In this edition of the Intelligence Test podcast, ICF co-founder Robert Bell has a conversation with Bryan Paterson, Mayor, Kingston, ON, Canada and Kelly Rowe, Fellow, Canadian Urban Institute.

How can you grow a city’s economy if the best and brightest keep leaving town? That was the challenge facing Bryan Paterson when he was elected as mayor of Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Kingston is a government town, a university town and a tourist town – but had stagnated for years. Hear the story of its journey to opportunity and growth. 

Kingston is a midsize city that is home to over 172,000 residents at the place where the Cataraqui and St. Lawrence Rivers flow into Lake Ontario. Europeans settled the area in the 1600s on First Nation lands named Katarokwi, calling it King’s Town in honor of Britain’s George III. Kingston, as it became known, went on to serve as Canada’s first capital – and that federal connection continues to this day. Kingston is home to Canadian Forces Base Kingston, Corrections Canada, the Royal Military College of Canada and various departments of the federal and provincial government. https://www.intelligentcommunity.org/kingston_ontario