However, despite the Canadian economy being in the midst of widespread instability and uncertainty, the economy of Ontario, and more specifically Toronto, seems to be insulated from the financial hardship.
Ontario began setting itself apart from the rest of country economically back in May, when job growth and creation helped bolster the province’s economy. “Ontario led the labour market in May, creating 43,900 new jobs,” wrote Toronto Star reporter, Dana Flavelle. “The provincial jobless rate fell by 0.3 percentage points to 6.5 per cent, dipping below the national average for the first time in nine years.”
Ontario Economic Development Minister Brad Duguid hailed the favourable financial outlook as good news for the province and a sign that Ontario was in the midst of a recovery.
Toronto also added more jobs, which boosted the city’s economy over the summer months — an economy which was helped by the Pan Am Games and the ParaPan Am Games. Approximately 26,000 Torontonians and Ontarians were hired for the world-class event, and the city also drew in millions of dollars from tourists.
In addition, Toronto reasserted itself as a technological hub this fall when it was ranked among the world’s leading innovative cities. “Canada’s booming technology industry has been acknowledged by a U.S. real estate firm which has for the first time placed Toronto and Vancouver among its top cities in North America for job growth in the sector,” Financial Post reporter Gary Marr wrote in September.
The CBRE report ranked Toronto fifth in its top 30 list of technological centers in North America. “If you look at the tech job growth rate (in Canada) it is well above overall employment. The point is that tech employment is growing substantially faster than overall employment. “Its tech, all tech now,” said Ross Moore, director of research for CBRE’s Canadian operations. “We’ve got our fingers crossed.”
As Moore pointed out, it is the first time that Toronto made the annual list and is indicative of Toronto’s continued robust economy. The promise is so alluring that Facebook opened up its Canadian headquarters in Toronto early in 2015. “Toronto is now only behind Washington D.C. Seattle, Silicon Valley and Boston when it comes to tech jobs, which are described as data processing, software publishers and computer system design,” says Marr.
Toronto-based executive recruiter, Sheldon Resnick, believes Toronto’s new tech center status is highly positive news for the city’s general employment market. “People in the tech industry have a newfound interest in Toronto,” explains Resnick. “This is also attractive to those looking for work. And I think Toronto’s assertion as Canada’s burgeoning tech hub will help spur other sectors in the city in the new year.”
Sheldon Resnick, who has more than 30 years of experience in executive recruiting in Toronto, comments: “These are disruptive times in many industries. New [technological] advances are truly reshaping the type of skill sets that matter in today’s employment market.” He then adds, “Candidates in turn need to be adaptive to what hiring companies are looking for.”
Toronto is still in the midst of a large construction phase that is expected to stretch into the next five years at least, as roadways are revitalized and more housing units are built. Many are confident that added jobs in the construction sector, coupled with new tech jobs, will help sustain Toronto’s economy into 2016.
