelligent Community Forum. Other short-listed Canadian communities include Ottawa, Gatineau and Waterloo.

Every year, a steadily increasing number of new immigrants and young families build homes in Burlington, making it one of the fastest growing areas of Canada in recent years. Therefore, the city is home to various ethnic groups. The five largest visible minorities in Burlington are Black, South Asian, Chinese, Korean and Japanese. Burlington’s four most common languages other than English are German, Italian, French and Dutch.

The rapidly increasing ethnic marketing and the need for cross-cultural communications are becoming an important factor in the demand for multi-lingual translation services, which in turn is an important factor in the overall development of the city.