Employment

Toronto’s overall employment in 2010 was 1,298,300 up by 0.4% or 5,100 jobs from 2009; the first year of growth after the economic slowdown in 2009.

• While employment in the Office sector grew some 12,400 jobs, declines in all other sectors resulted in a modest gain overall.

• 3,340 of a total 73,600 business establishments were new to the City in 2010. The types of new occupancy that dominate are Restaurants, Law Firms, Computer Services and Financing Services.

• Of the new establishments, 53.2% are located within the Downtown, Centres and Employment Districts; 910 were located in the Employment Districts.

• Full-time employment has continued to stay above the 1 million mark for the fourth year, growing to 1,014,600. This is an increase of 6,200 full-time employees and a decline of 1,100 to 283,700 part-time employees from 2009.

• The largest share of jobs is found in the Office sector (48.0%), followed by the Institutional (16.7%), Service (11.6%), Retail (10.8%) Manufacturing (10.0%), and Other (3.1%), reflecting the diverse nature of the Toronto economy.

• Employment in the Downtown and Centres has grown by 11.6% or 52,900 jobs since 2005; 45,600 jobs were added to the Downtown (11.8%) and 9,700 jobs were added in North York (33.3%).
_{Source: City of Toronto, Employment Survey 2010}

Growing Knowledge Workers Sector

Knowledge workers comprise a significant part of Toronto’s labour force and this part of the labour force is expected to grow. The following information is based on a report published by the Toronto Workforce Innovation Group entitled: "An Economy out of Shape: Changing the Hourglass", published in 2010.

Knowledge workers are defined as professions that require a college or university degree or a refined skill. This category includes professions such as: designers, architects, administrators, lawyers, engineers, academics, scientific professionals, financial accountants, etc. Middle jobs, generally do not require a post-secondary degree but can be accessed on the basis of several years of workplace experience; and entry-level jobs, typically requiring a high school diploma but otherwise requiring no experience, and the next-level jobs immediately accessible after a short period in an entry-level position.

Middle and Entry-level jobs are further divided by sector:
• Service sector: occupations engaged in the provision of services;
• Working sector: occupations engaged in manufacturing, the trades and transportation;
• Primary sector: occupations engaged in agriculture, fishing, farming and oil & mining.

In Toronto, the Knowledge Worker category increased by 151,000 positions between 1996 and 2006, while the other four main occupational categories saw an actual loss of over 27,000 jobs. For the rest of Ontario, the Knowledge Worker category increased by 395,000 jobs, matched by a nearly equal increase in the other four categories of a combined 327,000 jobs.