Four people sitting in chairs, only their chest to feet are visible.
Canada moves into the top of the ranking as a result of small improvements in all three factors. These advancements arise from an upturn in executive perceptions about prioritizing talent retention and increasing worker motivation while reducing the impact of brain drain on the economy and strengthening the effectiveness of its educational system.
IMD World Competitiveness Centre

Canada is the only non-European country placing in the top ten, while the U.S. lands in 12th

The IMD World Talent Ranking captures the efforts of 63 leading countries in developing local talent and their ability to attract global staff. The assessment is divided into three categories that examine a total of 30 indicators in a wide range of areas, such as education, apprenticeships, workplace training, language skills, cost of living, quality of life, remuneration and tax rates.

IMD World Talent Ranking Categories

  • Investment and Development: measures the resources committed to cultivating homegrown human capital
  • Appeal: evaluates the ability to attract foreign talent and retain professionals from the local talent pool
  • Readiness: quantifies the quality of the skills and competencies available in the country

This year, Canada moved up three spots in investment & development while placing third in appeal, and fifth in readiness. According to the report, these advancements came as a result of improvements in attracting and retaining highly-skilled personnel, higher ratings for personal security and private property rights and upgrades to the education system.

Developing a highly skilled and educated workforce is crucial to strengthening competitiveness and achieving long-term prosperity in an ever-growing landscape where new technologies are redefining the future. Canada's across-the-board improvement validates the work of federal and provincial governments and institutions in bolstering its reputation as a global talent hub.

The annual report is developed by the Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Centre, an organization dedicated to the advancement of knowledge on world competitiveness, through offering benchmarking services to countries and companies using the latest and most relevant data on the subject.

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