Tech jobs in Toronto up 16.6 percent – Employment up 3.1 percent
Tech jobs in Toronto up – Employment is up 3.1 percent in Toronto compared to 2018 and that increase is the result of a rise in the number of new tech jobs.
The results of the 2019 Toronto Employment Survey conducted by the City of Toronto, point to strong economic performance over the past year with a year-over-year increase of 46,920 jobs for a total of 1,569,800 jobs in Toronto.
“I’m proud that our latest Toronto Employment Survey results provide further proof of our city’s ongoing success. We are the fastest growing city in North America. People want to live here and they want to work here. Every job is important and I am focused on making sure we continue to grow more businesses here – across all sectors – and that we attract more businesses to locate here to create more jobs,” said Mayor John Tory
Mayor Tory attribute the rise to Toronto’s rapidly growing technology sector.
The total number of tech businesses have almost doubled over the past five years resulting in an 85 percent increase over the same time period, according to the survey numbers.
“The continuation of the annual Toronto Employment Survey is important for planning and economic development purposes,” commented Deputy Mayor Ana Bailão (Ward 9 Davenport), Chair of the Planning and Housing Committee. “In directing employment growth to Downtown, the Centres, Mixed Use Areas and Employment Areas, we have already helped create complete communities, with focused transit and infrastructure investments that support economic connectivity and business growth,” said Bailão.
Looking deeper into the tech sector in this year’s Toronto Employment Survey, total employment for 2019 was 60,408 jobs, which represents an increase of 16.6 per cent from 2018, and 84.6 per cent from 2014. There were 1,729 tech establishments in 2019, representing 2.0 per cent of all establishments in the city. This is an increase of 15.5 per cent from 2018 and 85.7 per cent from 2014, according to the City of Toronto news release.
“From 2011 to 2018, Toronto’s GDP is estimated to have grown by 2.7 per cent per year, outpacing the average annual growth rates of both Ontario and Canada,” added Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson (Ward 21 Scarborough Centre), Chair of the Economic and Community Development Committee. “At the city, we will continue working hard to remain competitive on the global scale by offering high quality resources to our business community, celebrating our diverse workforce and focusing on building liveable communities that attract talent,” said Thompson.
Other key survey findings include:
• Full-time employment increased by 31,930 jobs (2.8%) from 2018. At 1,178,940 jobs, full-time employment has surpassed 1 million for the 14th consecutive year.
• Part-time employment increased by 14,980 jobs (4.0%) from 2018 to 390,850 jobs, comprising approximately one quarter of Toronto’s employment.
• From 2018, four out of six employment categories grew. Institutional employment grew by the highest rate of 6.6%.
• The Office category continues to be Toronto’s largest employment category, with nearly half of all jobs (48%), followed by Institutional (17.4%), Service (12.6%), Retail (9.8%), Manufacturing (8.7%) and Community & Entertainment (3.6%).
• In 2019, there were approximately 666,980 jobs in Toronto’s Downtown and Centres (Scarborough Centre, North York Centre, Yonge-Eglinton Centre and Etobicoke Centre), representing 42.5% of all jobs in the city.
• In 2019, 423,920 jobs were in Toronto’s designated Employment Areas, representing 27% of all jobs. This is an increase of 6,560 jobs (1.6%) from 2018.
• Since 2014, overall employment in the Employment Areas has grown by 10.3% or 39,430 jobs.
An annual survey of Toronto business since 1983, the 2019 Toronto Employment Survey collected data from 76,560 businesses, an increase of 920 (or 1.2 per cent) from 2018. This represents an 89 percent response rate from businesses contacted through the program. The program contacts approximately 99 percent of Toronto’s public-facing business establishments, excluding home-based employment. The survey is conducted from May to August of each year.
More details about the survey – including the 2019 Employment Bulletin which summarizes and provides analyse on the complete results, as well as additional information on the rise of Toronto’s technology sector – can be found at toronto.ca/city-government/data-research-maps/research-reports/planning-development/toronto-employment-survey.
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