Skip to content
Employment in Ontario recovered even more in March after a devastating January. This was due to the stay-at-home order being lifted for most regions in Ontario around this time. Businesses were able to reopen, causing a surge in employment.
Here is a quick market summary report of Ontario’s employment outlook for March 2021, compiled by our employment experts at Nova Staffing. All data is from the Ontario Government March 2021 Labour Market report.
Employment Summary
Employment increased in Ontario in March, with 7.4 million people employed, up by 182,300 jobs from February. This was likely due to the stay-at-home order being lifted in the province.
Unemployment also dropped down to 7.5% in March from 9.2% in February. There were only 596,400 unemployed individuals in the province, down from 726,500. Overall, unemployment decreased by 17.9% in March.
Employment by Age
Although youth employment (15-24) continues to be the most impacted by COVID-19, this demographic did see employment gains in March. Youth employment added 59,000 jobs, and unemployment dropped to 15.1%, down from 20.9% in February.
Adult employment (25-54) added 61,700 new jobs in March, with the unemployment rate dropped from 7.3% in February down to 6.7%. Senior employment also saw gains this month, adding 61,600 new jobs. Unemployment for seniors also dropped down to 5%.
Employment by Sector
Certain industries continued to be hitter harder due to COVID-19. Although the stay-at-home order was lifted in March, a number of sectors were still not allowed to operate at full capacity. The sectors that continued to struggle in March and were furthest from their pre-COVID-19 numbers were: Accommodation and Food Services (-111.5%), Business, Building, and Other Support Services (-40.9%), and Transportation and Warehousing (-32.1%), and Construction (-19.1%).
Not all industries struggled, though. Some industries were able to increase employment in March such as Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (+41.6%), Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, Rental and Leasing (+26.1%), Manufacturing (+24.8%), and Educational Services (+21.1%).
Employment by Region
Although the majority of Ontario saw the stay-at-home order lifted, certain regions such as Toronto were still heavily restricted, resulting in employment losses. The regions that saw employment loss or no gains in March were Belleville (-2.4%), Oshawa (-2.0%), Kingston (-0.6%), Toronto (-0.6%), Thunder Bay (-0.2%), Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo (0%).
Ten of Ontario’s CMAs did see employment growth in Match, though. These include Windsor (+8.1%), Ottawa-Gatineau (+6.6%), Hamilton (+6.5%), St. Catharine’s- Niagara (+4.4%), Barrie (+3.3%), Peterborough (+2.6%), Brantford (+2.1%), Guelph (+2.0%), London (+1.3%), Greater Sudbury (+0.6%).
Is your company looking for staffing solutions or need help hiring top talent? Contact Nova Staffing today! With over 200 years of combined industry experience, our team of employment experts is here to help.
No comment yet, add your voice below!