Where You Should Locate and Why!
We’ve all been there… you’ve moved to a new city and your not sure where the safe places are, what area has the best schools, where the best shopping is, etc.. When it comes to looking for warehouses in Toronto, I’m sure you have similar questions. The first thing that you need to understand is what your options are when it comes to storing the product that you need to service the largest market in Canada.
To get to understand Toronto, you can draw a comparison between it and New York. Just as New York is famous for having the five boroughs of Manhattan (1), Brooklyn (2), Queen’s(3), The Bronx (4) and Staten Island(5) (see map below right ), Toronto is very similar.
Much the same as New York City has it’s boroughs, as you can see in the map above left, Toronto is a city of six former municipalities that merged together to form one city. The municipalities that now form the city of Toronto are Etobicoke, York, Old Toronto, East York and Scarborough.
When it comes to logistics in Toronto, you do have the option of finding a warehouse in Etobicoke and Scarborough; similar to how you may use a warehouse in the Bronx or Queen’s.
However, in my opinion, you are better off getting away from the city and finding your logistics help in one of the neighbouring city’s of Toronto, in what is called the Greater Toronto Area. The GTA is comprised of the Halton Region, Peel Region, York Region, Durham Region and the City of Toronto itself. Similar to how you may go to Newark or Elmont to get out of New York City proper, I would recommend choosing a warehouse in either the city of Mississauga or the city of Brampton to solve your logistics challenges… The reasons for this are numerous:
a) Cost – with the tax structure in place in the city of Toronto, warehouses are purchased or leased at a much lower square footage rate and this means that you’ll receive a better deal
b) Crime – like all big cities, Toronto has it’s share of crime. When you travel to the suburbs there are less people and that equals less crime. Again, very similar to NYC in this respect
c) Transportation – Mississauga is located right on Highway 401, 427 and the 403. These 3 highways are the major routes into and out of the city so there’s no better place to be. Brampton is also located right off of the 401 and highway 410 so it is quite accessible as well
d) Major Pick Up Points – The Toronto Pearson Airport is actually located in Mississauga (kind of strange that they call it Toronto Pearson Airport but I guess this is not unlike other cities where the main airport isn’t exactly downtown). The CN Intermodal Terminal ( containers are delivered here via rail, making it quite cost effective for cargo shipping from the Far East to Vancouver and ending up here ) is also located in Brampton so it is very close to the warehouses in these two centres
e) Speed to Market – There are numerous distribution centres located in the Mississauga / Brampton area right near the airport. Their close proximity makes Mississauga and Brampton two cities that make sense to tap into. Some of the DC’s in these two cities are Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire, Home Depot, Shoppers Drug Mart and many more
As you can see, there are many reasons to choose a warehouse in Mississauga… or maybe a warehouse in Brampton? The possibilities are endless so if you have any questions, just give me a call. The experts at McKenna logistics Centres are all here to help you solve your logistics needs!