LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT · 4 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016 The 2016 update...
Transcript of LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT · 4 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016 The 2016 update...
LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT
2016
ABOUT THIS REPORTThe Niagara Workforce Planning Board (NWPB)
serves the Niagara region as a leader in local labour
market planning delivering authoritative research
identifying employment trends targeting
workforce opportunities and bringing people
together to create solutions to workforce challenges
This report is our annual summary of the
developments challenges and strengths of the local
labour market
This report is published alongside a series of
municipal fact sheets These smaller reports offer an
up-to-date snapshot of population and employment
patterns in Niagararsquos 12 municipalities Digital copies
of these and other reports are available on our
website at wwwniagaraworkforceca
We encourage feedback from our readers
Please click this link to complete our feedback survey
1 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
CONTENTSOur Mission 2
Our Networks 2
Contact Us 2
Directors and Staff 3
Board of Directors 3
Our Staff 3
Executive Summary 4
Labour Market Overview 5
Labour Market Supply 8
Labour Force Education 12
Migration and Population 15
Industry Size in Niagara 17
Top Industries by Employment 20
Focus on Agriculture 23
Industry Subsectors 24
ZerondashEmployee Firms 28
Niagara Occupations 31
Niagara Employers Exploring Hiring Patterns 34
Action Plan 35
2 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
OUR MISSION
NWPB is one of 26 planning regions in
Ontario that make up the Local Boards
Network Local Boards are partly funded
through Employment Ontario
Our role is one of facilitation and
communication Our focus is on bringing
community stakeholders together to
identify labour force issues and develop
possible solutions
NWPB strives to ensure that information
on community initiatives and actions are
disseminated in an accurate and concise
manner throughout the Niagara region
This Employment Ontario project is funded by the
Ontario government
OUR NETWORKS
The views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect
those of Employment Ontario
CONTACT US
36 Page StreetSt Catharines ON L2R 4A7905-641-0801wwwniagaraworkforcecainfoniagaraworkforceboardca
nwpbniagaraworkforce niagara-workforce-planning-board
3 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Lisa Cairns
Finance and Office Manager
905-641-0801 ext 21
Corinna Carson
Project Manager
Niagara Immigrant
Connections Initiative
Local Immigrant Partnership
905-641-1981
Mario De Divitis
Executive Director
905-641-0801 ext 27
Adam Durrant
Research Manager
905-641-0801 ext 31
Laura Fyfe
Research Associate
905-641-0801 ext 30
Meghan Tamane
Mentorship Coordinator
Niagara Immigrant
Connections Initiative
905-641-1981
Fiona Allan
Lisa Benger
Hugo Chesshire
Daniel Peat
Frank Pupillo
Mahendra Thaleshvar
Lori Watson
DIRECTORS AND STAFF
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OUR STAFF
4 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The 2016 update to the Niagara Labour Market Plan is
built on an evidence-based analysis of labour market
strengths and challenges within the Niagara region It is
our hope that this report will be of value to community
organizations local government job seekers employers
and other Niagara stakeholders Working together we
believe that sound planning will lead to the future
successes that will continue to make Niagara an excellent
place to live and do business
This executive summary offers a brief summary of the
observations contained within this report Additional
details and context can be found later in the document
Readers should note that this update is generally focused
on Niagara at a regional level The most up-to-date data
on Niagararsquos 12 multiplicities can be found in our
municipal fact sheets
Niagararsquos 2015 labour market was generally consistent
with that of 2014 2015 noted some slight increases in the
size of the labour force and a considerable reduction in
the unemployment rate This falling unemployment rate
is paired with increases in Niagararsquos employment and
participation rates For the first time since 2012 the 2015
local labour market housed more than 200000 jobs
Micro-businesses (those establishments employing
between one and four individuals) continue to dominate
Niagararsquos employer landscape now representing more
than half of all employers Traditionally defined small-to-
medium enterprises which employ between 1 and 100
individuals account for 977 of all employers in Niagara
While Niagararsquos employers saw increases in both full-time
and part-time employment the ratio of full-time to
part-time employment remains below pre-recession
levels
Niagararsquos three largest employment sectors (wholesale
and retail trade accommodation and food services and
health care and social assistance) all saw year-over-year
employment gains in 2015 The largest of these gains was
in wholesale and retail trade which grew by 119
Likewise construction added 2700 jobs in 2015
representing a 176 year-over-year increase
This yearrsquos employer questionnaire is informed by the
results of our Employer One survey Its purpose is to begin
an exploration of the ldquohiddenrdquo job market We asked
employers to comment on whether they had ever hired
using informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting and
then to evaluate their experiences using these methods
Of the 85 employers who completed the questionnaire
67 reported using word-of-mouth or informal recruiting
and the vast majority of them found it to be a positive
experience
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
5 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Understanding a local labour market
requires a minimum of three
measurements employment rate
participation rate and unemployment
rate
The employment rate measures the
percentage of the working-age population
(ie individuals aged 15 and older) that is
employed The participation rate
measures the percentage of the working-
age population that is either employed or
unemployed The total of all people who
are either employed or unemployed is
commonly called the labour force Thus
the unemployment rate measures the
percentage of the labour force that is
currently looking for work Figure 1
provides a historical overview of the size
of the labour force and unemployment
rate in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area or CMA
Figure 1 shows that between 2014 and
2015 the size of the labour force in
Niagara increased by 369 This increase
represents a new post-recession high for
the size of Niagararsquos labour force This
trend is good news for Niagara when seen
in the context of falling unemployment
(77 in 2014 compared to 70 in 2015)
an increasing participation rate (as seen in
figure 2 618 in 2014 compared to
639 in 2015) and an increasing
employment rate (571 in 2014
compared to 595 in 2015)
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
NIAGARArsquoS UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
IS NOW WELL BELOW THE
104 PEAK SEEN DURING
THE RECESSION AND IS
TRENDING TOWARD
PRE-RECESSIONARY LEVELS
6 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 1 ANNUAL LABOUR FORCE SIZE AND UNEMPLOYMENT RATE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
FIGURE 2 ANNUAL PARTICIPATION AND EMPLOYMENT RATES ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Labour force Unemployment rate
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 20152001 2002 2003
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
Un
emp
loym
ent
Rat
e
225000
215000
205000
195000
185000
175000
165000
155000
2005 LABOUR FORCE SIZE
209800
2010 LABOUR FORCE SIZE
210600
2014 LABOUR
FORCE SIZE 211600
2015 LABOUR
FORCE SIZE 219400
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129
64
62
60
58
56
2015 Participation rate
639
2005 Participation rate
635
2010 Participation rate
625
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Participation rate Employment rate
2015 Employment rate
595
2010 Employment rate
568
2005 Employment rate
590
7 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
FIGURE 3 ANNUAL FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129 NWPB calculations
Figure 3 provides a brief overview of full-time and
part-time employment in Niagara 2015 saw a 50
increase in full-time employment and a 26 increase in
part-time employment No other year in the last 15 has
seen a higher figure for full-time employment
However it is equally important to note the relationship
between full-time and part-time employment In the years
before the Great Recession Niagararsquos economy housed a
greater proportion of full-time jobs compared to part-time
jobs
For example in 2006 there were 382 full-time jobs for
every 1 part-time job This ratio fell during the recession
years and began trending back to pre-recession figures
in 2015 In 2015 this ratio stood at 329 full-time jobs for
each part-time job
180000
160000
140000
120000
100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
40
39
38
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
Nu
mb
er o
f Jo
bs
Full-time employment Part-time employment FT-to-PT ratio
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Nu
mb
er o
f Fu
ll-Ti
me
Job
s fo
r Ev
ery
On
e P
art-
Tim
e Jo
b
8 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Niagararsquos Employment Ontario
employment service providers facilitate
invaluable support for the unemployed
underemployed and individuals seeking
to change career paths Each year NWPB
receives aggregated client data for these
providers In 2015 they assisted a
combined 7054 individuals With Statistics
Canada reporting 15300 unemployed
individuals in Niagara in 2015 we consider
Employment Ontariorsquos local client data to
be an outstanding source of intelligence
on the available workforce in Niagara
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
MORE THAN
41 OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICE
CLIENTS HAVE EITHER A
COLLEGE- OR UNIVERSITY-
LEVEL EDUCATION
9 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
TABLE 1 EMPLOYMENT SERVICE CLIENT OCCUPATIONS AT TIME OF LAYOFF 2015ndash2016
CLIENT OCCUPATION AT TIME OF LAYOFF NUMBER
OF CLIENTS
Service support and other service occupations not elsewhere classified 566
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations 362
Industrial electrical and construction trades 344
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations 339
Trades helpers construction labourers and related occupations 306
Labourers in processing manufacturing and utilities 258
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade 220
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations 219
Sales support occupations 207
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations 201
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
Table 1 provides a breakdown of the top 10 occupations of
employment service clients at their time of layoff
between April 2015 and March 2016 These individuals
represent a wide range of skills and occupations While a
number of these clients come from sales and service
occupations a significant portion offer backgrounds in
heavy machine operation the skilled trades and finance
The versatility of this talent pool is further illustrated in
the level of education among employment service clients
Figure 4 shows that more than 41 of employment
service clients have either a college- or university-level
education Compared to Niagararsquos workforce
employment service clients offer a clear advantage in
terms of high school and college completion
10 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
AGE RANGENUMBER OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTSPERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTS
15ndash24 1741 2468
25ndash44 2841 4028
45ndash64 2347 3327
65 and older 125 177
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
FIGURE 4 LEVELS OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA LABOUR FORCE AND NIAGARA EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015ndash2016
Table 2 shows the age breakdown of employment service
clients In 2015 403 of clients were between the ages
of 25 and 44 and 332 were between the ages of 45
and 64 Only 24 less than one in four were under the
age of 24 These data further illustrate how employment
service clients represent an experienced educated and
diverse segment of the available labour force Since 55
of employment service clients were out of work for less
than three months and therefore are likely not
predisposed to any loss of professional or interpersonal
skills NWPB encourages employers looking to hire to
foster a strong relationship with an Employment Ontario
employment service provider
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
TABLE 2 AGE OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
St CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Niagara ES Clients
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College completion
Universitycompletion
115
318
124
92
266
301
176
111
22
396
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
11 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
12 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Educational attainment measures an
individualrsquos highest level of formal
education These data were collected
through Statistics Canadarsquos National
Household Survey (NHS) and previously
through the long-form census Because of
the changes in data gathering and
reporting between the NHS and the
long-form census it is not possible to
make valid historical comparisons of
educational attainment in Niagara
Nevertheless this section represents the
most up-to-date data currently available
to the NWPB on education patterns in
Niagara The return of the long-form
census in 2016 will likely allow for some
degree of comparison between past and
present educational data in future labour
market reports NWPB will provide
updates on this as more data becomes
available from Statistics Canada
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
COMPARED TO ONTARIO THE NIAGARA WORKFORCE
HAS MORE COLLEGE-TRAINED
WORKERS PER CAPITA
AND MORE WORKERS WITH
APPRENTICESHIPS OR
TRADES CERTIFICATIONS
13 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
Figure 5 compares the general levels of educational
attainment for the St CatharinesndashNiagara CMArsquos labour
force As of 2011 566 of Niagararsquos labour force had
completed some level of post-secondary training (eg a
trades certificate college diploma or university degree)
Nearly 318 of the labour force had a high school
diploma as their highest level of formal education Only
115 of the labour force was absent any completed
formal training
Figure 6 breaks down the levels of educational
attainment among individuals holding a post-secondary
qualification as of 2011 the latest year for which data are
available Compared to Ontario as a whole Niagararsquos
workforce has a greater concentration of college-
educated individuals (469 in Niagara versus 367 in
Ontario) Niagara also possesses an advantage in
individuals with an apprenticeship or trades certificate
(163 locally compared to 117 at the provincial level) A
total of 311 of Niagararsquos workforce hold a university
degree compared to 446 across the province
14 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONP
ost
-Sec
on
dar
y Tr
ain
ed L
abo
ur
Forc
e P
erce
nta
ge
163
469
117
367
311
446
57 70
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College diploma University certificate or diploma below bachelor level
University certificate or diploma at bachelor level
or above
633
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
115
318
104
264
566
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
FIGURE 5 LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINES ndash NIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Post secondary certificate diploma
or degree
FIGURE 6 POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
Niagara Ontario
Niagara Ontario
50
40
30
20
10
0
15 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 7 NIAGARA REGION ANNUAL POPULATION ESTIMATES 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
Changes to a regionrsquos population will
almost certainly have a direct impact on
the characteristics of a regionrsquos workforce
It is for that reason that we include
population and migration data for the
Niagara region in this report Figure 7
shows the estimated population of the
Niagara region from 2001 to 2015
Statistics Canadarsquos most recent population
estimates suggests approximately 449098
individuals lived in Niagara in 2015
This growth follows a brief period of
population decline in 2007ndash2008
Additional information on population
patterns for Niagararsquos 12 municipalities is
available for review in NWPBrsquos municipal
fact sheet series
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
NIAGARArsquoS POPULATION
HAS SHOWN STEADY
GROWTH SINCE
2009
INCREASING BY 1 BETWEEN 2009 AND 2015
455000
450000
445000
440000
435000
430000
425000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Po
pu
lati
on
Year
2004 Population
estimate437610
2009 Population
estimate440802
2015 Population
estimate449098
2014 Population
estimate447380
16 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
Table 4 shows the number of individuals who moved into
and out of the Niagara region between 2009 and 2014
These data allow us to understand Niagararsquos net-
population changes and any significant migration
patterns in Niagara For example the region shows the
highest amount of in- and out-migrants in the 25ndashtondash44
cohort Even though this group accounted for 347 of
in-migrants and 394 of out-migrants it represented
only 114 of net-migrants (ie those people who moved
into Niagara and stayed in region) In comparison the
45-to-64 age cohort has a smaller tally of in- and out-
migration but accounts for almost half of all net-
migration These data suggest that Niagara offers unique
ldquopullrdquo factors for older workers
A comparison of 2009ndash2014 migration to data from
2008ndash2013 represented in table 3 illustrates a generally
consistent migration pattern for the region Individuals
between the ages of 45 and 64 continue to be the largest
group of net-migrants into Niagara The 25ndashtondash44 cohort
reports the most in- and out-migration but their high
turnover accounts for fewer net-migrants Negative
net-migration in the 18ndashtondash24 cohort remains a challenge
for Niagara However the 2009ndash2014 data set shows a
431 decrease in the lost population within this
migration group Overall a 205 increase in net-
migrants to the Niagara region was seen between 2009
and 2014
AGE RANGE IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10688 8197 2663
18ndash24 8264 8983 minus 719
25ndash44 20479 19552 927
45ndash64 12493 8374 4119
65 and over 5635 4305 1330
Total 57731 49411 8320
Source Taxfiler
AGE GROUP IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10909 8086 2823
18ndash24 8382 8791 minus 409
25ndash44 20556 19407 1149
45ndash64 13290 8471 4819
65 and over 6139 4498 1641
Total 59276 49253 10023
Source Taxfiler Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
TABLE 4 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2009ndash2014
TABLE 3 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2008ndash2013
17 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The following data show the number of
employers operating within the Niagara
region Please note that tables 5 and 6
cover only establishments with
employees Establishments operating
without employees (eg people who are
self-employed or businesses operating
with only family members as staff) are
covered on page 28 Note also that
changes to the way Statistics Canada
reports these data prevent comparisons
from prior to December 2014
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
THE MAJORITY OF BUSINESSES IN NIAGARA ARE MICRO-BUSINESSES
18 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2014
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2015
2014ndash2015ABSOLUTE CHANGE
2014ndash2015PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
1ndash4 6100 6245 145 24
5ndash9 2530 2509 minus 21 minus 08
10ndash19 1650 1647 minus 3 minus 02
20ndash49 1134 1167 33 29
50ndash99 370 368 minus 2 minus 05
100ndash199 173 175 2 12
200ndash499 73 74 1 14
500+ 24 26 2 83
Total 12054 12211 157 13
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
As seen in table 5 a slight majority of Niagararsquos employer
landscape is made up of micro-businesses A micro-
business is a business employing between one and four
individuals A small business in comparison typically
employs between 5 and 99 individuals this second group
accounts for 472 of Niagararsquos employers and 402 of
all Ontario employers Combining microndash and small
businesses we see that 978 of all businesses in both
Niagara and Ontario employ fewer than 99 individuals
TABLE 5 EMPLOYERS SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014ndash2015
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
ABOUT THIS REPORTThe Niagara Workforce Planning Board (NWPB)
serves the Niagara region as a leader in local labour
market planning delivering authoritative research
identifying employment trends targeting
workforce opportunities and bringing people
together to create solutions to workforce challenges
This report is our annual summary of the
developments challenges and strengths of the local
labour market
This report is published alongside a series of
municipal fact sheets These smaller reports offer an
up-to-date snapshot of population and employment
patterns in Niagararsquos 12 municipalities Digital copies
of these and other reports are available on our
website at wwwniagaraworkforceca
We encourage feedback from our readers
Please click this link to complete our feedback survey
1 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
CONTENTSOur Mission 2
Our Networks 2
Contact Us 2
Directors and Staff 3
Board of Directors 3
Our Staff 3
Executive Summary 4
Labour Market Overview 5
Labour Market Supply 8
Labour Force Education 12
Migration and Population 15
Industry Size in Niagara 17
Top Industries by Employment 20
Focus on Agriculture 23
Industry Subsectors 24
ZerondashEmployee Firms 28
Niagara Occupations 31
Niagara Employers Exploring Hiring Patterns 34
Action Plan 35
2 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
OUR MISSION
NWPB is one of 26 planning regions in
Ontario that make up the Local Boards
Network Local Boards are partly funded
through Employment Ontario
Our role is one of facilitation and
communication Our focus is on bringing
community stakeholders together to
identify labour force issues and develop
possible solutions
NWPB strives to ensure that information
on community initiatives and actions are
disseminated in an accurate and concise
manner throughout the Niagara region
This Employment Ontario project is funded by the
Ontario government
OUR NETWORKS
The views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect
those of Employment Ontario
CONTACT US
36 Page StreetSt Catharines ON L2R 4A7905-641-0801wwwniagaraworkforcecainfoniagaraworkforceboardca
nwpbniagaraworkforce niagara-workforce-planning-board
3 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Lisa Cairns
Finance and Office Manager
905-641-0801 ext 21
Corinna Carson
Project Manager
Niagara Immigrant
Connections Initiative
Local Immigrant Partnership
905-641-1981
Mario De Divitis
Executive Director
905-641-0801 ext 27
Adam Durrant
Research Manager
905-641-0801 ext 31
Laura Fyfe
Research Associate
905-641-0801 ext 30
Meghan Tamane
Mentorship Coordinator
Niagara Immigrant
Connections Initiative
905-641-1981
Fiona Allan
Lisa Benger
Hugo Chesshire
Daniel Peat
Frank Pupillo
Mahendra Thaleshvar
Lori Watson
DIRECTORS AND STAFF
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OUR STAFF
4 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The 2016 update to the Niagara Labour Market Plan is
built on an evidence-based analysis of labour market
strengths and challenges within the Niagara region It is
our hope that this report will be of value to community
organizations local government job seekers employers
and other Niagara stakeholders Working together we
believe that sound planning will lead to the future
successes that will continue to make Niagara an excellent
place to live and do business
This executive summary offers a brief summary of the
observations contained within this report Additional
details and context can be found later in the document
Readers should note that this update is generally focused
on Niagara at a regional level The most up-to-date data
on Niagararsquos 12 multiplicities can be found in our
municipal fact sheets
Niagararsquos 2015 labour market was generally consistent
with that of 2014 2015 noted some slight increases in the
size of the labour force and a considerable reduction in
the unemployment rate This falling unemployment rate
is paired with increases in Niagararsquos employment and
participation rates For the first time since 2012 the 2015
local labour market housed more than 200000 jobs
Micro-businesses (those establishments employing
between one and four individuals) continue to dominate
Niagararsquos employer landscape now representing more
than half of all employers Traditionally defined small-to-
medium enterprises which employ between 1 and 100
individuals account for 977 of all employers in Niagara
While Niagararsquos employers saw increases in both full-time
and part-time employment the ratio of full-time to
part-time employment remains below pre-recession
levels
Niagararsquos three largest employment sectors (wholesale
and retail trade accommodation and food services and
health care and social assistance) all saw year-over-year
employment gains in 2015 The largest of these gains was
in wholesale and retail trade which grew by 119
Likewise construction added 2700 jobs in 2015
representing a 176 year-over-year increase
This yearrsquos employer questionnaire is informed by the
results of our Employer One survey Its purpose is to begin
an exploration of the ldquohiddenrdquo job market We asked
employers to comment on whether they had ever hired
using informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting and
then to evaluate their experiences using these methods
Of the 85 employers who completed the questionnaire
67 reported using word-of-mouth or informal recruiting
and the vast majority of them found it to be a positive
experience
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
5 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Understanding a local labour market
requires a minimum of three
measurements employment rate
participation rate and unemployment
rate
The employment rate measures the
percentage of the working-age population
(ie individuals aged 15 and older) that is
employed The participation rate
measures the percentage of the working-
age population that is either employed or
unemployed The total of all people who
are either employed or unemployed is
commonly called the labour force Thus
the unemployment rate measures the
percentage of the labour force that is
currently looking for work Figure 1
provides a historical overview of the size
of the labour force and unemployment
rate in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area or CMA
Figure 1 shows that between 2014 and
2015 the size of the labour force in
Niagara increased by 369 This increase
represents a new post-recession high for
the size of Niagararsquos labour force This
trend is good news for Niagara when seen
in the context of falling unemployment
(77 in 2014 compared to 70 in 2015)
an increasing participation rate (as seen in
figure 2 618 in 2014 compared to
639 in 2015) and an increasing
employment rate (571 in 2014
compared to 595 in 2015)
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
NIAGARArsquoS UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
IS NOW WELL BELOW THE
104 PEAK SEEN DURING
THE RECESSION AND IS
TRENDING TOWARD
PRE-RECESSIONARY LEVELS
6 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 1 ANNUAL LABOUR FORCE SIZE AND UNEMPLOYMENT RATE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
FIGURE 2 ANNUAL PARTICIPATION AND EMPLOYMENT RATES ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Labour force Unemployment rate
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 20152001 2002 2003
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
Un
emp
loym
ent
Rat
e
225000
215000
205000
195000
185000
175000
165000
155000
2005 LABOUR FORCE SIZE
209800
2010 LABOUR FORCE SIZE
210600
2014 LABOUR
FORCE SIZE 211600
2015 LABOUR
FORCE SIZE 219400
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129
64
62
60
58
56
2015 Participation rate
639
2005 Participation rate
635
2010 Participation rate
625
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Participation rate Employment rate
2015 Employment rate
595
2010 Employment rate
568
2005 Employment rate
590
7 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
FIGURE 3 ANNUAL FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129 NWPB calculations
Figure 3 provides a brief overview of full-time and
part-time employment in Niagara 2015 saw a 50
increase in full-time employment and a 26 increase in
part-time employment No other year in the last 15 has
seen a higher figure for full-time employment
However it is equally important to note the relationship
between full-time and part-time employment In the years
before the Great Recession Niagararsquos economy housed a
greater proportion of full-time jobs compared to part-time
jobs
For example in 2006 there were 382 full-time jobs for
every 1 part-time job This ratio fell during the recession
years and began trending back to pre-recession figures
in 2015 In 2015 this ratio stood at 329 full-time jobs for
each part-time job
180000
160000
140000
120000
100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
40
39
38
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
Nu
mb
er o
f Jo
bs
Full-time employment Part-time employment FT-to-PT ratio
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Nu
mb
er o
f Fu
ll-Ti
me
Job
s fo
r Ev
ery
On
e P
art-
Tim
e Jo
b
8 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Niagararsquos Employment Ontario
employment service providers facilitate
invaluable support for the unemployed
underemployed and individuals seeking
to change career paths Each year NWPB
receives aggregated client data for these
providers In 2015 they assisted a
combined 7054 individuals With Statistics
Canada reporting 15300 unemployed
individuals in Niagara in 2015 we consider
Employment Ontariorsquos local client data to
be an outstanding source of intelligence
on the available workforce in Niagara
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
MORE THAN
41 OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICE
CLIENTS HAVE EITHER A
COLLEGE- OR UNIVERSITY-
LEVEL EDUCATION
9 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
TABLE 1 EMPLOYMENT SERVICE CLIENT OCCUPATIONS AT TIME OF LAYOFF 2015ndash2016
CLIENT OCCUPATION AT TIME OF LAYOFF NUMBER
OF CLIENTS
Service support and other service occupations not elsewhere classified 566
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations 362
Industrial electrical and construction trades 344
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations 339
Trades helpers construction labourers and related occupations 306
Labourers in processing manufacturing and utilities 258
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade 220
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations 219
Sales support occupations 207
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations 201
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
Table 1 provides a breakdown of the top 10 occupations of
employment service clients at their time of layoff
between April 2015 and March 2016 These individuals
represent a wide range of skills and occupations While a
number of these clients come from sales and service
occupations a significant portion offer backgrounds in
heavy machine operation the skilled trades and finance
The versatility of this talent pool is further illustrated in
the level of education among employment service clients
Figure 4 shows that more than 41 of employment
service clients have either a college- or university-level
education Compared to Niagararsquos workforce
employment service clients offer a clear advantage in
terms of high school and college completion
10 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
AGE RANGENUMBER OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTSPERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTS
15ndash24 1741 2468
25ndash44 2841 4028
45ndash64 2347 3327
65 and older 125 177
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
FIGURE 4 LEVELS OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA LABOUR FORCE AND NIAGARA EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015ndash2016
Table 2 shows the age breakdown of employment service
clients In 2015 403 of clients were between the ages
of 25 and 44 and 332 were between the ages of 45
and 64 Only 24 less than one in four were under the
age of 24 These data further illustrate how employment
service clients represent an experienced educated and
diverse segment of the available labour force Since 55
of employment service clients were out of work for less
than three months and therefore are likely not
predisposed to any loss of professional or interpersonal
skills NWPB encourages employers looking to hire to
foster a strong relationship with an Employment Ontario
employment service provider
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
TABLE 2 AGE OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
St CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Niagara ES Clients
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College completion
Universitycompletion
115
318
124
92
266
301
176
111
22
396
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
11 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
12 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Educational attainment measures an
individualrsquos highest level of formal
education These data were collected
through Statistics Canadarsquos National
Household Survey (NHS) and previously
through the long-form census Because of
the changes in data gathering and
reporting between the NHS and the
long-form census it is not possible to
make valid historical comparisons of
educational attainment in Niagara
Nevertheless this section represents the
most up-to-date data currently available
to the NWPB on education patterns in
Niagara The return of the long-form
census in 2016 will likely allow for some
degree of comparison between past and
present educational data in future labour
market reports NWPB will provide
updates on this as more data becomes
available from Statistics Canada
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
COMPARED TO ONTARIO THE NIAGARA WORKFORCE
HAS MORE COLLEGE-TRAINED
WORKERS PER CAPITA
AND MORE WORKERS WITH
APPRENTICESHIPS OR
TRADES CERTIFICATIONS
13 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
Figure 5 compares the general levels of educational
attainment for the St CatharinesndashNiagara CMArsquos labour
force As of 2011 566 of Niagararsquos labour force had
completed some level of post-secondary training (eg a
trades certificate college diploma or university degree)
Nearly 318 of the labour force had a high school
diploma as their highest level of formal education Only
115 of the labour force was absent any completed
formal training
Figure 6 breaks down the levels of educational
attainment among individuals holding a post-secondary
qualification as of 2011 the latest year for which data are
available Compared to Ontario as a whole Niagararsquos
workforce has a greater concentration of college-
educated individuals (469 in Niagara versus 367 in
Ontario) Niagara also possesses an advantage in
individuals with an apprenticeship or trades certificate
(163 locally compared to 117 at the provincial level) A
total of 311 of Niagararsquos workforce hold a university
degree compared to 446 across the province
14 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONP
ost
-Sec
on
dar
y Tr
ain
ed L
abo
ur
Forc
e P
erce
nta
ge
163
469
117
367
311
446
57 70
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College diploma University certificate or diploma below bachelor level
University certificate or diploma at bachelor level
or above
633
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
115
318
104
264
566
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
FIGURE 5 LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINES ndash NIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Post secondary certificate diploma
or degree
FIGURE 6 POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
Niagara Ontario
Niagara Ontario
50
40
30
20
10
0
15 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 7 NIAGARA REGION ANNUAL POPULATION ESTIMATES 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
Changes to a regionrsquos population will
almost certainly have a direct impact on
the characteristics of a regionrsquos workforce
It is for that reason that we include
population and migration data for the
Niagara region in this report Figure 7
shows the estimated population of the
Niagara region from 2001 to 2015
Statistics Canadarsquos most recent population
estimates suggests approximately 449098
individuals lived in Niagara in 2015
This growth follows a brief period of
population decline in 2007ndash2008
Additional information on population
patterns for Niagararsquos 12 municipalities is
available for review in NWPBrsquos municipal
fact sheet series
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
NIAGARArsquoS POPULATION
HAS SHOWN STEADY
GROWTH SINCE
2009
INCREASING BY 1 BETWEEN 2009 AND 2015
455000
450000
445000
440000
435000
430000
425000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Po
pu
lati
on
Year
2004 Population
estimate437610
2009 Population
estimate440802
2015 Population
estimate449098
2014 Population
estimate447380
16 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
Table 4 shows the number of individuals who moved into
and out of the Niagara region between 2009 and 2014
These data allow us to understand Niagararsquos net-
population changes and any significant migration
patterns in Niagara For example the region shows the
highest amount of in- and out-migrants in the 25ndashtondash44
cohort Even though this group accounted for 347 of
in-migrants and 394 of out-migrants it represented
only 114 of net-migrants (ie those people who moved
into Niagara and stayed in region) In comparison the
45-to-64 age cohort has a smaller tally of in- and out-
migration but accounts for almost half of all net-
migration These data suggest that Niagara offers unique
ldquopullrdquo factors for older workers
A comparison of 2009ndash2014 migration to data from
2008ndash2013 represented in table 3 illustrates a generally
consistent migration pattern for the region Individuals
between the ages of 45 and 64 continue to be the largest
group of net-migrants into Niagara The 25ndashtondash44 cohort
reports the most in- and out-migration but their high
turnover accounts for fewer net-migrants Negative
net-migration in the 18ndashtondash24 cohort remains a challenge
for Niagara However the 2009ndash2014 data set shows a
431 decrease in the lost population within this
migration group Overall a 205 increase in net-
migrants to the Niagara region was seen between 2009
and 2014
AGE RANGE IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10688 8197 2663
18ndash24 8264 8983 minus 719
25ndash44 20479 19552 927
45ndash64 12493 8374 4119
65 and over 5635 4305 1330
Total 57731 49411 8320
Source Taxfiler
AGE GROUP IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10909 8086 2823
18ndash24 8382 8791 minus 409
25ndash44 20556 19407 1149
45ndash64 13290 8471 4819
65 and over 6139 4498 1641
Total 59276 49253 10023
Source Taxfiler Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
TABLE 4 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2009ndash2014
TABLE 3 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2008ndash2013
17 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The following data show the number of
employers operating within the Niagara
region Please note that tables 5 and 6
cover only establishments with
employees Establishments operating
without employees (eg people who are
self-employed or businesses operating
with only family members as staff) are
covered on page 28 Note also that
changes to the way Statistics Canada
reports these data prevent comparisons
from prior to December 2014
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
THE MAJORITY OF BUSINESSES IN NIAGARA ARE MICRO-BUSINESSES
18 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2014
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2015
2014ndash2015ABSOLUTE CHANGE
2014ndash2015PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
1ndash4 6100 6245 145 24
5ndash9 2530 2509 minus 21 minus 08
10ndash19 1650 1647 minus 3 minus 02
20ndash49 1134 1167 33 29
50ndash99 370 368 minus 2 minus 05
100ndash199 173 175 2 12
200ndash499 73 74 1 14
500+ 24 26 2 83
Total 12054 12211 157 13
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
As seen in table 5 a slight majority of Niagararsquos employer
landscape is made up of micro-businesses A micro-
business is a business employing between one and four
individuals A small business in comparison typically
employs between 5 and 99 individuals this second group
accounts for 472 of Niagararsquos employers and 402 of
all Ontario employers Combining microndash and small
businesses we see that 978 of all businesses in both
Niagara and Ontario employ fewer than 99 individuals
TABLE 5 EMPLOYERS SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014ndash2015
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
1 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
CONTENTSOur Mission 2
Our Networks 2
Contact Us 2
Directors and Staff 3
Board of Directors 3
Our Staff 3
Executive Summary 4
Labour Market Overview 5
Labour Market Supply 8
Labour Force Education 12
Migration and Population 15
Industry Size in Niagara 17
Top Industries by Employment 20
Focus on Agriculture 23
Industry Subsectors 24
ZerondashEmployee Firms 28
Niagara Occupations 31
Niagara Employers Exploring Hiring Patterns 34
Action Plan 35
2 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
OUR MISSION
NWPB is one of 26 planning regions in
Ontario that make up the Local Boards
Network Local Boards are partly funded
through Employment Ontario
Our role is one of facilitation and
communication Our focus is on bringing
community stakeholders together to
identify labour force issues and develop
possible solutions
NWPB strives to ensure that information
on community initiatives and actions are
disseminated in an accurate and concise
manner throughout the Niagara region
This Employment Ontario project is funded by the
Ontario government
OUR NETWORKS
The views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect
those of Employment Ontario
CONTACT US
36 Page StreetSt Catharines ON L2R 4A7905-641-0801wwwniagaraworkforcecainfoniagaraworkforceboardca
nwpbniagaraworkforce niagara-workforce-planning-board
3 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Lisa Cairns
Finance and Office Manager
905-641-0801 ext 21
Corinna Carson
Project Manager
Niagara Immigrant
Connections Initiative
Local Immigrant Partnership
905-641-1981
Mario De Divitis
Executive Director
905-641-0801 ext 27
Adam Durrant
Research Manager
905-641-0801 ext 31
Laura Fyfe
Research Associate
905-641-0801 ext 30
Meghan Tamane
Mentorship Coordinator
Niagara Immigrant
Connections Initiative
905-641-1981
Fiona Allan
Lisa Benger
Hugo Chesshire
Daniel Peat
Frank Pupillo
Mahendra Thaleshvar
Lori Watson
DIRECTORS AND STAFF
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OUR STAFF
4 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The 2016 update to the Niagara Labour Market Plan is
built on an evidence-based analysis of labour market
strengths and challenges within the Niagara region It is
our hope that this report will be of value to community
organizations local government job seekers employers
and other Niagara stakeholders Working together we
believe that sound planning will lead to the future
successes that will continue to make Niagara an excellent
place to live and do business
This executive summary offers a brief summary of the
observations contained within this report Additional
details and context can be found later in the document
Readers should note that this update is generally focused
on Niagara at a regional level The most up-to-date data
on Niagararsquos 12 multiplicities can be found in our
municipal fact sheets
Niagararsquos 2015 labour market was generally consistent
with that of 2014 2015 noted some slight increases in the
size of the labour force and a considerable reduction in
the unemployment rate This falling unemployment rate
is paired with increases in Niagararsquos employment and
participation rates For the first time since 2012 the 2015
local labour market housed more than 200000 jobs
Micro-businesses (those establishments employing
between one and four individuals) continue to dominate
Niagararsquos employer landscape now representing more
than half of all employers Traditionally defined small-to-
medium enterprises which employ between 1 and 100
individuals account for 977 of all employers in Niagara
While Niagararsquos employers saw increases in both full-time
and part-time employment the ratio of full-time to
part-time employment remains below pre-recession
levels
Niagararsquos three largest employment sectors (wholesale
and retail trade accommodation and food services and
health care and social assistance) all saw year-over-year
employment gains in 2015 The largest of these gains was
in wholesale and retail trade which grew by 119
Likewise construction added 2700 jobs in 2015
representing a 176 year-over-year increase
This yearrsquos employer questionnaire is informed by the
results of our Employer One survey Its purpose is to begin
an exploration of the ldquohiddenrdquo job market We asked
employers to comment on whether they had ever hired
using informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting and
then to evaluate their experiences using these methods
Of the 85 employers who completed the questionnaire
67 reported using word-of-mouth or informal recruiting
and the vast majority of them found it to be a positive
experience
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
5 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Understanding a local labour market
requires a minimum of three
measurements employment rate
participation rate and unemployment
rate
The employment rate measures the
percentage of the working-age population
(ie individuals aged 15 and older) that is
employed The participation rate
measures the percentage of the working-
age population that is either employed or
unemployed The total of all people who
are either employed or unemployed is
commonly called the labour force Thus
the unemployment rate measures the
percentage of the labour force that is
currently looking for work Figure 1
provides a historical overview of the size
of the labour force and unemployment
rate in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area or CMA
Figure 1 shows that between 2014 and
2015 the size of the labour force in
Niagara increased by 369 This increase
represents a new post-recession high for
the size of Niagararsquos labour force This
trend is good news for Niagara when seen
in the context of falling unemployment
(77 in 2014 compared to 70 in 2015)
an increasing participation rate (as seen in
figure 2 618 in 2014 compared to
639 in 2015) and an increasing
employment rate (571 in 2014
compared to 595 in 2015)
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
NIAGARArsquoS UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
IS NOW WELL BELOW THE
104 PEAK SEEN DURING
THE RECESSION AND IS
TRENDING TOWARD
PRE-RECESSIONARY LEVELS
6 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 1 ANNUAL LABOUR FORCE SIZE AND UNEMPLOYMENT RATE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
FIGURE 2 ANNUAL PARTICIPATION AND EMPLOYMENT RATES ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Labour force Unemployment rate
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 20152001 2002 2003
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
Un
emp
loym
ent
Rat
e
225000
215000
205000
195000
185000
175000
165000
155000
2005 LABOUR FORCE SIZE
209800
2010 LABOUR FORCE SIZE
210600
2014 LABOUR
FORCE SIZE 211600
2015 LABOUR
FORCE SIZE 219400
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129
64
62
60
58
56
2015 Participation rate
639
2005 Participation rate
635
2010 Participation rate
625
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Participation rate Employment rate
2015 Employment rate
595
2010 Employment rate
568
2005 Employment rate
590
7 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
FIGURE 3 ANNUAL FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129 NWPB calculations
Figure 3 provides a brief overview of full-time and
part-time employment in Niagara 2015 saw a 50
increase in full-time employment and a 26 increase in
part-time employment No other year in the last 15 has
seen a higher figure for full-time employment
However it is equally important to note the relationship
between full-time and part-time employment In the years
before the Great Recession Niagararsquos economy housed a
greater proportion of full-time jobs compared to part-time
jobs
For example in 2006 there were 382 full-time jobs for
every 1 part-time job This ratio fell during the recession
years and began trending back to pre-recession figures
in 2015 In 2015 this ratio stood at 329 full-time jobs for
each part-time job
180000
160000
140000
120000
100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
40
39
38
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
Nu
mb
er o
f Jo
bs
Full-time employment Part-time employment FT-to-PT ratio
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Nu
mb
er o
f Fu
ll-Ti
me
Job
s fo
r Ev
ery
On
e P
art-
Tim
e Jo
b
8 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Niagararsquos Employment Ontario
employment service providers facilitate
invaluable support for the unemployed
underemployed and individuals seeking
to change career paths Each year NWPB
receives aggregated client data for these
providers In 2015 they assisted a
combined 7054 individuals With Statistics
Canada reporting 15300 unemployed
individuals in Niagara in 2015 we consider
Employment Ontariorsquos local client data to
be an outstanding source of intelligence
on the available workforce in Niagara
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
MORE THAN
41 OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICE
CLIENTS HAVE EITHER A
COLLEGE- OR UNIVERSITY-
LEVEL EDUCATION
9 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
TABLE 1 EMPLOYMENT SERVICE CLIENT OCCUPATIONS AT TIME OF LAYOFF 2015ndash2016
CLIENT OCCUPATION AT TIME OF LAYOFF NUMBER
OF CLIENTS
Service support and other service occupations not elsewhere classified 566
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations 362
Industrial electrical and construction trades 344
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations 339
Trades helpers construction labourers and related occupations 306
Labourers in processing manufacturing and utilities 258
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade 220
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations 219
Sales support occupations 207
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations 201
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
Table 1 provides a breakdown of the top 10 occupations of
employment service clients at their time of layoff
between April 2015 and March 2016 These individuals
represent a wide range of skills and occupations While a
number of these clients come from sales and service
occupations a significant portion offer backgrounds in
heavy machine operation the skilled trades and finance
The versatility of this talent pool is further illustrated in
the level of education among employment service clients
Figure 4 shows that more than 41 of employment
service clients have either a college- or university-level
education Compared to Niagararsquos workforce
employment service clients offer a clear advantage in
terms of high school and college completion
10 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
AGE RANGENUMBER OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTSPERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTS
15ndash24 1741 2468
25ndash44 2841 4028
45ndash64 2347 3327
65 and older 125 177
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
FIGURE 4 LEVELS OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA LABOUR FORCE AND NIAGARA EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015ndash2016
Table 2 shows the age breakdown of employment service
clients In 2015 403 of clients were between the ages
of 25 and 44 and 332 were between the ages of 45
and 64 Only 24 less than one in four were under the
age of 24 These data further illustrate how employment
service clients represent an experienced educated and
diverse segment of the available labour force Since 55
of employment service clients were out of work for less
than three months and therefore are likely not
predisposed to any loss of professional or interpersonal
skills NWPB encourages employers looking to hire to
foster a strong relationship with an Employment Ontario
employment service provider
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
TABLE 2 AGE OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
St CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Niagara ES Clients
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College completion
Universitycompletion
115
318
124
92
266
301
176
111
22
396
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
11 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
12 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Educational attainment measures an
individualrsquos highest level of formal
education These data were collected
through Statistics Canadarsquos National
Household Survey (NHS) and previously
through the long-form census Because of
the changes in data gathering and
reporting between the NHS and the
long-form census it is not possible to
make valid historical comparisons of
educational attainment in Niagara
Nevertheless this section represents the
most up-to-date data currently available
to the NWPB on education patterns in
Niagara The return of the long-form
census in 2016 will likely allow for some
degree of comparison between past and
present educational data in future labour
market reports NWPB will provide
updates on this as more data becomes
available from Statistics Canada
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
COMPARED TO ONTARIO THE NIAGARA WORKFORCE
HAS MORE COLLEGE-TRAINED
WORKERS PER CAPITA
AND MORE WORKERS WITH
APPRENTICESHIPS OR
TRADES CERTIFICATIONS
13 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
Figure 5 compares the general levels of educational
attainment for the St CatharinesndashNiagara CMArsquos labour
force As of 2011 566 of Niagararsquos labour force had
completed some level of post-secondary training (eg a
trades certificate college diploma or university degree)
Nearly 318 of the labour force had a high school
diploma as their highest level of formal education Only
115 of the labour force was absent any completed
formal training
Figure 6 breaks down the levels of educational
attainment among individuals holding a post-secondary
qualification as of 2011 the latest year for which data are
available Compared to Ontario as a whole Niagararsquos
workforce has a greater concentration of college-
educated individuals (469 in Niagara versus 367 in
Ontario) Niagara also possesses an advantage in
individuals with an apprenticeship or trades certificate
(163 locally compared to 117 at the provincial level) A
total of 311 of Niagararsquos workforce hold a university
degree compared to 446 across the province
14 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONP
ost
-Sec
on
dar
y Tr
ain
ed L
abo
ur
Forc
e P
erce
nta
ge
163
469
117
367
311
446
57 70
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College diploma University certificate or diploma below bachelor level
University certificate or diploma at bachelor level
or above
633
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
115
318
104
264
566
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
FIGURE 5 LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINES ndash NIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Post secondary certificate diploma
or degree
FIGURE 6 POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
Niagara Ontario
Niagara Ontario
50
40
30
20
10
0
15 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 7 NIAGARA REGION ANNUAL POPULATION ESTIMATES 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
Changes to a regionrsquos population will
almost certainly have a direct impact on
the characteristics of a regionrsquos workforce
It is for that reason that we include
population and migration data for the
Niagara region in this report Figure 7
shows the estimated population of the
Niagara region from 2001 to 2015
Statistics Canadarsquos most recent population
estimates suggests approximately 449098
individuals lived in Niagara in 2015
This growth follows a brief period of
population decline in 2007ndash2008
Additional information on population
patterns for Niagararsquos 12 municipalities is
available for review in NWPBrsquos municipal
fact sheet series
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
NIAGARArsquoS POPULATION
HAS SHOWN STEADY
GROWTH SINCE
2009
INCREASING BY 1 BETWEEN 2009 AND 2015
455000
450000
445000
440000
435000
430000
425000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Po
pu
lati
on
Year
2004 Population
estimate437610
2009 Population
estimate440802
2015 Population
estimate449098
2014 Population
estimate447380
16 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
Table 4 shows the number of individuals who moved into
and out of the Niagara region between 2009 and 2014
These data allow us to understand Niagararsquos net-
population changes and any significant migration
patterns in Niagara For example the region shows the
highest amount of in- and out-migrants in the 25ndashtondash44
cohort Even though this group accounted for 347 of
in-migrants and 394 of out-migrants it represented
only 114 of net-migrants (ie those people who moved
into Niagara and stayed in region) In comparison the
45-to-64 age cohort has a smaller tally of in- and out-
migration but accounts for almost half of all net-
migration These data suggest that Niagara offers unique
ldquopullrdquo factors for older workers
A comparison of 2009ndash2014 migration to data from
2008ndash2013 represented in table 3 illustrates a generally
consistent migration pattern for the region Individuals
between the ages of 45 and 64 continue to be the largest
group of net-migrants into Niagara The 25ndashtondash44 cohort
reports the most in- and out-migration but their high
turnover accounts for fewer net-migrants Negative
net-migration in the 18ndashtondash24 cohort remains a challenge
for Niagara However the 2009ndash2014 data set shows a
431 decrease in the lost population within this
migration group Overall a 205 increase in net-
migrants to the Niagara region was seen between 2009
and 2014
AGE RANGE IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10688 8197 2663
18ndash24 8264 8983 minus 719
25ndash44 20479 19552 927
45ndash64 12493 8374 4119
65 and over 5635 4305 1330
Total 57731 49411 8320
Source Taxfiler
AGE GROUP IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10909 8086 2823
18ndash24 8382 8791 minus 409
25ndash44 20556 19407 1149
45ndash64 13290 8471 4819
65 and over 6139 4498 1641
Total 59276 49253 10023
Source Taxfiler Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
TABLE 4 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2009ndash2014
TABLE 3 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2008ndash2013
17 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The following data show the number of
employers operating within the Niagara
region Please note that tables 5 and 6
cover only establishments with
employees Establishments operating
without employees (eg people who are
self-employed or businesses operating
with only family members as staff) are
covered on page 28 Note also that
changes to the way Statistics Canada
reports these data prevent comparisons
from prior to December 2014
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
THE MAJORITY OF BUSINESSES IN NIAGARA ARE MICRO-BUSINESSES
18 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2014
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2015
2014ndash2015ABSOLUTE CHANGE
2014ndash2015PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
1ndash4 6100 6245 145 24
5ndash9 2530 2509 minus 21 minus 08
10ndash19 1650 1647 minus 3 minus 02
20ndash49 1134 1167 33 29
50ndash99 370 368 minus 2 minus 05
100ndash199 173 175 2 12
200ndash499 73 74 1 14
500+ 24 26 2 83
Total 12054 12211 157 13
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
As seen in table 5 a slight majority of Niagararsquos employer
landscape is made up of micro-businesses A micro-
business is a business employing between one and four
individuals A small business in comparison typically
employs between 5 and 99 individuals this second group
accounts for 472 of Niagararsquos employers and 402 of
all Ontario employers Combining microndash and small
businesses we see that 978 of all businesses in both
Niagara and Ontario employ fewer than 99 individuals
TABLE 5 EMPLOYERS SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014ndash2015
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
2 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
OUR MISSION
NWPB is one of 26 planning regions in
Ontario that make up the Local Boards
Network Local Boards are partly funded
through Employment Ontario
Our role is one of facilitation and
communication Our focus is on bringing
community stakeholders together to
identify labour force issues and develop
possible solutions
NWPB strives to ensure that information
on community initiatives and actions are
disseminated in an accurate and concise
manner throughout the Niagara region
This Employment Ontario project is funded by the
Ontario government
OUR NETWORKS
The views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect
those of Employment Ontario
CONTACT US
36 Page StreetSt Catharines ON L2R 4A7905-641-0801wwwniagaraworkforcecainfoniagaraworkforceboardca
nwpbniagaraworkforce niagara-workforce-planning-board
3 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Lisa Cairns
Finance and Office Manager
905-641-0801 ext 21
Corinna Carson
Project Manager
Niagara Immigrant
Connections Initiative
Local Immigrant Partnership
905-641-1981
Mario De Divitis
Executive Director
905-641-0801 ext 27
Adam Durrant
Research Manager
905-641-0801 ext 31
Laura Fyfe
Research Associate
905-641-0801 ext 30
Meghan Tamane
Mentorship Coordinator
Niagara Immigrant
Connections Initiative
905-641-1981
Fiona Allan
Lisa Benger
Hugo Chesshire
Daniel Peat
Frank Pupillo
Mahendra Thaleshvar
Lori Watson
DIRECTORS AND STAFF
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OUR STAFF
4 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The 2016 update to the Niagara Labour Market Plan is
built on an evidence-based analysis of labour market
strengths and challenges within the Niagara region It is
our hope that this report will be of value to community
organizations local government job seekers employers
and other Niagara stakeholders Working together we
believe that sound planning will lead to the future
successes that will continue to make Niagara an excellent
place to live and do business
This executive summary offers a brief summary of the
observations contained within this report Additional
details and context can be found later in the document
Readers should note that this update is generally focused
on Niagara at a regional level The most up-to-date data
on Niagararsquos 12 multiplicities can be found in our
municipal fact sheets
Niagararsquos 2015 labour market was generally consistent
with that of 2014 2015 noted some slight increases in the
size of the labour force and a considerable reduction in
the unemployment rate This falling unemployment rate
is paired with increases in Niagararsquos employment and
participation rates For the first time since 2012 the 2015
local labour market housed more than 200000 jobs
Micro-businesses (those establishments employing
between one and four individuals) continue to dominate
Niagararsquos employer landscape now representing more
than half of all employers Traditionally defined small-to-
medium enterprises which employ between 1 and 100
individuals account for 977 of all employers in Niagara
While Niagararsquos employers saw increases in both full-time
and part-time employment the ratio of full-time to
part-time employment remains below pre-recession
levels
Niagararsquos three largest employment sectors (wholesale
and retail trade accommodation and food services and
health care and social assistance) all saw year-over-year
employment gains in 2015 The largest of these gains was
in wholesale and retail trade which grew by 119
Likewise construction added 2700 jobs in 2015
representing a 176 year-over-year increase
This yearrsquos employer questionnaire is informed by the
results of our Employer One survey Its purpose is to begin
an exploration of the ldquohiddenrdquo job market We asked
employers to comment on whether they had ever hired
using informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting and
then to evaluate their experiences using these methods
Of the 85 employers who completed the questionnaire
67 reported using word-of-mouth or informal recruiting
and the vast majority of them found it to be a positive
experience
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
5 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Understanding a local labour market
requires a minimum of three
measurements employment rate
participation rate and unemployment
rate
The employment rate measures the
percentage of the working-age population
(ie individuals aged 15 and older) that is
employed The participation rate
measures the percentage of the working-
age population that is either employed or
unemployed The total of all people who
are either employed or unemployed is
commonly called the labour force Thus
the unemployment rate measures the
percentage of the labour force that is
currently looking for work Figure 1
provides a historical overview of the size
of the labour force and unemployment
rate in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area or CMA
Figure 1 shows that between 2014 and
2015 the size of the labour force in
Niagara increased by 369 This increase
represents a new post-recession high for
the size of Niagararsquos labour force This
trend is good news for Niagara when seen
in the context of falling unemployment
(77 in 2014 compared to 70 in 2015)
an increasing participation rate (as seen in
figure 2 618 in 2014 compared to
639 in 2015) and an increasing
employment rate (571 in 2014
compared to 595 in 2015)
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
NIAGARArsquoS UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
IS NOW WELL BELOW THE
104 PEAK SEEN DURING
THE RECESSION AND IS
TRENDING TOWARD
PRE-RECESSIONARY LEVELS
6 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 1 ANNUAL LABOUR FORCE SIZE AND UNEMPLOYMENT RATE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
FIGURE 2 ANNUAL PARTICIPATION AND EMPLOYMENT RATES ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Labour force Unemployment rate
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 20152001 2002 2003
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
Un
emp
loym
ent
Rat
e
225000
215000
205000
195000
185000
175000
165000
155000
2005 LABOUR FORCE SIZE
209800
2010 LABOUR FORCE SIZE
210600
2014 LABOUR
FORCE SIZE 211600
2015 LABOUR
FORCE SIZE 219400
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129
64
62
60
58
56
2015 Participation rate
639
2005 Participation rate
635
2010 Participation rate
625
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Participation rate Employment rate
2015 Employment rate
595
2010 Employment rate
568
2005 Employment rate
590
7 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
FIGURE 3 ANNUAL FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129 NWPB calculations
Figure 3 provides a brief overview of full-time and
part-time employment in Niagara 2015 saw a 50
increase in full-time employment and a 26 increase in
part-time employment No other year in the last 15 has
seen a higher figure for full-time employment
However it is equally important to note the relationship
between full-time and part-time employment In the years
before the Great Recession Niagararsquos economy housed a
greater proportion of full-time jobs compared to part-time
jobs
For example in 2006 there were 382 full-time jobs for
every 1 part-time job This ratio fell during the recession
years and began trending back to pre-recession figures
in 2015 In 2015 this ratio stood at 329 full-time jobs for
each part-time job
180000
160000
140000
120000
100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
40
39
38
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
Nu
mb
er o
f Jo
bs
Full-time employment Part-time employment FT-to-PT ratio
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Nu
mb
er o
f Fu
ll-Ti
me
Job
s fo
r Ev
ery
On
e P
art-
Tim
e Jo
b
8 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Niagararsquos Employment Ontario
employment service providers facilitate
invaluable support for the unemployed
underemployed and individuals seeking
to change career paths Each year NWPB
receives aggregated client data for these
providers In 2015 they assisted a
combined 7054 individuals With Statistics
Canada reporting 15300 unemployed
individuals in Niagara in 2015 we consider
Employment Ontariorsquos local client data to
be an outstanding source of intelligence
on the available workforce in Niagara
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
MORE THAN
41 OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICE
CLIENTS HAVE EITHER A
COLLEGE- OR UNIVERSITY-
LEVEL EDUCATION
9 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
TABLE 1 EMPLOYMENT SERVICE CLIENT OCCUPATIONS AT TIME OF LAYOFF 2015ndash2016
CLIENT OCCUPATION AT TIME OF LAYOFF NUMBER
OF CLIENTS
Service support and other service occupations not elsewhere classified 566
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations 362
Industrial electrical and construction trades 344
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations 339
Trades helpers construction labourers and related occupations 306
Labourers in processing manufacturing and utilities 258
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade 220
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations 219
Sales support occupations 207
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations 201
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
Table 1 provides a breakdown of the top 10 occupations of
employment service clients at their time of layoff
between April 2015 and March 2016 These individuals
represent a wide range of skills and occupations While a
number of these clients come from sales and service
occupations a significant portion offer backgrounds in
heavy machine operation the skilled trades and finance
The versatility of this talent pool is further illustrated in
the level of education among employment service clients
Figure 4 shows that more than 41 of employment
service clients have either a college- or university-level
education Compared to Niagararsquos workforce
employment service clients offer a clear advantage in
terms of high school and college completion
10 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
AGE RANGENUMBER OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTSPERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTS
15ndash24 1741 2468
25ndash44 2841 4028
45ndash64 2347 3327
65 and older 125 177
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
FIGURE 4 LEVELS OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA LABOUR FORCE AND NIAGARA EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015ndash2016
Table 2 shows the age breakdown of employment service
clients In 2015 403 of clients were between the ages
of 25 and 44 and 332 were between the ages of 45
and 64 Only 24 less than one in four were under the
age of 24 These data further illustrate how employment
service clients represent an experienced educated and
diverse segment of the available labour force Since 55
of employment service clients were out of work for less
than three months and therefore are likely not
predisposed to any loss of professional or interpersonal
skills NWPB encourages employers looking to hire to
foster a strong relationship with an Employment Ontario
employment service provider
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
TABLE 2 AGE OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
St CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Niagara ES Clients
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College completion
Universitycompletion
115
318
124
92
266
301
176
111
22
396
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
11 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
12 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Educational attainment measures an
individualrsquos highest level of formal
education These data were collected
through Statistics Canadarsquos National
Household Survey (NHS) and previously
through the long-form census Because of
the changes in data gathering and
reporting between the NHS and the
long-form census it is not possible to
make valid historical comparisons of
educational attainment in Niagara
Nevertheless this section represents the
most up-to-date data currently available
to the NWPB on education patterns in
Niagara The return of the long-form
census in 2016 will likely allow for some
degree of comparison between past and
present educational data in future labour
market reports NWPB will provide
updates on this as more data becomes
available from Statistics Canada
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
COMPARED TO ONTARIO THE NIAGARA WORKFORCE
HAS MORE COLLEGE-TRAINED
WORKERS PER CAPITA
AND MORE WORKERS WITH
APPRENTICESHIPS OR
TRADES CERTIFICATIONS
13 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
Figure 5 compares the general levels of educational
attainment for the St CatharinesndashNiagara CMArsquos labour
force As of 2011 566 of Niagararsquos labour force had
completed some level of post-secondary training (eg a
trades certificate college diploma or university degree)
Nearly 318 of the labour force had a high school
diploma as their highest level of formal education Only
115 of the labour force was absent any completed
formal training
Figure 6 breaks down the levels of educational
attainment among individuals holding a post-secondary
qualification as of 2011 the latest year for which data are
available Compared to Ontario as a whole Niagararsquos
workforce has a greater concentration of college-
educated individuals (469 in Niagara versus 367 in
Ontario) Niagara also possesses an advantage in
individuals with an apprenticeship or trades certificate
(163 locally compared to 117 at the provincial level) A
total of 311 of Niagararsquos workforce hold a university
degree compared to 446 across the province
14 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONP
ost
-Sec
on
dar
y Tr
ain
ed L
abo
ur
Forc
e P
erce
nta
ge
163
469
117
367
311
446
57 70
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College diploma University certificate or diploma below bachelor level
University certificate or diploma at bachelor level
or above
633
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
115
318
104
264
566
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
FIGURE 5 LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINES ndash NIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Post secondary certificate diploma
or degree
FIGURE 6 POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
Niagara Ontario
Niagara Ontario
50
40
30
20
10
0
15 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 7 NIAGARA REGION ANNUAL POPULATION ESTIMATES 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
Changes to a regionrsquos population will
almost certainly have a direct impact on
the characteristics of a regionrsquos workforce
It is for that reason that we include
population and migration data for the
Niagara region in this report Figure 7
shows the estimated population of the
Niagara region from 2001 to 2015
Statistics Canadarsquos most recent population
estimates suggests approximately 449098
individuals lived in Niagara in 2015
This growth follows a brief period of
population decline in 2007ndash2008
Additional information on population
patterns for Niagararsquos 12 municipalities is
available for review in NWPBrsquos municipal
fact sheet series
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
NIAGARArsquoS POPULATION
HAS SHOWN STEADY
GROWTH SINCE
2009
INCREASING BY 1 BETWEEN 2009 AND 2015
455000
450000
445000
440000
435000
430000
425000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Po
pu
lati
on
Year
2004 Population
estimate437610
2009 Population
estimate440802
2015 Population
estimate449098
2014 Population
estimate447380
16 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
Table 4 shows the number of individuals who moved into
and out of the Niagara region between 2009 and 2014
These data allow us to understand Niagararsquos net-
population changes and any significant migration
patterns in Niagara For example the region shows the
highest amount of in- and out-migrants in the 25ndashtondash44
cohort Even though this group accounted for 347 of
in-migrants and 394 of out-migrants it represented
only 114 of net-migrants (ie those people who moved
into Niagara and stayed in region) In comparison the
45-to-64 age cohort has a smaller tally of in- and out-
migration but accounts for almost half of all net-
migration These data suggest that Niagara offers unique
ldquopullrdquo factors for older workers
A comparison of 2009ndash2014 migration to data from
2008ndash2013 represented in table 3 illustrates a generally
consistent migration pattern for the region Individuals
between the ages of 45 and 64 continue to be the largest
group of net-migrants into Niagara The 25ndashtondash44 cohort
reports the most in- and out-migration but their high
turnover accounts for fewer net-migrants Negative
net-migration in the 18ndashtondash24 cohort remains a challenge
for Niagara However the 2009ndash2014 data set shows a
431 decrease in the lost population within this
migration group Overall a 205 increase in net-
migrants to the Niagara region was seen between 2009
and 2014
AGE RANGE IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10688 8197 2663
18ndash24 8264 8983 minus 719
25ndash44 20479 19552 927
45ndash64 12493 8374 4119
65 and over 5635 4305 1330
Total 57731 49411 8320
Source Taxfiler
AGE GROUP IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10909 8086 2823
18ndash24 8382 8791 minus 409
25ndash44 20556 19407 1149
45ndash64 13290 8471 4819
65 and over 6139 4498 1641
Total 59276 49253 10023
Source Taxfiler Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
TABLE 4 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2009ndash2014
TABLE 3 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2008ndash2013
17 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The following data show the number of
employers operating within the Niagara
region Please note that tables 5 and 6
cover only establishments with
employees Establishments operating
without employees (eg people who are
self-employed or businesses operating
with only family members as staff) are
covered on page 28 Note also that
changes to the way Statistics Canada
reports these data prevent comparisons
from prior to December 2014
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
THE MAJORITY OF BUSINESSES IN NIAGARA ARE MICRO-BUSINESSES
18 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2014
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2015
2014ndash2015ABSOLUTE CHANGE
2014ndash2015PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
1ndash4 6100 6245 145 24
5ndash9 2530 2509 minus 21 minus 08
10ndash19 1650 1647 minus 3 minus 02
20ndash49 1134 1167 33 29
50ndash99 370 368 minus 2 minus 05
100ndash199 173 175 2 12
200ndash499 73 74 1 14
500+ 24 26 2 83
Total 12054 12211 157 13
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
As seen in table 5 a slight majority of Niagararsquos employer
landscape is made up of micro-businesses A micro-
business is a business employing between one and four
individuals A small business in comparison typically
employs between 5 and 99 individuals this second group
accounts for 472 of Niagararsquos employers and 402 of
all Ontario employers Combining microndash and small
businesses we see that 978 of all businesses in both
Niagara and Ontario employ fewer than 99 individuals
TABLE 5 EMPLOYERS SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014ndash2015
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
3 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Lisa Cairns
Finance and Office Manager
905-641-0801 ext 21
Corinna Carson
Project Manager
Niagara Immigrant
Connections Initiative
Local Immigrant Partnership
905-641-1981
Mario De Divitis
Executive Director
905-641-0801 ext 27
Adam Durrant
Research Manager
905-641-0801 ext 31
Laura Fyfe
Research Associate
905-641-0801 ext 30
Meghan Tamane
Mentorship Coordinator
Niagara Immigrant
Connections Initiative
905-641-1981
Fiona Allan
Lisa Benger
Hugo Chesshire
Daniel Peat
Frank Pupillo
Mahendra Thaleshvar
Lori Watson
DIRECTORS AND STAFF
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OUR STAFF
4 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The 2016 update to the Niagara Labour Market Plan is
built on an evidence-based analysis of labour market
strengths and challenges within the Niagara region It is
our hope that this report will be of value to community
organizations local government job seekers employers
and other Niagara stakeholders Working together we
believe that sound planning will lead to the future
successes that will continue to make Niagara an excellent
place to live and do business
This executive summary offers a brief summary of the
observations contained within this report Additional
details and context can be found later in the document
Readers should note that this update is generally focused
on Niagara at a regional level The most up-to-date data
on Niagararsquos 12 multiplicities can be found in our
municipal fact sheets
Niagararsquos 2015 labour market was generally consistent
with that of 2014 2015 noted some slight increases in the
size of the labour force and a considerable reduction in
the unemployment rate This falling unemployment rate
is paired with increases in Niagararsquos employment and
participation rates For the first time since 2012 the 2015
local labour market housed more than 200000 jobs
Micro-businesses (those establishments employing
between one and four individuals) continue to dominate
Niagararsquos employer landscape now representing more
than half of all employers Traditionally defined small-to-
medium enterprises which employ between 1 and 100
individuals account for 977 of all employers in Niagara
While Niagararsquos employers saw increases in both full-time
and part-time employment the ratio of full-time to
part-time employment remains below pre-recession
levels
Niagararsquos three largest employment sectors (wholesale
and retail trade accommodation and food services and
health care and social assistance) all saw year-over-year
employment gains in 2015 The largest of these gains was
in wholesale and retail trade which grew by 119
Likewise construction added 2700 jobs in 2015
representing a 176 year-over-year increase
This yearrsquos employer questionnaire is informed by the
results of our Employer One survey Its purpose is to begin
an exploration of the ldquohiddenrdquo job market We asked
employers to comment on whether they had ever hired
using informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting and
then to evaluate their experiences using these methods
Of the 85 employers who completed the questionnaire
67 reported using word-of-mouth or informal recruiting
and the vast majority of them found it to be a positive
experience
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
5 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Understanding a local labour market
requires a minimum of three
measurements employment rate
participation rate and unemployment
rate
The employment rate measures the
percentage of the working-age population
(ie individuals aged 15 and older) that is
employed The participation rate
measures the percentage of the working-
age population that is either employed or
unemployed The total of all people who
are either employed or unemployed is
commonly called the labour force Thus
the unemployment rate measures the
percentage of the labour force that is
currently looking for work Figure 1
provides a historical overview of the size
of the labour force and unemployment
rate in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area or CMA
Figure 1 shows that between 2014 and
2015 the size of the labour force in
Niagara increased by 369 This increase
represents a new post-recession high for
the size of Niagararsquos labour force This
trend is good news for Niagara when seen
in the context of falling unemployment
(77 in 2014 compared to 70 in 2015)
an increasing participation rate (as seen in
figure 2 618 in 2014 compared to
639 in 2015) and an increasing
employment rate (571 in 2014
compared to 595 in 2015)
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
NIAGARArsquoS UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
IS NOW WELL BELOW THE
104 PEAK SEEN DURING
THE RECESSION AND IS
TRENDING TOWARD
PRE-RECESSIONARY LEVELS
6 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 1 ANNUAL LABOUR FORCE SIZE AND UNEMPLOYMENT RATE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
FIGURE 2 ANNUAL PARTICIPATION AND EMPLOYMENT RATES ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Labour force Unemployment rate
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 20152001 2002 2003
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
Un
emp
loym
ent
Rat
e
225000
215000
205000
195000
185000
175000
165000
155000
2005 LABOUR FORCE SIZE
209800
2010 LABOUR FORCE SIZE
210600
2014 LABOUR
FORCE SIZE 211600
2015 LABOUR
FORCE SIZE 219400
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129
64
62
60
58
56
2015 Participation rate
639
2005 Participation rate
635
2010 Participation rate
625
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Participation rate Employment rate
2015 Employment rate
595
2010 Employment rate
568
2005 Employment rate
590
7 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
FIGURE 3 ANNUAL FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129 NWPB calculations
Figure 3 provides a brief overview of full-time and
part-time employment in Niagara 2015 saw a 50
increase in full-time employment and a 26 increase in
part-time employment No other year in the last 15 has
seen a higher figure for full-time employment
However it is equally important to note the relationship
between full-time and part-time employment In the years
before the Great Recession Niagararsquos economy housed a
greater proportion of full-time jobs compared to part-time
jobs
For example in 2006 there were 382 full-time jobs for
every 1 part-time job This ratio fell during the recession
years and began trending back to pre-recession figures
in 2015 In 2015 this ratio stood at 329 full-time jobs for
each part-time job
180000
160000
140000
120000
100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
40
39
38
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
Nu
mb
er o
f Jo
bs
Full-time employment Part-time employment FT-to-PT ratio
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Nu
mb
er o
f Fu
ll-Ti
me
Job
s fo
r Ev
ery
On
e P
art-
Tim
e Jo
b
8 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Niagararsquos Employment Ontario
employment service providers facilitate
invaluable support for the unemployed
underemployed and individuals seeking
to change career paths Each year NWPB
receives aggregated client data for these
providers In 2015 they assisted a
combined 7054 individuals With Statistics
Canada reporting 15300 unemployed
individuals in Niagara in 2015 we consider
Employment Ontariorsquos local client data to
be an outstanding source of intelligence
on the available workforce in Niagara
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
MORE THAN
41 OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICE
CLIENTS HAVE EITHER A
COLLEGE- OR UNIVERSITY-
LEVEL EDUCATION
9 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
TABLE 1 EMPLOYMENT SERVICE CLIENT OCCUPATIONS AT TIME OF LAYOFF 2015ndash2016
CLIENT OCCUPATION AT TIME OF LAYOFF NUMBER
OF CLIENTS
Service support and other service occupations not elsewhere classified 566
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations 362
Industrial electrical and construction trades 344
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations 339
Trades helpers construction labourers and related occupations 306
Labourers in processing manufacturing and utilities 258
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade 220
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations 219
Sales support occupations 207
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations 201
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
Table 1 provides a breakdown of the top 10 occupations of
employment service clients at their time of layoff
between April 2015 and March 2016 These individuals
represent a wide range of skills and occupations While a
number of these clients come from sales and service
occupations a significant portion offer backgrounds in
heavy machine operation the skilled trades and finance
The versatility of this talent pool is further illustrated in
the level of education among employment service clients
Figure 4 shows that more than 41 of employment
service clients have either a college- or university-level
education Compared to Niagararsquos workforce
employment service clients offer a clear advantage in
terms of high school and college completion
10 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
AGE RANGENUMBER OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTSPERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTS
15ndash24 1741 2468
25ndash44 2841 4028
45ndash64 2347 3327
65 and older 125 177
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
FIGURE 4 LEVELS OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA LABOUR FORCE AND NIAGARA EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015ndash2016
Table 2 shows the age breakdown of employment service
clients In 2015 403 of clients were between the ages
of 25 and 44 and 332 were between the ages of 45
and 64 Only 24 less than one in four were under the
age of 24 These data further illustrate how employment
service clients represent an experienced educated and
diverse segment of the available labour force Since 55
of employment service clients were out of work for less
than three months and therefore are likely not
predisposed to any loss of professional or interpersonal
skills NWPB encourages employers looking to hire to
foster a strong relationship with an Employment Ontario
employment service provider
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
TABLE 2 AGE OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
St CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Niagara ES Clients
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College completion
Universitycompletion
115
318
124
92
266
301
176
111
22
396
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
11 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
12 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Educational attainment measures an
individualrsquos highest level of formal
education These data were collected
through Statistics Canadarsquos National
Household Survey (NHS) and previously
through the long-form census Because of
the changes in data gathering and
reporting between the NHS and the
long-form census it is not possible to
make valid historical comparisons of
educational attainment in Niagara
Nevertheless this section represents the
most up-to-date data currently available
to the NWPB on education patterns in
Niagara The return of the long-form
census in 2016 will likely allow for some
degree of comparison between past and
present educational data in future labour
market reports NWPB will provide
updates on this as more data becomes
available from Statistics Canada
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
COMPARED TO ONTARIO THE NIAGARA WORKFORCE
HAS MORE COLLEGE-TRAINED
WORKERS PER CAPITA
AND MORE WORKERS WITH
APPRENTICESHIPS OR
TRADES CERTIFICATIONS
13 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
Figure 5 compares the general levels of educational
attainment for the St CatharinesndashNiagara CMArsquos labour
force As of 2011 566 of Niagararsquos labour force had
completed some level of post-secondary training (eg a
trades certificate college diploma or university degree)
Nearly 318 of the labour force had a high school
diploma as their highest level of formal education Only
115 of the labour force was absent any completed
formal training
Figure 6 breaks down the levels of educational
attainment among individuals holding a post-secondary
qualification as of 2011 the latest year for which data are
available Compared to Ontario as a whole Niagararsquos
workforce has a greater concentration of college-
educated individuals (469 in Niagara versus 367 in
Ontario) Niagara also possesses an advantage in
individuals with an apprenticeship or trades certificate
(163 locally compared to 117 at the provincial level) A
total of 311 of Niagararsquos workforce hold a university
degree compared to 446 across the province
14 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONP
ost
-Sec
on
dar
y Tr
ain
ed L
abo
ur
Forc
e P
erce
nta
ge
163
469
117
367
311
446
57 70
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College diploma University certificate or diploma below bachelor level
University certificate or diploma at bachelor level
or above
633
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
115
318
104
264
566
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
FIGURE 5 LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINES ndash NIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Post secondary certificate diploma
or degree
FIGURE 6 POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
Niagara Ontario
Niagara Ontario
50
40
30
20
10
0
15 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 7 NIAGARA REGION ANNUAL POPULATION ESTIMATES 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
Changes to a regionrsquos population will
almost certainly have a direct impact on
the characteristics of a regionrsquos workforce
It is for that reason that we include
population and migration data for the
Niagara region in this report Figure 7
shows the estimated population of the
Niagara region from 2001 to 2015
Statistics Canadarsquos most recent population
estimates suggests approximately 449098
individuals lived in Niagara in 2015
This growth follows a brief period of
population decline in 2007ndash2008
Additional information on population
patterns for Niagararsquos 12 municipalities is
available for review in NWPBrsquos municipal
fact sheet series
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
NIAGARArsquoS POPULATION
HAS SHOWN STEADY
GROWTH SINCE
2009
INCREASING BY 1 BETWEEN 2009 AND 2015
455000
450000
445000
440000
435000
430000
425000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Po
pu
lati
on
Year
2004 Population
estimate437610
2009 Population
estimate440802
2015 Population
estimate449098
2014 Population
estimate447380
16 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
Table 4 shows the number of individuals who moved into
and out of the Niagara region between 2009 and 2014
These data allow us to understand Niagararsquos net-
population changes and any significant migration
patterns in Niagara For example the region shows the
highest amount of in- and out-migrants in the 25ndashtondash44
cohort Even though this group accounted for 347 of
in-migrants and 394 of out-migrants it represented
only 114 of net-migrants (ie those people who moved
into Niagara and stayed in region) In comparison the
45-to-64 age cohort has a smaller tally of in- and out-
migration but accounts for almost half of all net-
migration These data suggest that Niagara offers unique
ldquopullrdquo factors for older workers
A comparison of 2009ndash2014 migration to data from
2008ndash2013 represented in table 3 illustrates a generally
consistent migration pattern for the region Individuals
between the ages of 45 and 64 continue to be the largest
group of net-migrants into Niagara The 25ndashtondash44 cohort
reports the most in- and out-migration but their high
turnover accounts for fewer net-migrants Negative
net-migration in the 18ndashtondash24 cohort remains a challenge
for Niagara However the 2009ndash2014 data set shows a
431 decrease in the lost population within this
migration group Overall a 205 increase in net-
migrants to the Niagara region was seen between 2009
and 2014
AGE RANGE IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10688 8197 2663
18ndash24 8264 8983 minus 719
25ndash44 20479 19552 927
45ndash64 12493 8374 4119
65 and over 5635 4305 1330
Total 57731 49411 8320
Source Taxfiler
AGE GROUP IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10909 8086 2823
18ndash24 8382 8791 minus 409
25ndash44 20556 19407 1149
45ndash64 13290 8471 4819
65 and over 6139 4498 1641
Total 59276 49253 10023
Source Taxfiler Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
TABLE 4 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2009ndash2014
TABLE 3 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2008ndash2013
17 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The following data show the number of
employers operating within the Niagara
region Please note that tables 5 and 6
cover only establishments with
employees Establishments operating
without employees (eg people who are
self-employed or businesses operating
with only family members as staff) are
covered on page 28 Note also that
changes to the way Statistics Canada
reports these data prevent comparisons
from prior to December 2014
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
THE MAJORITY OF BUSINESSES IN NIAGARA ARE MICRO-BUSINESSES
18 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2014
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2015
2014ndash2015ABSOLUTE CHANGE
2014ndash2015PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
1ndash4 6100 6245 145 24
5ndash9 2530 2509 minus 21 minus 08
10ndash19 1650 1647 minus 3 minus 02
20ndash49 1134 1167 33 29
50ndash99 370 368 minus 2 minus 05
100ndash199 173 175 2 12
200ndash499 73 74 1 14
500+ 24 26 2 83
Total 12054 12211 157 13
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
As seen in table 5 a slight majority of Niagararsquos employer
landscape is made up of micro-businesses A micro-
business is a business employing between one and four
individuals A small business in comparison typically
employs between 5 and 99 individuals this second group
accounts for 472 of Niagararsquos employers and 402 of
all Ontario employers Combining microndash and small
businesses we see that 978 of all businesses in both
Niagara and Ontario employ fewer than 99 individuals
TABLE 5 EMPLOYERS SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014ndash2015
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
4 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The 2016 update to the Niagara Labour Market Plan is
built on an evidence-based analysis of labour market
strengths and challenges within the Niagara region It is
our hope that this report will be of value to community
organizations local government job seekers employers
and other Niagara stakeholders Working together we
believe that sound planning will lead to the future
successes that will continue to make Niagara an excellent
place to live and do business
This executive summary offers a brief summary of the
observations contained within this report Additional
details and context can be found later in the document
Readers should note that this update is generally focused
on Niagara at a regional level The most up-to-date data
on Niagararsquos 12 multiplicities can be found in our
municipal fact sheets
Niagararsquos 2015 labour market was generally consistent
with that of 2014 2015 noted some slight increases in the
size of the labour force and a considerable reduction in
the unemployment rate This falling unemployment rate
is paired with increases in Niagararsquos employment and
participation rates For the first time since 2012 the 2015
local labour market housed more than 200000 jobs
Micro-businesses (those establishments employing
between one and four individuals) continue to dominate
Niagararsquos employer landscape now representing more
than half of all employers Traditionally defined small-to-
medium enterprises which employ between 1 and 100
individuals account for 977 of all employers in Niagara
While Niagararsquos employers saw increases in both full-time
and part-time employment the ratio of full-time to
part-time employment remains below pre-recession
levels
Niagararsquos three largest employment sectors (wholesale
and retail trade accommodation and food services and
health care and social assistance) all saw year-over-year
employment gains in 2015 The largest of these gains was
in wholesale and retail trade which grew by 119
Likewise construction added 2700 jobs in 2015
representing a 176 year-over-year increase
This yearrsquos employer questionnaire is informed by the
results of our Employer One survey Its purpose is to begin
an exploration of the ldquohiddenrdquo job market We asked
employers to comment on whether they had ever hired
using informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting and
then to evaluate their experiences using these methods
Of the 85 employers who completed the questionnaire
67 reported using word-of-mouth or informal recruiting
and the vast majority of them found it to be a positive
experience
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
5 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Understanding a local labour market
requires a minimum of three
measurements employment rate
participation rate and unemployment
rate
The employment rate measures the
percentage of the working-age population
(ie individuals aged 15 and older) that is
employed The participation rate
measures the percentage of the working-
age population that is either employed or
unemployed The total of all people who
are either employed or unemployed is
commonly called the labour force Thus
the unemployment rate measures the
percentage of the labour force that is
currently looking for work Figure 1
provides a historical overview of the size
of the labour force and unemployment
rate in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area or CMA
Figure 1 shows that between 2014 and
2015 the size of the labour force in
Niagara increased by 369 This increase
represents a new post-recession high for
the size of Niagararsquos labour force This
trend is good news for Niagara when seen
in the context of falling unemployment
(77 in 2014 compared to 70 in 2015)
an increasing participation rate (as seen in
figure 2 618 in 2014 compared to
639 in 2015) and an increasing
employment rate (571 in 2014
compared to 595 in 2015)
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
NIAGARArsquoS UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
IS NOW WELL BELOW THE
104 PEAK SEEN DURING
THE RECESSION AND IS
TRENDING TOWARD
PRE-RECESSIONARY LEVELS
6 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 1 ANNUAL LABOUR FORCE SIZE AND UNEMPLOYMENT RATE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
FIGURE 2 ANNUAL PARTICIPATION AND EMPLOYMENT RATES ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Labour force Unemployment rate
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 20152001 2002 2003
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
Un
emp
loym
ent
Rat
e
225000
215000
205000
195000
185000
175000
165000
155000
2005 LABOUR FORCE SIZE
209800
2010 LABOUR FORCE SIZE
210600
2014 LABOUR
FORCE SIZE 211600
2015 LABOUR
FORCE SIZE 219400
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129
64
62
60
58
56
2015 Participation rate
639
2005 Participation rate
635
2010 Participation rate
625
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Participation rate Employment rate
2015 Employment rate
595
2010 Employment rate
568
2005 Employment rate
590
7 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
FIGURE 3 ANNUAL FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129 NWPB calculations
Figure 3 provides a brief overview of full-time and
part-time employment in Niagara 2015 saw a 50
increase in full-time employment and a 26 increase in
part-time employment No other year in the last 15 has
seen a higher figure for full-time employment
However it is equally important to note the relationship
between full-time and part-time employment In the years
before the Great Recession Niagararsquos economy housed a
greater proportion of full-time jobs compared to part-time
jobs
For example in 2006 there were 382 full-time jobs for
every 1 part-time job This ratio fell during the recession
years and began trending back to pre-recession figures
in 2015 In 2015 this ratio stood at 329 full-time jobs for
each part-time job
180000
160000
140000
120000
100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
40
39
38
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
Nu
mb
er o
f Jo
bs
Full-time employment Part-time employment FT-to-PT ratio
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Nu
mb
er o
f Fu
ll-Ti
me
Job
s fo
r Ev
ery
On
e P
art-
Tim
e Jo
b
8 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Niagararsquos Employment Ontario
employment service providers facilitate
invaluable support for the unemployed
underemployed and individuals seeking
to change career paths Each year NWPB
receives aggregated client data for these
providers In 2015 they assisted a
combined 7054 individuals With Statistics
Canada reporting 15300 unemployed
individuals in Niagara in 2015 we consider
Employment Ontariorsquos local client data to
be an outstanding source of intelligence
on the available workforce in Niagara
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
MORE THAN
41 OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICE
CLIENTS HAVE EITHER A
COLLEGE- OR UNIVERSITY-
LEVEL EDUCATION
9 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
TABLE 1 EMPLOYMENT SERVICE CLIENT OCCUPATIONS AT TIME OF LAYOFF 2015ndash2016
CLIENT OCCUPATION AT TIME OF LAYOFF NUMBER
OF CLIENTS
Service support and other service occupations not elsewhere classified 566
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations 362
Industrial electrical and construction trades 344
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations 339
Trades helpers construction labourers and related occupations 306
Labourers in processing manufacturing and utilities 258
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade 220
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations 219
Sales support occupations 207
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations 201
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
Table 1 provides a breakdown of the top 10 occupations of
employment service clients at their time of layoff
between April 2015 and March 2016 These individuals
represent a wide range of skills and occupations While a
number of these clients come from sales and service
occupations a significant portion offer backgrounds in
heavy machine operation the skilled trades and finance
The versatility of this talent pool is further illustrated in
the level of education among employment service clients
Figure 4 shows that more than 41 of employment
service clients have either a college- or university-level
education Compared to Niagararsquos workforce
employment service clients offer a clear advantage in
terms of high school and college completion
10 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
AGE RANGENUMBER OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTSPERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTS
15ndash24 1741 2468
25ndash44 2841 4028
45ndash64 2347 3327
65 and older 125 177
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
FIGURE 4 LEVELS OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA LABOUR FORCE AND NIAGARA EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015ndash2016
Table 2 shows the age breakdown of employment service
clients In 2015 403 of clients were between the ages
of 25 and 44 and 332 were between the ages of 45
and 64 Only 24 less than one in four were under the
age of 24 These data further illustrate how employment
service clients represent an experienced educated and
diverse segment of the available labour force Since 55
of employment service clients were out of work for less
than three months and therefore are likely not
predisposed to any loss of professional or interpersonal
skills NWPB encourages employers looking to hire to
foster a strong relationship with an Employment Ontario
employment service provider
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
TABLE 2 AGE OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
St CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Niagara ES Clients
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College completion
Universitycompletion
115
318
124
92
266
301
176
111
22
396
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
11 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
12 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Educational attainment measures an
individualrsquos highest level of formal
education These data were collected
through Statistics Canadarsquos National
Household Survey (NHS) and previously
through the long-form census Because of
the changes in data gathering and
reporting between the NHS and the
long-form census it is not possible to
make valid historical comparisons of
educational attainment in Niagara
Nevertheless this section represents the
most up-to-date data currently available
to the NWPB on education patterns in
Niagara The return of the long-form
census in 2016 will likely allow for some
degree of comparison between past and
present educational data in future labour
market reports NWPB will provide
updates on this as more data becomes
available from Statistics Canada
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
COMPARED TO ONTARIO THE NIAGARA WORKFORCE
HAS MORE COLLEGE-TRAINED
WORKERS PER CAPITA
AND MORE WORKERS WITH
APPRENTICESHIPS OR
TRADES CERTIFICATIONS
13 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
Figure 5 compares the general levels of educational
attainment for the St CatharinesndashNiagara CMArsquos labour
force As of 2011 566 of Niagararsquos labour force had
completed some level of post-secondary training (eg a
trades certificate college diploma or university degree)
Nearly 318 of the labour force had a high school
diploma as their highest level of formal education Only
115 of the labour force was absent any completed
formal training
Figure 6 breaks down the levels of educational
attainment among individuals holding a post-secondary
qualification as of 2011 the latest year for which data are
available Compared to Ontario as a whole Niagararsquos
workforce has a greater concentration of college-
educated individuals (469 in Niagara versus 367 in
Ontario) Niagara also possesses an advantage in
individuals with an apprenticeship or trades certificate
(163 locally compared to 117 at the provincial level) A
total of 311 of Niagararsquos workforce hold a university
degree compared to 446 across the province
14 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONP
ost
-Sec
on
dar
y Tr
ain
ed L
abo
ur
Forc
e P
erce
nta
ge
163
469
117
367
311
446
57 70
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College diploma University certificate or diploma below bachelor level
University certificate or diploma at bachelor level
or above
633
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
115
318
104
264
566
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
FIGURE 5 LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINES ndash NIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Post secondary certificate diploma
or degree
FIGURE 6 POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
Niagara Ontario
Niagara Ontario
50
40
30
20
10
0
15 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 7 NIAGARA REGION ANNUAL POPULATION ESTIMATES 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
Changes to a regionrsquos population will
almost certainly have a direct impact on
the characteristics of a regionrsquos workforce
It is for that reason that we include
population and migration data for the
Niagara region in this report Figure 7
shows the estimated population of the
Niagara region from 2001 to 2015
Statistics Canadarsquos most recent population
estimates suggests approximately 449098
individuals lived in Niagara in 2015
This growth follows a brief period of
population decline in 2007ndash2008
Additional information on population
patterns for Niagararsquos 12 municipalities is
available for review in NWPBrsquos municipal
fact sheet series
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
NIAGARArsquoS POPULATION
HAS SHOWN STEADY
GROWTH SINCE
2009
INCREASING BY 1 BETWEEN 2009 AND 2015
455000
450000
445000
440000
435000
430000
425000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Po
pu
lati
on
Year
2004 Population
estimate437610
2009 Population
estimate440802
2015 Population
estimate449098
2014 Population
estimate447380
16 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
Table 4 shows the number of individuals who moved into
and out of the Niagara region between 2009 and 2014
These data allow us to understand Niagararsquos net-
population changes and any significant migration
patterns in Niagara For example the region shows the
highest amount of in- and out-migrants in the 25ndashtondash44
cohort Even though this group accounted for 347 of
in-migrants and 394 of out-migrants it represented
only 114 of net-migrants (ie those people who moved
into Niagara and stayed in region) In comparison the
45-to-64 age cohort has a smaller tally of in- and out-
migration but accounts for almost half of all net-
migration These data suggest that Niagara offers unique
ldquopullrdquo factors for older workers
A comparison of 2009ndash2014 migration to data from
2008ndash2013 represented in table 3 illustrates a generally
consistent migration pattern for the region Individuals
between the ages of 45 and 64 continue to be the largest
group of net-migrants into Niagara The 25ndashtondash44 cohort
reports the most in- and out-migration but their high
turnover accounts for fewer net-migrants Negative
net-migration in the 18ndashtondash24 cohort remains a challenge
for Niagara However the 2009ndash2014 data set shows a
431 decrease in the lost population within this
migration group Overall a 205 increase in net-
migrants to the Niagara region was seen between 2009
and 2014
AGE RANGE IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10688 8197 2663
18ndash24 8264 8983 minus 719
25ndash44 20479 19552 927
45ndash64 12493 8374 4119
65 and over 5635 4305 1330
Total 57731 49411 8320
Source Taxfiler
AGE GROUP IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10909 8086 2823
18ndash24 8382 8791 minus 409
25ndash44 20556 19407 1149
45ndash64 13290 8471 4819
65 and over 6139 4498 1641
Total 59276 49253 10023
Source Taxfiler Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
TABLE 4 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2009ndash2014
TABLE 3 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2008ndash2013
17 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The following data show the number of
employers operating within the Niagara
region Please note that tables 5 and 6
cover only establishments with
employees Establishments operating
without employees (eg people who are
self-employed or businesses operating
with only family members as staff) are
covered on page 28 Note also that
changes to the way Statistics Canada
reports these data prevent comparisons
from prior to December 2014
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
THE MAJORITY OF BUSINESSES IN NIAGARA ARE MICRO-BUSINESSES
18 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2014
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2015
2014ndash2015ABSOLUTE CHANGE
2014ndash2015PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
1ndash4 6100 6245 145 24
5ndash9 2530 2509 minus 21 minus 08
10ndash19 1650 1647 minus 3 minus 02
20ndash49 1134 1167 33 29
50ndash99 370 368 minus 2 minus 05
100ndash199 173 175 2 12
200ndash499 73 74 1 14
500+ 24 26 2 83
Total 12054 12211 157 13
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
As seen in table 5 a slight majority of Niagararsquos employer
landscape is made up of micro-businesses A micro-
business is a business employing between one and four
individuals A small business in comparison typically
employs between 5 and 99 individuals this second group
accounts for 472 of Niagararsquos employers and 402 of
all Ontario employers Combining microndash and small
businesses we see that 978 of all businesses in both
Niagara and Ontario employ fewer than 99 individuals
TABLE 5 EMPLOYERS SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014ndash2015
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
5 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Understanding a local labour market
requires a minimum of three
measurements employment rate
participation rate and unemployment
rate
The employment rate measures the
percentage of the working-age population
(ie individuals aged 15 and older) that is
employed The participation rate
measures the percentage of the working-
age population that is either employed or
unemployed The total of all people who
are either employed or unemployed is
commonly called the labour force Thus
the unemployment rate measures the
percentage of the labour force that is
currently looking for work Figure 1
provides a historical overview of the size
of the labour force and unemployment
rate in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area or CMA
Figure 1 shows that between 2014 and
2015 the size of the labour force in
Niagara increased by 369 This increase
represents a new post-recession high for
the size of Niagararsquos labour force This
trend is good news for Niagara when seen
in the context of falling unemployment
(77 in 2014 compared to 70 in 2015)
an increasing participation rate (as seen in
figure 2 618 in 2014 compared to
639 in 2015) and an increasing
employment rate (571 in 2014
compared to 595 in 2015)
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
NIAGARArsquoS UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
IS NOW WELL BELOW THE
104 PEAK SEEN DURING
THE RECESSION AND IS
TRENDING TOWARD
PRE-RECESSIONARY LEVELS
6 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 1 ANNUAL LABOUR FORCE SIZE AND UNEMPLOYMENT RATE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
FIGURE 2 ANNUAL PARTICIPATION AND EMPLOYMENT RATES ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Labour force Unemployment rate
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 20152001 2002 2003
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
Un
emp
loym
ent
Rat
e
225000
215000
205000
195000
185000
175000
165000
155000
2005 LABOUR FORCE SIZE
209800
2010 LABOUR FORCE SIZE
210600
2014 LABOUR
FORCE SIZE 211600
2015 LABOUR
FORCE SIZE 219400
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129
64
62
60
58
56
2015 Participation rate
639
2005 Participation rate
635
2010 Participation rate
625
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Participation rate Employment rate
2015 Employment rate
595
2010 Employment rate
568
2005 Employment rate
590
7 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
FIGURE 3 ANNUAL FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129 NWPB calculations
Figure 3 provides a brief overview of full-time and
part-time employment in Niagara 2015 saw a 50
increase in full-time employment and a 26 increase in
part-time employment No other year in the last 15 has
seen a higher figure for full-time employment
However it is equally important to note the relationship
between full-time and part-time employment In the years
before the Great Recession Niagararsquos economy housed a
greater proportion of full-time jobs compared to part-time
jobs
For example in 2006 there were 382 full-time jobs for
every 1 part-time job This ratio fell during the recession
years and began trending back to pre-recession figures
in 2015 In 2015 this ratio stood at 329 full-time jobs for
each part-time job
180000
160000
140000
120000
100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
40
39
38
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
Nu
mb
er o
f Jo
bs
Full-time employment Part-time employment FT-to-PT ratio
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Nu
mb
er o
f Fu
ll-Ti
me
Job
s fo
r Ev
ery
On
e P
art-
Tim
e Jo
b
8 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Niagararsquos Employment Ontario
employment service providers facilitate
invaluable support for the unemployed
underemployed and individuals seeking
to change career paths Each year NWPB
receives aggregated client data for these
providers In 2015 they assisted a
combined 7054 individuals With Statistics
Canada reporting 15300 unemployed
individuals in Niagara in 2015 we consider
Employment Ontariorsquos local client data to
be an outstanding source of intelligence
on the available workforce in Niagara
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
MORE THAN
41 OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICE
CLIENTS HAVE EITHER A
COLLEGE- OR UNIVERSITY-
LEVEL EDUCATION
9 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
TABLE 1 EMPLOYMENT SERVICE CLIENT OCCUPATIONS AT TIME OF LAYOFF 2015ndash2016
CLIENT OCCUPATION AT TIME OF LAYOFF NUMBER
OF CLIENTS
Service support and other service occupations not elsewhere classified 566
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations 362
Industrial electrical and construction trades 344
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations 339
Trades helpers construction labourers and related occupations 306
Labourers in processing manufacturing and utilities 258
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade 220
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations 219
Sales support occupations 207
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations 201
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
Table 1 provides a breakdown of the top 10 occupations of
employment service clients at their time of layoff
between April 2015 and March 2016 These individuals
represent a wide range of skills and occupations While a
number of these clients come from sales and service
occupations a significant portion offer backgrounds in
heavy machine operation the skilled trades and finance
The versatility of this talent pool is further illustrated in
the level of education among employment service clients
Figure 4 shows that more than 41 of employment
service clients have either a college- or university-level
education Compared to Niagararsquos workforce
employment service clients offer a clear advantage in
terms of high school and college completion
10 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
AGE RANGENUMBER OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTSPERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTS
15ndash24 1741 2468
25ndash44 2841 4028
45ndash64 2347 3327
65 and older 125 177
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
FIGURE 4 LEVELS OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA LABOUR FORCE AND NIAGARA EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015ndash2016
Table 2 shows the age breakdown of employment service
clients In 2015 403 of clients were between the ages
of 25 and 44 and 332 were between the ages of 45
and 64 Only 24 less than one in four were under the
age of 24 These data further illustrate how employment
service clients represent an experienced educated and
diverse segment of the available labour force Since 55
of employment service clients were out of work for less
than three months and therefore are likely not
predisposed to any loss of professional or interpersonal
skills NWPB encourages employers looking to hire to
foster a strong relationship with an Employment Ontario
employment service provider
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
TABLE 2 AGE OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
St CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Niagara ES Clients
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College completion
Universitycompletion
115
318
124
92
266
301
176
111
22
396
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
11 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
12 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Educational attainment measures an
individualrsquos highest level of formal
education These data were collected
through Statistics Canadarsquos National
Household Survey (NHS) and previously
through the long-form census Because of
the changes in data gathering and
reporting between the NHS and the
long-form census it is not possible to
make valid historical comparisons of
educational attainment in Niagara
Nevertheless this section represents the
most up-to-date data currently available
to the NWPB on education patterns in
Niagara The return of the long-form
census in 2016 will likely allow for some
degree of comparison between past and
present educational data in future labour
market reports NWPB will provide
updates on this as more data becomes
available from Statistics Canada
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
COMPARED TO ONTARIO THE NIAGARA WORKFORCE
HAS MORE COLLEGE-TRAINED
WORKERS PER CAPITA
AND MORE WORKERS WITH
APPRENTICESHIPS OR
TRADES CERTIFICATIONS
13 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
Figure 5 compares the general levels of educational
attainment for the St CatharinesndashNiagara CMArsquos labour
force As of 2011 566 of Niagararsquos labour force had
completed some level of post-secondary training (eg a
trades certificate college diploma or university degree)
Nearly 318 of the labour force had a high school
diploma as their highest level of formal education Only
115 of the labour force was absent any completed
formal training
Figure 6 breaks down the levels of educational
attainment among individuals holding a post-secondary
qualification as of 2011 the latest year for which data are
available Compared to Ontario as a whole Niagararsquos
workforce has a greater concentration of college-
educated individuals (469 in Niagara versus 367 in
Ontario) Niagara also possesses an advantage in
individuals with an apprenticeship or trades certificate
(163 locally compared to 117 at the provincial level) A
total of 311 of Niagararsquos workforce hold a university
degree compared to 446 across the province
14 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONP
ost
-Sec
on
dar
y Tr
ain
ed L
abo
ur
Forc
e P
erce
nta
ge
163
469
117
367
311
446
57 70
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College diploma University certificate or diploma below bachelor level
University certificate or diploma at bachelor level
or above
633
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
115
318
104
264
566
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
FIGURE 5 LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINES ndash NIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Post secondary certificate diploma
or degree
FIGURE 6 POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
Niagara Ontario
Niagara Ontario
50
40
30
20
10
0
15 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 7 NIAGARA REGION ANNUAL POPULATION ESTIMATES 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
Changes to a regionrsquos population will
almost certainly have a direct impact on
the characteristics of a regionrsquos workforce
It is for that reason that we include
population and migration data for the
Niagara region in this report Figure 7
shows the estimated population of the
Niagara region from 2001 to 2015
Statistics Canadarsquos most recent population
estimates suggests approximately 449098
individuals lived in Niagara in 2015
This growth follows a brief period of
population decline in 2007ndash2008
Additional information on population
patterns for Niagararsquos 12 municipalities is
available for review in NWPBrsquos municipal
fact sheet series
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
NIAGARArsquoS POPULATION
HAS SHOWN STEADY
GROWTH SINCE
2009
INCREASING BY 1 BETWEEN 2009 AND 2015
455000
450000
445000
440000
435000
430000
425000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Po
pu
lati
on
Year
2004 Population
estimate437610
2009 Population
estimate440802
2015 Population
estimate449098
2014 Population
estimate447380
16 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
Table 4 shows the number of individuals who moved into
and out of the Niagara region between 2009 and 2014
These data allow us to understand Niagararsquos net-
population changes and any significant migration
patterns in Niagara For example the region shows the
highest amount of in- and out-migrants in the 25ndashtondash44
cohort Even though this group accounted for 347 of
in-migrants and 394 of out-migrants it represented
only 114 of net-migrants (ie those people who moved
into Niagara and stayed in region) In comparison the
45-to-64 age cohort has a smaller tally of in- and out-
migration but accounts for almost half of all net-
migration These data suggest that Niagara offers unique
ldquopullrdquo factors for older workers
A comparison of 2009ndash2014 migration to data from
2008ndash2013 represented in table 3 illustrates a generally
consistent migration pattern for the region Individuals
between the ages of 45 and 64 continue to be the largest
group of net-migrants into Niagara The 25ndashtondash44 cohort
reports the most in- and out-migration but their high
turnover accounts for fewer net-migrants Negative
net-migration in the 18ndashtondash24 cohort remains a challenge
for Niagara However the 2009ndash2014 data set shows a
431 decrease in the lost population within this
migration group Overall a 205 increase in net-
migrants to the Niagara region was seen between 2009
and 2014
AGE RANGE IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10688 8197 2663
18ndash24 8264 8983 minus 719
25ndash44 20479 19552 927
45ndash64 12493 8374 4119
65 and over 5635 4305 1330
Total 57731 49411 8320
Source Taxfiler
AGE GROUP IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10909 8086 2823
18ndash24 8382 8791 minus 409
25ndash44 20556 19407 1149
45ndash64 13290 8471 4819
65 and over 6139 4498 1641
Total 59276 49253 10023
Source Taxfiler Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
TABLE 4 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2009ndash2014
TABLE 3 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2008ndash2013
17 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The following data show the number of
employers operating within the Niagara
region Please note that tables 5 and 6
cover only establishments with
employees Establishments operating
without employees (eg people who are
self-employed or businesses operating
with only family members as staff) are
covered on page 28 Note also that
changes to the way Statistics Canada
reports these data prevent comparisons
from prior to December 2014
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
THE MAJORITY OF BUSINESSES IN NIAGARA ARE MICRO-BUSINESSES
18 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2014
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2015
2014ndash2015ABSOLUTE CHANGE
2014ndash2015PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
1ndash4 6100 6245 145 24
5ndash9 2530 2509 minus 21 minus 08
10ndash19 1650 1647 minus 3 minus 02
20ndash49 1134 1167 33 29
50ndash99 370 368 minus 2 minus 05
100ndash199 173 175 2 12
200ndash499 73 74 1 14
500+ 24 26 2 83
Total 12054 12211 157 13
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
As seen in table 5 a slight majority of Niagararsquos employer
landscape is made up of micro-businesses A micro-
business is a business employing between one and four
individuals A small business in comparison typically
employs between 5 and 99 individuals this second group
accounts for 472 of Niagararsquos employers and 402 of
all Ontario employers Combining microndash and small
businesses we see that 978 of all businesses in both
Niagara and Ontario employ fewer than 99 individuals
TABLE 5 EMPLOYERS SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014ndash2015
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
6 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 1 ANNUAL LABOUR FORCE SIZE AND UNEMPLOYMENT RATE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
FIGURE 2 ANNUAL PARTICIPATION AND EMPLOYMENT RATES ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Labour force Unemployment rate
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 20152001 2002 2003
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
Un
emp
loym
ent
Rat
e
225000
215000
205000
195000
185000
175000
165000
155000
2005 LABOUR FORCE SIZE
209800
2010 LABOUR FORCE SIZE
210600
2014 LABOUR
FORCE SIZE 211600
2015 LABOUR
FORCE SIZE 219400
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129
64
62
60
58
56
2015 Participation rate
639
2005 Participation rate
635
2010 Participation rate
625
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Participation rate Employment rate
2015 Employment rate
595
2010 Employment rate
568
2005 Employment rate
590
7 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
FIGURE 3 ANNUAL FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129 NWPB calculations
Figure 3 provides a brief overview of full-time and
part-time employment in Niagara 2015 saw a 50
increase in full-time employment and a 26 increase in
part-time employment No other year in the last 15 has
seen a higher figure for full-time employment
However it is equally important to note the relationship
between full-time and part-time employment In the years
before the Great Recession Niagararsquos economy housed a
greater proportion of full-time jobs compared to part-time
jobs
For example in 2006 there were 382 full-time jobs for
every 1 part-time job This ratio fell during the recession
years and began trending back to pre-recession figures
in 2015 In 2015 this ratio stood at 329 full-time jobs for
each part-time job
180000
160000
140000
120000
100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
40
39
38
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
Nu
mb
er o
f Jo
bs
Full-time employment Part-time employment FT-to-PT ratio
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Nu
mb
er o
f Fu
ll-Ti
me
Job
s fo
r Ev
ery
On
e P
art-
Tim
e Jo
b
8 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Niagararsquos Employment Ontario
employment service providers facilitate
invaluable support for the unemployed
underemployed and individuals seeking
to change career paths Each year NWPB
receives aggregated client data for these
providers In 2015 they assisted a
combined 7054 individuals With Statistics
Canada reporting 15300 unemployed
individuals in Niagara in 2015 we consider
Employment Ontariorsquos local client data to
be an outstanding source of intelligence
on the available workforce in Niagara
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
MORE THAN
41 OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICE
CLIENTS HAVE EITHER A
COLLEGE- OR UNIVERSITY-
LEVEL EDUCATION
9 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
TABLE 1 EMPLOYMENT SERVICE CLIENT OCCUPATIONS AT TIME OF LAYOFF 2015ndash2016
CLIENT OCCUPATION AT TIME OF LAYOFF NUMBER
OF CLIENTS
Service support and other service occupations not elsewhere classified 566
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations 362
Industrial electrical and construction trades 344
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations 339
Trades helpers construction labourers and related occupations 306
Labourers in processing manufacturing and utilities 258
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade 220
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations 219
Sales support occupations 207
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations 201
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
Table 1 provides a breakdown of the top 10 occupations of
employment service clients at their time of layoff
between April 2015 and March 2016 These individuals
represent a wide range of skills and occupations While a
number of these clients come from sales and service
occupations a significant portion offer backgrounds in
heavy machine operation the skilled trades and finance
The versatility of this talent pool is further illustrated in
the level of education among employment service clients
Figure 4 shows that more than 41 of employment
service clients have either a college- or university-level
education Compared to Niagararsquos workforce
employment service clients offer a clear advantage in
terms of high school and college completion
10 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
AGE RANGENUMBER OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTSPERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTS
15ndash24 1741 2468
25ndash44 2841 4028
45ndash64 2347 3327
65 and older 125 177
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
FIGURE 4 LEVELS OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA LABOUR FORCE AND NIAGARA EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015ndash2016
Table 2 shows the age breakdown of employment service
clients In 2015 403 of clients were between the ages
of 25 and 44 and 332 were between the ages of 45
and 64 Only 24 less than one in four were under the
age of 24 These data further illustrate how employment
service clients represent an experienced educated and
diverse segment of the available labour force Since 55
of employment service clients were out of work for less
than three months and therefore are likely not
predisposed to any loss of professional or interpersonal
skills NWPB encourages employers looking to hire to
foster a strong relationship with an Employment Ontario
employment service provider
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
TABLE 2 AGE OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
St CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Niagara ES Clients
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College completion
Universitycompletion
115
318
124
92
266
301
176
111
22
396
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
11 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
12 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Educational attainment measures an
individualrsquos highest level of formal
education These data were collected
through Statistics Canadarsquos National
Household Survey (NHS) and previously
through the long-form census Because of
the changes in data gathering and
reporting between the NHS and the
long-form census it is not possible to
make valid historical comparisons of
educational attainment in Niagara
Nevertheless this section represents the
most up-to-date data currently available
to the NWPB on education patterns in
Niagara The return of the long-form
census in 2016 will likely allow for some
degree of comparison between past and
present educational data in future labour
market reports NWPB will provide
updates on this as more data becomes
available from Statistics Canada
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
COMPARED TO ONTARIO THE NIAGARA WORKFORCE
HAS MORE COLLEGE-TRAINED
WORKERS PER CAPITA
AND MORE WORKERS WITH
APPRENTICESHIPS OR
TRADES CERTIFICATIONS
13 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
Figure 5 compares the general levels of educational
attainment for the St CatharinesndashNiagara CMArsquos labour
force As of 2011 566 of Niagararsquos labour force had
completed some level of post-secondary training (eg a
trades certificate college diploma or university degree)
Nearly 318 of the labour force had a high school
diploma as their highest level of formal education Only
115 of the labour force was absent any completed
formal training
Figure 6 breaks down the levels of educational
attainment among individuals holding a post-secondary
qualification as of 2011 the latest year for which data are
available Compared to Ontario as a whole Niagararsquos
workforce has a greater concentration of college-
educated individuals (469 in Niagara versus 367 in
Ontario) Niagara also possesses an advantage in
individuals with an apprenticeship or trades certificate
(163 locally compared to 117 at the provincial level) A
total of 311 of Niagararsquos workforce hold a university
degree compared to 446 across the province
14 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONP
ost
-Sec
on
dar
y Tr
ain
ed L
abo
ur
Forc
e P
erce
nta
ge
163
469
117
367
311
446
57 70
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College diploma University certificate or diploma below bachelor level
University certificate or diploma at bachelor level
or above
633
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
115
318
104
264
566
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
FIGURE 5 LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINES ndash NIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Post secondary certificate diploma
or degree
FIGURE 6 POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
Niagara Ontario
Niagara Ontario
50
40
30
20
10
0
15 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 7 NIAGARA REGION ANNUAL POPULATION ESTIMATES 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
Changes to a regionrsquos population will
almost certainly have a direct impact on
the characteristics of a regionrsquos workforce
It is for that reason that we include
population and migration data for the
Niagara region in this report Figure 7
shows the estimated population of the
Niagara region from 2001 to 2015
Statistics Canadarsquos most recent population
estimates suggests approximately 449098
individuals lived in Niagara in 2015
This growth follows a brief period of
population decline in 2007ndash2008
Additional information on population
patterns for Niagararsquos 12 municipalities is
available for review in NWPBrsquos municipal
fact sheet series
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
NIAGARArsquoS POPULATION
HAS SHOWN STEADY
GROWTH SINCE
2009
INCREASING BY 1 BETWEEN 2009 AND 2015
455000
450000
445000
440000
435000
430000
425000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Po
pu
lati
on
Year
2004 Population
estimate437610
2009 Population
estimate440802
2015 Population
estimate449098
2014 Population
estimate447380
16 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
Table 4 shows the number of individuals who moved into
and out of the Niagara region between 2009 and 2014
These data allow us to understand Niagararsquos net-
population changes and any significant migration
patterns in Niagara For example the region shows the
highest amount of in- and out-migrants in the 25ndashtondash44
cohort Even though this group accounted for 347 of
in-migrants and 394 of out-migrants it represented
only 114 of net-migrants (ie those people who moved
into Niagara and stayed in region) In comparison the
45-to-64 age cohort has a smaller tally of in- and out-
migration but accounts for almost half of all net-
migration These data suggest that Niagara offers unique
ldquopullrdquo factors for older workers
A comparison of 2009ndash2014 migration to data from
2008ndash2013 represented in table 3 illustrates a generally
consistent migration pattern for the region Individuals
between the ages of 45 and 64 continue to be the largest
group of net-migrants into Niagara The 25ndashtondash44 cohort
reports the most in- and out-migration but their high
turnover accounts for fewer net-migrants Negative
net-migration in the 18ndashtondash24 cohort remains a challenge
for Niagara However the 2009ndash2014 data set shows a
431 decrease in the lost population within this
migration group Overall a 205 increase in net-
migrants to the Niagara region was seen between 2009
and 2014
AGE RANGE IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10688 8197 2663
18ndash24 8264 8983 minus 719
25ndash44 20479 19552 927
45ndash64 12493 8374 4119
65 and over 5635 4305 1330
Total 57731 49411 8320
Source Taxfiler
AGE GROUP IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10909 8086 2823
18ndash24 8382 8791 minus 409
25ndash44 20556 19407 1149
45ndash64 13290 8471 4819
65 and over 6139 4498 1641
Total 59276 49253 10023
Source Taxfiler Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
TABLE 4 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2009ndash2014
TABLE 3 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2008ndash2013
17 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The following data show the number of
employers operating within the Niagara
region Please note that tables 5 and 6
cover only establishments with
employees Establishments operating
without employees (eg people who are
self-employed or businesses operating
with only family members as staff) are
covered on page 28 Note also that
changes to the way Statistics Canada
reports these data prevent comparisons
from prior to December 2014
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
THE MAJORITY OF BUSINESSES IN NIAGARA ARE MICRO-BUSINESSES
18 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2014
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2015
2014ndash2015ABSOLUTE CHANGE
2014ndash2015PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
1ndash4 6100 6245 145 24
5ndash9 2530 2509 minus 21 minus 08
10ndash19 1650 1647 minus 3 minus 02
20ndash49 1134 1167 33 29
50ndash99 370 368 minus 2 minus 05
100ndash199 173 175 2 12
200ndash499 73 74 1 14
500+ 24 26 2 83
Total 12054 12211 157 13
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
As seen in table 5 a slight majority of Niagararsquos employer
landscape is made up of micro-businesses A micro-
business is a business employing between one and four
individuals A small business in comparison typically
employs between 5 and 99 individuals this second group
accounts for 472 of Niagararsquos employers and 402 of
all Ontario employers Combining microndash and small
businesses we see that 978 of all businesses in both
Niagara and Ontario employ fewer than 99 individuals
TABLE 5 EMPLOYERS SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014ndash2015
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
7 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
FIGURE 3 ANNUAL FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0129 NWPB calculations
Figure 3 provides a brief overview of full-time and
part-time employment in Niagara 2015 saw a 50
increase in full-time employment and a 26 increase in
part-time employment No other year in the last 15 has
seen a higher figure for full-time employment
However it is equally important to note the relationship
between full-time and part-time employment In the years
before the Great Recession Niagararsquos economy housed a
greater proportion of full-time jobs compared to part-time
jobs
For example in 2006 there were 382 full-time jobs for
every 1 part-time job This ratio fell during the recession
years and began trending back to pre-recession figures
in 2015 In 2015 this ratio stood at 329 full-time jobs for
each part-time job
180000
160000
140000
120000
100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
40
39
38
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
Nu
mb
er o
f Jo
bs
Full-time employment Part-time employment FT-to-PT ratio
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Nu
mb
er o
f Fu
ll-Ti
me
Job
s fo
r Ev
ery
On
e P
art-
Tim
e Jo
b
8 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Niagararsquos Employment Ontario
employment service providers facilitate
invaluable support for the unemployed
underemployed and individuals seeking
to change career paths Each year NWPB
receives aggregated client data for these
providers In 2015 they assisted a
combined 7054 individuals With Statistics
Canada reporting 15300 unemployed
individuals in Niagara in 2015 we consider
Employment Ontariorsquos local client data to
be an outstanding source of intelligence
on the available workforce in Niagara
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
MORE THAN
41 OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICE
CLIENTS HAVE EITHER A
COLLEGE- OR UNIVERSITY-
LEVEL EDUCATION
9 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
TABLE 1 EMPLOYMENT SERVICE CLIENT OCCUPATIONS AT TIME OF LAYOFF 2015ndash2016
CLIENT OCCUPATION AT TIME OF LAYOFF NUMBER
OF CLIENTS
Service support and other service occupations not elsewhere classified 566
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations 362
Industrial electrical and construction trades 344
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations 339
Trades helpers construction labourers and related occupations 306
Labourers in processing manufacturing and utilities 258
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade 220
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations 219
Sales support occupations 207
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations 201
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
Table 1 provides a breakdown of the top 10 occupations of
employment service clients at their time of layoff
between April 2015 and March 2016 These individuals
represent a wide range of skills and occupations While a
number of these clients come from sales and service
occupations a significant portion offer backgrounds in
heavy machine operation the skilled trades and finance
The versatility of this talent pool is further illustrated in
the level of education among employment service clients
Figure 4 shows that more than 41 of employment
service clients have either a college- or university-level
education Compared to Niagararsquos workforce
employment service clients offer a clear advantage in
terms of high school and college completion
10 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
AGE RANGENUMBER OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTSPERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTS
15ndash24 1741 2468
25ndash44 2841 4028
45ndash64 2347 3327
65 and older 125 177
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
FIGURE 4 LEVELS OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA LABOUR FORCE AND NIAGARA EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015ndash2016
Table 2 shows the age breakdown of employment service
clients In 2015 403 of clients were between the ages
of 25 and 44 and 332 were between the ages of 45
and 64 Only 24 less than one in four were under the
age of 24 These data further illustrate how employment
service clients represent an experienced educated and
diverse segment of the available labour force Since 55
of employment service clients were out of work for less
than three months and therefore are likely not
predisposed to any loss of professional or interpersonal
skills NWPB encourages employers looking to hire to
foster a strong relationship with an Employment Ontario
employment service provider
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
TABLE 2 AGE OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
St CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Niagara ES Clients
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College completion
Universitycompletion
115
318
124
92
266
301
176
111
22
396
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
11 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
12 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Educational attainment measures an
individualrsquos highest level of formal
education These data were collected
through Statistics Canadarsquos National
Household Survey (NHS) and previously
through the long-form census Because of
the changes in data gathering and
reporting between the NHS and the
long-form census it is not possible to
make valid historical comparisons of
educational attainment in Niagara
Nevertheless this section represents the
most up-to-date data currently available
to the NWPB on education patterns in
Niagara The return of the long-form
census in 2016 will likely allow for some
degree of comparison between past and
present educational data in future labour
market reports NWPB will provide
updates on this as more data becomes
available from Statistics Canada
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
COMPARED TO ONTARIO THE NIAGARA WORKFORCE
HAS MORE COLLEGE-TRAINED
WORKERS PER CAPITA
AND MORE WORKERS WITH
APPRENTICESHIPS OR
TRADES CERTIFICATIONS
13 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
Figure 5 compares the general levels of educational
attainment for the St CatharinesndashNiagara CMArsquos labour
force As of 2011 566 of Niagararsquos labour force had
completed some level of post-secondary training (eg a
trades certificate college diploma or university degree)
Nearly 318 of the labour force had a high school
diploma as their highest level of formal education Only
115 of the labour force was absent any completed
formal training
Figure 6 breaks down the levels of educational
attainment among individuals holding a post-secondary
qualification as of 2011 the latest year for which data are
available Compared to Ontario as a whole Niagararsquos
workforce has a greater concentration of college-
educated individuals (469 in Niagara versus 367 in
Ontario) Niagara also possesses an advantage in
individuals with an apprenticeship or trades certificate
(163 locally compared to 117 at the provincial level) A
total of 311 of Niagararsquos workforce hold a university
degree compared to 446 across the province
14 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONP
ost
-Sec
on
dar
y Tr
ain
ed L
abo
ur
Forc
e P
erce
nta
ge
163
469
117
367
311
446
57 70
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College diploma University certificate or diploma below bachelor level
University certificate or diploma at bachelor level
or above
633
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
115
318
104
264
566
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
FIGURE 5 LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINES ndash NIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Post secondary certificate diploma
or degree
FIGURE 6 POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
Niagara Ontario
Niagara Ontario
50
40
30
20
10
0
15 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 7 NIAGARA REGION ANNUAL POPULATION ESTIMATES 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
Changes to a regionrsquos population will
almost certainly have a direct impact on
the characteristics of a regionrsquos workforce
It is for that reason that we include
population and migration data for the
Niagara region in this report Figure 7
shows the estimated population of the
Niagara region from 2001 to 2015
Statistics Canadarsquos most recent population
estimates suggests approximately 449098
individuals lived in Niagara in 2015
This growth follows a brief period of
population decline in 2007ndash2008
Additional information on population
patterns for Niagararsquos 12 municipalities is
available for review in NWPBrsquos municipal
fact sheet series
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
NIAGARArsquoS POPULATION
HAS SHOWN STEADY
GROWTH SINCE
2009
INCREASING BY 1 BETWEEN 2009 AND 2015
455000
450000
445000
440000
435000
430000
425000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Po
pu
lati
on
Year
2004 Population
estimate437610
2009 Population
estimate440802
2015 Population
estimate449098
2014 Population
estimate447380
16 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
Table 4 shows the number of individuals who moved into
and out of the Niagara region between 2009 and 2014
These data allow us to understand Niagararsquos net-
population changes and any significant migration
patterns in Niagara For example the region shows the
highest amount of in- and out-migrants in the 25ndashtondash44
cohort Even though this group accounted for 347 of
in-migrants and 394 of out-migrants it represented
only 114 of net-migrants (ie those people who moved
into Niagara and stayed in region) In comparison the
45-to-64 age cohort has a smaller tally of in- and out-
migration but accounts for almost half of all net-
migration These data suggest that Niagara offers unique
ldquopullrdquo factors for older workers
A comparison of 2009ndash2014 migration to data from
2008ndash2013 represented in table 3 illustrates a generally
consistent migration pattern for the region Individuals
between the ages of 45 and 64 continue to be the largest
group of net-migrants into Niagara The 25ndashtondash44 cohort
reports the most in- and out-migration but their high
turnover accounts for fewer net-migrants Negative
net-migration in the 18ndashtondash24 cohort remains a challenge
for Niagara However the 2009ndash2014 data set shows a
431 decrease in the lost population within this
migration group Overall a 205 increase in net-
migrants to the Niagara region was seen between 2009
and 2014
AGE RANGE IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10688 8197 2663
18ndash24 8264 8983 minus 719
25ndash44 20479 19552 927
45ndash64 12493 8374 4119
65 and over 5635 4305 1330
Total 57731 49411 8320
Source Taxfiler
AGE GROUP IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10909 8086 2823
18ndash24 8382 8791 minus 409
25ndash44 20556 19407 1149
45ndash64 13290 8471 4819
65 and over 6139 4498 1641
Total 59276 49253 10023
Source Taxfiler Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
TABLE 4 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2009ndash2014
TABLE 3 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2008ndash2013
17 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The following data show the number of
employers operating within the Niagara
region Please note that tables 5 and 6
cover only establishments with
employees Establishments operating
without employees (eg people who are
self-employed or businesses operating
with only family members as staff) are
covered on page 28 Note also that
changes to the way Statistics Canada
reports these data prevent comparisons
from prior to December 2014
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
THE MAJORITY OF BUSINESSES IN NIAGARA ARE MICRO-BUSINESSES
18 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2014
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2015
2014ndash2015ABSOLUTE CHANGE
2014ndash2015PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
1ndash4 6100 6245 145 24
5ndash9 2530 2509 minus 21 minus 08
10ndash19 1650 1647 minus 3 minus 02
20ndash49 1134 1167 33 29
50ndash99 370 368 minus 2 minus 05
100ndash199 173 175 2 12
200ndash499 73 74 1 14
500+ 24 26 2 83
Total 12054 12211 157 13
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
As seen in table 5 a slight majority of Niagararsquos employer
landscape is made up of micro-businesses A micro-
business is a business employing between one and four
individuals A small business in comparison typically
employs between 5 and 99 individuals this second group
accounts for 472 of Niagararsquos employers and 402 of
all Ontario employers Combining microndash and small
businesses we see that 978 of all businesses in both
Niagara and Ontario employ fewer than 99 individuals
TABLE 5 EMPLOYERS SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014ndash2015
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
8 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Niagararsquos Employment Ontario
employment service providers facilitate
invaluable support for the unemployed
underemployed and individuals seeking
to change career paths Each year NWPB
receives aggregated client data for these
providers In 2015 they assisted a
combined 7054 individuals With Statistics
Canada reporting 15300 unemployed
individuals in Niagara in 2015 we consider
Employment Ontariorsquos local client data to
be an outstanding source of intelligence
on the available workforce in Niagara
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
MORE THAN
41 OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICE
CLIENTS HAVE EITHER A
COLLEGE- OR UNIVERSITY-
LEVEL EDUCATION
9 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
TABLE 1 EMPLOYMENT SERVICE CLIENT OCCUPATIONS AT TIME OF LAYOFF 2015ndash2016
CLIENT OCCUPATION AT TIME OF LAYOFF NUMBER
OF CLIENTS
Service support and other service occupations not elsewhere classified 566
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations 362
Industrial electrical and construction trades 344
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations 339
Trades helpers construction labourers and related occupations 306
Labourers in processing manufacturing and utilities 258
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade 220
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations 219
Sales support occupations 207
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations 201
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
Table 1 provides a breakdown of the top 10 occupations of
employment service clients at their time of layoff
between April 2015 and March 2016 These individuals
represent a wide range of skills and occupations While a
number of these clients come from sales and service
occupations a significant portion offer backgrounds in
heavy machine operation the skilled trades and finance
The versatility of this talent pool is further illustrated in
the level of education among employment service clients
Figure 4 shows that more than 41 of employment
service clients have either a college- or university-level
education Compared to Niagararsquos workforce
employment service clients offer a clear advantage in
terms of high school and college completion
10 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
AGE RANGENUMBER OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTSPERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTS
15ndash24 1741 2468
25ndash44 2841 4028
45ndash64 2347 3327
65 and older 125 177
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
FIGURE 4 LEVELS OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA LABOUR FORCE AND NIAGARA EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015ndash2016
Table 2 shows the age breakdown of employment service
clients In 2015 403 of clients were between the ages
of 25 and 44 and 332 were between the ages of 45
and 64 Only 24 less than one in four were under the
age of 24 These data further illustrate how employment
service clients represent an experienced educated and
diverse segment of the available labour force Since 55
of employment service clients were out of work for less
than three months and therefore are likely not
predisposed to any loss of professional or interpersonal
skills NWPB encourages employers looking to hire to
foster a strong relationship with an Employment Ontario
employment service provider
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
TABLE 2 AGE OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
St CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Niagara ES Clients
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College completion
Universitycompletion
115
318
124
92
266
301
176
111
22
396
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
11 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
12 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Educational attainment measures an
individualrsquos highest level of formal
education These data were collected
through Statistics Canadarsquos National
Household Survey (NHS) and previously
through the long-form census Because of
the changes in data gathering and
reporting between the NHS and the
long-form census it is not possible to
make valid historical comparisons of
educational attainment in Niagara
Nevertheless this section represents the
most up-to-date data currently available
to the NWPB on education patterns in
Niagara The return of the long-form
census in 2016 will likely allow for some
degree of comparison between past and
present educational data in future labour
market reports NWPB will provide
updates on this as more data becomes
available from Statistics Canada
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
COMPARED TO ONTARIO THE NIAGARA WORKFORCE
HAS MORE COLLEGE-TRAINED
WORKERS PER CAPITA
AND MORE WORKERS WITH
APPRENTICESHIPS OR
TRADES CERTIFICATIONS
13 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
Figure 5 compares the general levels of educational
attainment for the St CatharinesndashNiagara CMArsquos labour
force As of 2011 566 of Niagararsquos labour force had
completed some level of post-secondary training (eg a
trades certificate college diploma or university degree)
Nearly 318 of the labour force had a high school
diploma as their highest level of formal education Only
115 of the labour force was absent any completed
formal training
Figure 6 breaks down the levels of educational
attainment among individuals holding a post-secondary
qualification as of 2011 the latest year for which data are
available Compared to Ontario as a whole Niagararsquos
workforce has a greater concentration of college-
educated individuals (469 in Niagara versus 367 in
Ontario) Niagara also possesses an advantage in
individuals with an apprenticeship or trades certificate
(163 locally compared to 117 at the provincial level) A
total of 311 of Niagararsquos workforce hold a university
degree compared to 446 across the province
14 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONP
ost
-Sec
on
dar
y Tr
ain
ed L
abo
ur
Forc
e P
erce
nta
ge
163
469
117
367
311
446
57 70
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College diploma University certificate or diploma below bachelor level
University certificate or diploma at bachelor level
or above
633
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
115
318
104
264
566
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
FIGURE 5 LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINES ndash NIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Post secondary certificate diploma
or degree
FIGURE 6 POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
Niagara Ontario
Niagara Ontario
50
40
30
20
10
0
15 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 7 NIAGARA REGION ANNUAL POPULATION ESTIMATES 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
Changes to a regionrsquos population will
almost certainly have a direct impact on
the characteristics of a regionrsquos workforce
It is for that reason that we include
population and migration data for the
Niagara region in this report Figure 7
shows the estimated population of the
Niagara region from 2001 to 2015
Statistics Canadarsquos most recent population
estimates suggests approximately 449098
individuals lived in Niagara in 2015
This growth follows a brief period of
population decline in 2007ndash2008
Additional information on population
patterns for Niagararsquos 12 municipalities is
available for review in NWPBrsquos municipal
fact sheet series
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
NIAGARArsquoS POPULATION
HAS SHOWN STEADY
GROWTH SINCE
2009
INCREASING BY 1 BETWEEN 2009 AND 2015
455000
450000
445000
440000
435000
430000
425000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Po
pu
lati
on
Year
2004 Population
estimate437610
2009 Population
estimate440802
2015 Population
estimate449098
2014 Population
estimate447380
16 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
Table 4 shows the number of individuals who moved into
and out of the Niagara region between 2009 and 2014
These data allow us to understand Niagararsquos net-
population changes and any significant migration
patterns in Niagara For example the region shows the
highest amount of in- and out-migrants in the 25ndashtondash44
cohort Even though this group accounted for 347 of
in-migrants and 394 of out-migrants it represented
only 114 of net-migrants (ie those people who moved
into Niagara and stayed in region) In comparison the
45-to-64 age cohort has a smaller tally of in- and out-
migration but accounts for almost half of all net-
migration These data suggest that Niagara offers unique
ldquopullrdquo factors for older workers
A comparison of 2009ndash2014 migration to data from
2008ndash2013 represented in table 3 illustrates a generally
consistent migration pattern for the region Individuals
between the ages of 45 and 64 continue to be the largest
group of net-migrants into Niagara The 25ndashtondash44 cohort
reports the most in- and out-migration but their high
turnover accounts for fewer net-migrants Negative
net-migration in the 18ndashtondash24 cohort remains a challenge
for Niagara However the 2009ndash2014 data set shows a
431 decrease in the lost population within this
migration group Overall a 205 increase in net-
migrants to the Niagara region was seen between 2009
and 2014
AGE RANGE IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10688 8197 2663
18ndash24 8264 8983 minus 719
25ndash44 20479 19552 927
45ndash64 12493 8374 4119
65 and over 5635 4305 1330
Total 57731 49411 8320
Source Taxfiler
AGE GROUP IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10909 8086 2823
18ndash24 8382 8791 minus 409
25ndash44 20556 19407 1149
45ndash64 13290 8471 4819
65 and over 6139 4498 1641
Total 59276 49253 10023
Source Taxfiler Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
TABLE 4 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2009ndash2014
TABLE 3 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2008ndash2013
17 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The following data show the number of
employers operating within the Niagara
region Please note that tables 5 and 6
cover only establishments with
employees Establishments operating
without employees (eg people who are
self-employed or businesses operating
with only family members as staff) are
covered on page 28 Note also that
changes to the way Statistics Canada
reports these data prevent comparisons
from prior to December 2014
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
THE MAJORITY OF BUSINESSES IN NIAGARA ARE MICRO-BUSINESSES
18 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2014
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2015
2014ndash2015ABSOLUTE CHANGE
2014ndash2015PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
1ndash4 6100 6245 145 24
5ndash9 2530 2509 minus 21 minus 08
10ndash19 1650 1647 minus 3 minus 02
20ndash49 1134 1167 33 29
50ndash99 370 368 minus 2 minus 05
100ndash199 173 175 2 12
200ndash499 73 74 1 14
500+ 24 26 2 83
Total 12054 12211 157 13
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
As seen in table 5 a slight majority of Niagararsquos employer
landscape is made up of micro-businesses A micro-
business is a business employing between one and four
individuals A small business in comparison typically
employs between 5 and 99 individuals this second group
accounts for 472 of Niagararsquos employers and 402 of
all Ontario employers Combining microndash and small
businesses we see that 978 of all businesses in both
Niagara and Ontario employ fewer than 99 individuals
TABLE 5 EMPLOYERS SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014ndash2015
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
9 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
TABLE 1 EMPLOYMENT SERVICE CLIENT OCCUPATIONS AT TIME OF LAYOFF 2015ndash2016
CLIENT OCCUPATION AT TIME OF LAYOFF NUMBER
OF CLIENTS
Service support and other service occupations not elsewhere classified 566
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations 362
Industrial electrical and construction trades 344
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations 339
Trades helpers construction labourers and related occupations 306
Labourers in processing manufacturing and utilities 258
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade 220
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations 219
Sales support occupations 207
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations 201
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
Table 1 provides a breakdown of the top 10 occupations of
employment service clients at their time of layoff
between April 2015 and March 2016 These individuals
represent a wide range of skills and occupations While a
number of these clients come from sales and service
occupations a significant portion offer backgrounds in
heavy machine operation the skilled trades and finance
The versatility of this talent pool is further illustrated in
the level of education among employment service clients
Figure 4 shows that more than 41 of employment
service clients have either a college- or university-level
education Compared to Niagararsquos workforce
employment service clients offer a clear advantage in
terms of high school and college completion
10 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
AGE RANGENUMBER OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTSPERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTS
15ndash24 1741 2468
25ndash44 2841 4028
45ndash64 2347 3327
65 and older 125 177
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
FIGURE 4 LEVELS OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA LABOUR FORCE AND NIAGARA EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015ndash2016
Table 2 shows the age breakdown of employment service
clients In 2015 403 of clients were between the ages
of 25 and 44 and 332 were between the ages of 45
and 64 Only 24 less than one in four were under the
age of 24 These data further illustrate how employment
service clients represent an experienced educated and
diverse segment of the available labour force Since 55
of employment service clients were out of work for less
than three months and therefore are likely not
predisposed to any loss of professional or interpersonal
skills NWPB encourages employers looking to hire to
foster a strong relationship with an Employment Ontario
employment service provider
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
TABLE 2 AGE OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
St CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Niagara ES Clients
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College completion
Universitycompletion
115
318
124
92
266
301
176
111
22
396
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
11 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
12 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Educational attainment measures an
individualrsquos highest level of formal
education These data were collected
through Statistics Canadarsquos National
Household Survey (NHS) and previously
through the long-form census Because of
the changes in data gathering and
reporting between the NHS and the
long-form census it is not possible to
make valid historical comparisons of
educational attainment in Niagara
Nevertheless this section represents the
most up-to-date data currently available
to the NWPB on education patterns in
Niagara The return of the long-form
census in 2016 will likely allow for some
degree of comparison between past and
present educational data in future labour
market reports NWPB will provide
updates on this as more data becomes
available from Statistics Canada
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
COMPARED TO ONTARIO THE NIAGARA WORKFORCE
HAS MORE COLLEGE-TRAINED
WORKERS PER CAPITA
AND MORE WORKERS WITH
APPRENTICESHIPS OR
TRADES CERTIFICATIONS
13 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
Figure 5 compares the general levels of educational
attainment for the St CatharinesndashNiagara CMArsquos labour
force As of 2011 566 of Niagararsquos labour force had
completed some level of post-secondary training (eg a
trades certificate college diploma or university degree)
Nearly 318 of the labour force had a high school
diploma as their highest level of formal education Only
115 of the labour force was absent any completed
formal training
Figure 6 breaks down the levels of educational
attainment among individuals holding a post-secondary
qualification as of 2011 the latest year for which data are
available Compared to Ontario as a whole Niagararsquos
workforce has a greater concentration of college-
educated individuals (469 in Niagara versus 367 in
Ontario) Niagara also possesses an advantage in
individuals with an apprenticeship or trades certificate
(163 locally compared to 117 at the provincial level) A
total of 311 of Niagararsquos workforce hold a university
degree compared to 446 across the province
14 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONP
ost
-Sec
on
dar
y Tr
ain
ed L
abo
ur
Forc
e P
erce
nta
ge
163
469
117
367
311
446
57 70
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College diploma University certificate or diploma below bachelor level
University certificate or diploma at bachelor level
or above
633
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
115
318
104
264
566
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
FIGURE 5 LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINES ndash NIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Post secondary certificate diploma
or degree
FIGURE 6 POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
Niagara Ontario
Niagara Ontario
50
40
30
20
10
0
15 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 7 NIAGARA REGION ANNUAL POPULATION ESTIMATES 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
Changes to a regionrsquos population will
almost certainly have a direct impact on
the characteristics of a regionrsquos workforce
It is for that reason that we include
population and migration data for the
Niagara region in this report Figure 7
shows the estimated population of the
Niagara region from 2001 to 2015
Statistics Canadarsquos most recent population
estimates suggests approximately 449098
individuals lived in Niagara in 2015
This growth follows a brief period of
population decline in 2007ndash2008
Additional information on population
patterns for Niagararsquos 12 municipalities is
available for review in NWPBrsquos municipal
fact sheet series
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
NIAGARArsquoS POPULATION
HAS SHOWN STEADY
GROWTH SINCE
2009
INCREASING BY 1 BETWEEN 2009 AND 2015
455000
450000
445000
440000
435000
430000
425000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Po
pu
lati
on
Year
2004 Population
estimate437610
2009 Population
estimate440802
2015 Population
estimate449098
2014 Population
estimate447380
16 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
Table 4 shows the number of individuals who moved into
and out of the Niagara region between 2009 and 2014
These data allow us to understand Niagararsquos net-
population changes and any significant migration
patterns in Niagara For example the region shows the
highest amount of in- and out-migrants in the 25ndashtondash44
cohort Even though this group accounted for 347 of
in-migrants and 394 of out-migrants it represented
only 114 of net-migrants (ie those people who moved
into Niagara and stayed in region) In comparison the
45-to-64 age cohort has a smaller tally of in- and out-
migration but accounts for almost half of all net-
migration These data suggest that Niagara offers unique
ldquopullrdquo factors for older workers
A comparison of 2009ndash2014 migration to data from
2008ndash2013 represented in table 3 illustrates a generally
consistent migration pattern for the region Individuals
between the ages of 45 and 64 continue to be the largest
group of net-migrants into Niagara The 25ndashtondash44 cohort
reports the most in- and out-migration but their high
turnover accounts for fewer net-migrants Negative
net-migration in the 18ndashtondash24 cohort remains a challenge
for Niagara However the 2009ndash2014 data set shows a
431 decrease in the lost population within this
migration group Overall a 205 increase in net-
migrants to the Niagara region was seen between 2009
and 2014
AGE RANGE IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10688 8197 2663
18ndash24 8264 8983 minus 719
25ndash44 20479 19552 927
45ndash64 12493 8374 4119
65 and over 5635 4305 1330
Total 57731 49411 8320
Source Taxfiler
AGE GROUP IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10909 8086 2823
18ndash24 8382 8791 minus 409
25ndash44 20556 19407 1149
45ndash64 13290 8471 4819
65 and over 6139 4498 1641
Total 59276 49253 10023
Source Taxfiler Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
TABLE 4 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2009ndash2014
TABLE 3 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2008ndash2013
17 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The following data show the number of
employers operating within the Niagara
region Please note that tables 5 and 6
cover only establishments with
employees Establishments operating
without employees (eg people who are
self-employed or businesses operating
with only family members as staff) are
covered on page 28 Note also that
changes to the way Statistics Canada
reports these data prevent comparisons
from prior to December 2014
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
THE MAJORITY OF BUSINESSES IN NIAGARA ARE MICRO-BUSINESSES
18 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2014
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2015
2014ndash2015ABSOLUTE CHANGE
2014ndash2015PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
1ndash4 6100 6245 145 24
5ndash9 2530 2509 minus 21 minus 08
10ndash19 1650 1647 minus 3 minus 02
20ndash49 1134 1167 33 29
50ndash99 370 368 minus 2 minus 05
100ndash199 173 175 2 12
200ndash499 73 74 1 14
500+ 24 26 2 83
Total 12054 12211 157 13
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
As seen in table 5 a slight majority of Niagararsquos employer
landscape is made up of micro-businesses A micro-
business is a business employing between one and four
individuals A small business in comparison typically
employs between 5 and 99 individuals this second group
accounts for 472 of Niagararsquos employers and 402 of
all Ontario employers Combining microndash and small
businesses we see that 978 of all businesses in both
Niagara and Ontario employ fewer than 99 individuals
TABLE 5 EMPLOYERS SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014ndash2015
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
10 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR MARKET SUPPLY
AGE RANGENUMBER OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTSPERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES CLIENTS
15ndash24 1741 2468
25ndash44 2841 4028
45ndash64 2347 3327
65 and older 125 177
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data
FIGURE 4 LEVELS OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA LABOUR FORCE AND NIAGARA EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015ndash2016
Table 2 shows the age breakdown of employment service
clients In 2015 403 of clients were between the ages
of 25 and 44 and 332 were between the ages of 45
and 64 Only 24 less than one in four were under the
age of 24 These data further illustrate how employment
service clients represent an experienced educated and
diverse segment of the available labour force Since 55
of employment service clients were out of work for less
than three months and therefore are likely not
predisposed to any loss of professional or interpersonal
skills NWPB encourages employers looking to hire to
foster a strong relationship with an Employment Ontario
employment service provider
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
TABLE 2 AGE OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CLIENTS 2015
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
St CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Niagara ES Clients
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College completion
Universitycompletion
115
318
124
92
266
301
176
111
22
396
Source Employment Ontario Information System Case Management System client data Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
11 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
12 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Educational attainment measures an
individualrsquos highest level of formal
education These data were collected
through Statistics Canadarsquos National
Household Survey (NHS) and previously
through the long-form census Because of
the changes in data gathering and
reporting between the NHS and the
long-form census it is not possible to
make valid historical comparisons of
educational attainment in Niagara
Nevertheless this section represents the
most up-to-date data currently available
to the NWPB on education patterns in
Niagara The return of the long-form
census in 2016 will likely allow for some
degree of comparison between past and
present educational data in future labour
market reports NWPB will provide
updates on this as more data becomes
available from Statistics Canada
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
COMPARED TO ONTARIO THE NIAGARA WORKFORCE
HAS MORE COLLEGE-TRAINED
WORKERS PER CAPITA
AND MORE WORKERS WITH
APPRENTICESHIPS OR
TRADES CERTIFICATIONS
13 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
Figure 5 compares the general levels of educational
attainment for the St CatharinesndashNiagara CMArsquos labour
force As of 2011 566 of Niagararsquos labour force had
completed some level of post-secondary training (eg a
trades certificate college diploma or university degree)
Nearly 318 of the labour force had a high school
diploma as their highest level of formal education Only
115 of the labour force was absent any completed
formal training
Figure 6 breaks down the levels of educational
attainment among individuals holding a post-secondary
qualification as of 2011 the latest year for which data are
available Compared to Ontario as a whole Niagararsquos
workforce has a greater concentration of college-
educated individuals (469 in Niagara versus 367 in
Ontario) Niagara also possesses an advantage in
individuals with an apprenticeship or trades certificate
(163 locally compared to 117 at the provincial level) A
total of 311 of Niagararsquos workforce hold a university
degree compared to 446 across the province
14 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONP
ost
-Sec
on
dar
y Tr
ain
ed L
abo
ur
Forc
e P
erce
nta
ge
163
469
117
367
311
446
57 70
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College diploma University certificate or diploma below bachelor level
University certificate or diploma at bachelor level
or above
633
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
115
318
104
264
566
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
FIGURE 5 LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINES ndash NIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Post secondary certificate diploma
or degree
FIGURE 6 POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
Niagara Ontario
Niagara Ontario
50
40
30
20
10
0
15 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 7 NIAGARA REGION ANNUAL POPULATION ESTIMATES 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
Changes to a regionrsquos population will
almost certainly have a direct impact on
the characteristics of a regionrsquos workforce
It is for that reason that we include
population and migration data for the
Niagara region in this report Figure 7
shows the estimated population of the
Niagara region from 2001 to 2015
Statistics Canadarsquos most recent population
estimates suggests approximately 449098
individuals lived in Niagara in 2015
This growth follows a brief period of
population decline in 2007ndash2008
Additional information on population
patterns for Niagararsquos 12 municipalities is
available for review in NWPBrsquos municipal
fact sheet series
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
NIAGARArsquoS POPULATION
HAS SHOWN STEADY
GROWTH SINCE
2009
INCREASING BY 1 BETWEEN 2009 AND 2015
455000
450000
445000
440000
435000
430000
425000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Po
pu
lati
on
Year
2004 Population
estimate437610
2009 Population
estimate440802
2015 Population
estimate449098
2014 Population
estimate447380
16 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
Table 4 shows the number of individuals who moved into
and out of the Niagara region between 2009 and 2014
These data allow us to understand Niagararsquos net-
population changes and any significant migration
patterns in Niagara For example the region shows the
highest amount of in- and out-migrants in the 25ndashtondash44
cohort Even though this group accounted for 347 of
in-migrants and 394 of out-migrants it represented
only 114 of net-migrants (ie those people who moved
into Niagara and stayed in region) In comparison the
45-to-64 age cohort has a smaller tally of in- and out-
migration but accounts for almost half of all net-
migration These data suggest that Niagara offers unique
ldquopullrdquo factors for older workers
A comparison of 2009ndash2014 migration to data from
2008ndash2013 represented in table 3 illustrates a generally
consistent migration pattern for the region Individuals
between the ages of 45 and 64 continue to be the largest
group of net-migrants into Niagara The 25ndashtondash44 cohort
reports the most in- and out-migration but their high
turnover accounts for fewer net-migrants Negative
net-migration in the 18ndashtondash24 cohort remains a challenge
for Niagara However the 2009ndash2014 data set shows a
431 decrease in the lost population within this
migration group Overall a 205 increase in net-
migrants to the Niagara region was seen between 2009
and 2014
AGE RANGE IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10688 8197 2663
18ndash24 8264 8983 minus 719
25ndash44 20479 19552 927
45ndash64 12493 8374 4119
65 and over 5635 4305 1330
Total 57731 49411 8320
Source Taxfiler
AGE GROUP IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10909 8086 2823
18ndash24 8382 8791 minus 409
25ndash44 20556 19407 1149
45ndash64 13290 8471 4819
65 and over 6139 4498 1641
Total 59276 49253 10023
Source Taxfiler Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
TABLE 4 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2009ndash2014
TABLE 3 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2008ndash2013
17 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The following data show the number of
employers operating within the Niagara
region Please note that tables 5 and 6
cover only establishments with
employees Establishments operating
without employees (eg people who are
self-employed or businesses operating
with only family members as staff) are
covered on page 28 Note also that
changes to the way Statistics Canada
reports these data prevent comparisons
from prior to December 2014
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
THE MAJORITY OF BUSINESSES IN NIAGARA ARE MICRO-BUSINESSES
18 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2014
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2015
2014ndash2015ABSOLUTE CHANGE
2014ndash2015PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
1ndash4 6100 6245 145 24
5ndash9 2530 2509 minus 21 minus 08
10ndash19 1650 1647 minus 3 minus 02
20ndash49 1134 1167 33 29
50ndash99 370 368 minus 2 minus 05
100ndash199 173 175 2 12
200ndash499 73 74 1 14
500+ 24 26 2 83
Total 12054 12211 157 13
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
As seen in table 5 a slight majority of Niagararsquos employer
landscape is made up of micro-businesses A micro-
business is a business employing between one and four
individuals A small business in comparison typically
employs between 5 and 99 individuals this second group
accounts for 472 of Niagararsquos employers and 402 of
all Ontario employers Combining microndash and small
businesses we see that 978 of all businesses in both
Niagara and Ontario employ fewer than 99 individuals
TABLE 5 EMPLOYERS SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014ndash2015
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
11 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
12 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Educational attainment measures an
individualrsquos highest level of formal
education These data were collected
through Statistics Canadarsquos National
Household Survey (NHS) and previously
through the long-form census Because of
the changes in data gathering and
reporting between the NHS and the
long-form census it is not possible to
make valid historical comparisons of
educational attainment in Niagara
Nevertheless this section represents the
most up-to-date data currently available
to the NWPB on education patterns in
Niagara The return of the long-form
census in 2016 will likely allow for some
degree of comparison between past and
present educational data in future labour
market reports NWPB will provide
updates on this as more data becomes
available from Statistics Canada
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
COMPARED TO ONTARIO THE NIAGARA WORKFORCE
HAS MORE COLLEGE-TRAINED
WORKERS PER CAPITA
AND MORE WORKERS WITH
APPRENTICESHIPS OR
TRADES CERTIFICATIONS
13 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
Figure 5 compares the general levels of educational
attainment for the St CatharinesndashNiagara CMArsquos labour
force As of 2011 566 of Niagararsquos labour force had
completed some level of post-secondary training (eg a
trades certificate college diploma or university degree)
Nearly 318 of the labour force had a high school
diploma as their highest level of formal education Only
115 of the labour force was absent any completed
formal training
Figure 6 breaks down the levels of educational
attainment among individuals holding a post-secondary
qualification as of 2011 the latest year for which data are
available Compared to Ontario as a whole Niagararsquos
workforce has a greater concentration of college-
educated individuals (469 in Niagara versus 367 in
Ontario) Niagara also possesses an advantage in
individuals with an apprenticeship or trades certificate
(163 locally compared to 117 at the provincial level) A
total of 311 of Niagararsquos workforce hold a university
degree compared to 446 across the province
14 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONP
ost
-Sec
on
dar
y Tr
ain
ed L
abo
ur
Forc
e P
erce
nta
ge
163
469
117
367
311
446
57 70
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College diploma University certificate or diploma below bachelor level
University certificate or diploma at bachelor level
or above
633
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
115
318
104
264
566
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
FIGURE 5 LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINES ndash NIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Post secondary certificate diploma
or degree
FIGURE 6 POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
Niagara Ontario
Niagara Ontario
50
40
30
20
10
0
15 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 7 NIAGARA REGION ANNUAL POPULATION ESTIMATES 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
Changes to a regionrsquos population will
almost certainly have a direct impact on
the characteristics of a regionrsquos workforce
It is for that reason that we include
population and migration data for the
Niagara region in this report Figure 7
shows the estimated population of the
Niagara region from 2001 to 2015
Statistics Canadarsquos most recent population
estimates suggests approximately 449098
individuals lived in Niagara in 2015
This growth follows a brief period of
population decline in 2007ndash2008
Additional information on population
patterns for Niagararsquos 12 municipalities is
available for review in NWPBrsquos municipal
fact sheet series
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
NIAGARArsquoS POPULATION
HAS SHOWN STEADY
GROWTH SINCE
2009
INCREASING BY 1 BETWEEN 2009 AND 2015
455000
450000
445000
440000
435000
430000
425000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Po
pu
lati
on
Year
2004 Population
estimate437610
2009 Population
estimate440802
2015 Population
estimate449098
2014 Population
estimate447380
16 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
Table 4 shows the number of individuals who moved into
and out of the Niagara region between 2009 and 2014
These data allow us to understand Niagararsquos net-
population changes and any significant migration
patterns in Niagara For example the region shows the
highest amount of in- and out-migrants in the 25ndashtondash44
cohort Even though this group accounted for 347 of
in-migrants and 394 of out-migrants it represented
only 114 of net-migrants (ie those people who moved
into Niagara and stayed in region) In comparison the
45-to-64 age cohort has a smaller tally of in- and out-
migration but accounts for almost half of all net-
migration These data suggest that Niagara offers unique
ldquopullrdquo factors for older workers
A comparison of 2009ndash2014 migration to data from
2008ndash2013 represented in table 3 illustrates a generally
consistent migration pattern for the region Individuals
between the ages of 45 and 64 continue to be the largest
group of net-migrants into Niagara The 25ndashtondash44 cohort
reports the most in- and out-migration but their high
turnover accounts for fewer net-migrants Negative
net-migration in the 18ndashtondash24 cohort remains a challenge
for Niagara However the 2009ndash2014 data set shows a
431 decrease in the lost population within this
migration group Overall a 205 increase in net-
migrants to the Niagara region was seen between 2009
and 2014
AGE RANGE IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10688 8197 2663
18ndash24 8264 8983 minus 719
25ndash44 20479 19552 927
45ndash64 12493 8374 4119
65 and over 5635 4305 1330
Total 57731 49411 8320
Source Taxfiler
AGE GROUP IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10909 8086 2823
18ndash24 8382 8791 minus 409
25ndash44 20556 19407 1149
45ndash64 13290 8471 4819
65 and over 6139 4498 1641
Total 59276 49253 10023
Source Taxfiler Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
TABLE 4 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2009ndash2014
TABLE 3 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2008ndash2013
17 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The following data show the number of
employers operating within the Niagara
region Please note that tables 5 and 6
cover only establishments with
employees Establishments operating
without employees (eg people who are
self-employed or businesses operating
with only family members as staff) are
covered on page 28 Note also that
changes to the way Statistics Canada
reports these data prevent comparisons
from prior to December 2014
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
THE MAJORITY OF BUSINESSES IN NIAGARA ARE MICRO-BUSINESSES
18 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2014
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2015
2014ndash2015ABSOLUTE CHANGE
2014ndash2015PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
1ndash4 6100 6245 145 24
5ndash9 2530 2509 minus 21 minus 08
10ndash19 1650 1647 minus 3 minus 02
20ndash49 1134 1167 33 29
50ndash99 370 368 minus 2 minus 05
100ndash199 173 175 2 12
200ndash499 73 74 1 14
500+ 24 26 2 83
Total 12054 12211 157 13
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
As seen in table 5 a slight majority of Niagararsquos employer
landscape is made up of micro-businesses A micro-
business is a business employing between one and four
individuals A small business in comparison typically
employs between 5 and 99 individuals this second group
accounts for 472 of Niagararsquos employers and 402 of
all Ontario employers Combining microndash and small
businesses we see that 978 of all businesses in both
Niagara and Ontario employ fewer than 99 individuals
TABLE 5 EMPLOYERS SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014ndash2015
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
12 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Educational attainment measures an
individualrsquos highest level of formal
education These data were collected
through Statistics Canadarsquos National
Household Survey (NHS) and previously
through the long-form census Because of
the changes in data gathering and
reporting between the NHS and the
long-form census it is not possible to
make valid historical comparisons of
educational attainment in Niagara
Nevertheless this section represents the
most up-to-date data currently available
to the NWPB on education patterns in
Niagara The return of the long-form
census in 2016 will likely allow for some
degree of comparison between past and
present educational data in future labour
market reports NWPB will provide
updates on this as more data becomes
available from Statistics Canada
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
COMPARED TO ONTARIO THE NIAGARA WORKFORCE
HAS MORE COLLEGE-TRAINED
WORKERS PER CAPITA
AND MORE WORKERS WITH
APPRENTICESHIPS OR
TRADES CERTIFICATIONS
13 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
Figure 5 compares the general levels of educational
attainment for the St CatharinesndashNiagara CMArsquos labour
force As of 2011 566 of Niagararsquos labour force had
completed some level of post-secondary training (eg a
trades certificate college diploma or university degree)
Nearly 318 of the labour force had a high school
diploma as their highest level of formal education Only
115 of the labour force was absent any completed
formal training
Figure 6 breaks down the levels of educational
attainment among individuals holding a post-secondary
qualification as of 2011 the latest year for which data are
available Compared to Ontario as a whole Niagararsquos
workforce has a greater concentration of college-
educated individuals (469 in Niagara versus 367 in
Ontario) Niagara also possesses an advantage in
individuals with an apprenticeship or trades certificate
(163 locally compared to 117 at the provincial level) A
total of 311 of Niagararsquos workforce hold a university
degree compared to 446 across the province
14 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONP
ost
-Sec
on
dar
y Tr
ain
ed L
abo
ur
Forc
e P
erce
nta
ge
163
469
117
367
311
446
57 70
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College diploma University certificate or diploma below bachelor level
University certificate or diploma at bachelor level
or above
633
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
115
318
104
264
566
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
FIGURE 5 LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINES ndash NIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Post secondary certificate diploma
or degree
FIGURE 6 POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
Niagara Ontario
Niagara Ontario
50
40
30
20
10
0
15 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 7 NIAGARA REGION ANNUAL POPULATION ESTIMATES 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
Changes to a regionrsquos population will
almost certainly have a direct impact on
the characteristics of a regionrsquos workforce
It is for that reason that we include
population and migration data for the
Niagara region in this report Figure 7
shows the estimated population of the
Niagara region from 2001 to 2015
Statistics Canadarsquos most recent population
estimates suggests approximately 449098
individuals lived in Niagara in 2015
This growth follows a brief period of
population decline in 2007ndash2008
Additional information on population
patterns for Niagararsquos 12 municipalities is
available for review in NWPBrsquos municipal
fact sheet series
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
NIAGARArsquoS POPULATION
HAS SHOWN STEADY
GROWTH SINCE
2009
INCREASING BY 1 BETWEEN 2009 AND 2015
455000
450000
445000
440000
435000
430000
425000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Po
pu
lati
on
Year
2004 Population
estimate437610
2009 Population
estimate440802
2015 Population
estimate449098
2014 Population
estimate447380
16 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
Table 4 shows the number of individuals who moved into
and out of the Niagara region between 2009 and 2014
These data allow us to understand Niagararsquos net-
population changes and any significant migration
patterns in Niagara For example the region shows the
highest amount of in- and out-migrants in the 25ndashtondash44
cohort Even though this group accounted for 347 of
in-migrants and 394 of out-migrants it represented
only 114 of net-migrants (ie those people who moved
into Niagara and stayed in region) In comparison the
45-to-64 age cohort has a smaller tally of in- and out-
migration but accounts for almost half of all net-
migration These data suggest that Niagara offers unique
ldquopullrdquo factors for older workers
A comparison of 2009ndash2014 migration to data from
2008ndash2013 represented in table 3 illustrates a generally
consistent migration pattern for the region Individuals
between the ages of 45 and 64 continue to be the largest
group of net-migrants into Niagara The 25ndashtondash44 cohort
reports the most in- and out-migration but their high
turnover accounts for fewer net-migrants Negative
net-migration in the 18ndashtondash24 cohort remains a challenge
for Niagara However the 2009ndash2014 data set shows a
431 decrease in the lost population within this
migration group Overall a 205 increase in net-
migrants to the Niagara region was seen between 2009
and 2014
AGE RANGE IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10688 8197 2663
18ndash24 8264 8983 minus 719
25ndash44 20479 19552 927
45ndash64 12493 8374 4119
65 and over 5635 4305 1330
Total 57731 49411 8320
Source Taxfiler
AGE GROUP IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10909 8086 2823
18ndash24 8382 8791 minus 409
25ndash44 20556 19407 1149
45ndash64 13290 8471 4819
65 and over 6139 4498 1641
Total 59276 49253 10023
Source Taxfiler Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
TABLE 4 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2009ndash2014
TABLE 3 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2008ndash2013
17 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The following data show the number of
employers operating within the Niagara
region Please note that tables 5 and 6
cover only establishments with
employees Establishments operating
without employees (eg people who are
self-employed or businesses operating
with only family members as staff) are
covered on page 28 Note also that
changes to the way Statistics Canada
reports these data prevent comparisons
from prior to December 2014
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
THE MAJORITY OF BUSINESSES IN NIAGARA ARE MICRO-BUSINESSES
18 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2014
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2015
2014ndash2015ABSOLUTE CHANGE
2014ndash2015PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
1ndash4 6100 6245 145 24
5ndash9 2530 2509 minus 21 minus 08
10ndash19 1650 1647 minus 3 minus 02
20ndash49 1134 1167 33 29
50ndash99 370 368 minus 2 minus 05
100ndash199 173 175 2 12
200ndash499 73 74 1 14
500+ 24 26 2 83
Total 12054 12211 157 13
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
As seen in table 5 a slight majority of Niagararsquos employer
landscape is made up of micro-businesses A micro-
business is a business employing between one and four
individuals A small business in comparison typically
employs between 5 and 99 individuals this second group
accounts for 472 of Niagararsquos employers and 402 of
all Ontario employers Combining microndash and small
businesses we see that 978 of all businesses in both
Niagara and Ontario employ fewer than 99 individuals
TABLE 5 EMPLOYERS SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014ndash2015
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
13 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATION
Figure 5 compares the general levels of educational
attainment for the St CatharinesndashNiagara CMArsquos labour
force As of 2011 566 of Niagararsquos labour force had
completed some level of post-secondary training (eg a
trades certificate college diploma or university degree)
Nearly 318 of the labour force had a high school
diploma as their highest level of formal education Only
115 of the labour force was absent any completed
formal training
Figure 6 breaks down the levels of educational
attainment among individuals holding a post-secondary
qualification as of 2011 the latest year for which data are
available Compared to Ontario as a whole Niagararsquos
workforce has a greater concentration of college-
educated individuals (469 in Niagara versus 367 in
Ontario) Niagara also possesses an advantage in
individuals with an apprenticeship or trades certificate
(163 locally compared to 117 at the provincial level) A
total of 311 of Niagararsquos workforce hold a university
degree compared to 446 across the province
14 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONP
ost
-Sec
on
dar
y Tr
ain
ed L
abo
ur
Forc
e P
erce
nta
ge
163
469
117
367
311
446
57 70
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College diploma University certificate or diploma below bachelor level
University certificate or diploma at bachelor level
or above
633
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
115
318
104
264
566
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
FIGURE 5 LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINES ndash NIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Post secondary certificate diploma
or degree
FIGURE 6 POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
Niagara Ontario
Niagara Ontario
50
40
30
20
10
0
15 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 7 NIAGARA REGION ANNUAL POPULATION ESTIMATES 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
Changes to a regionrsquos population will
almost certainly have a direct impact on
the characteristics of a regionrsquos workforce
It is for that reason that we include
population and migration data for the
Niagara region in this report Figure 7
shows the estimated population of the
Niagara region from 2001 to 2015
Statistics Canadarsquos most recent population
estimates suggests approximately 449098
individuals lived in Niagara in 2015
This growth follows a brief period of
population decline in 2007ndash2008
Additional information on population
patterns for Niagararsquos 12 municipalities is
available for review in NWPBrsquos municipal
fact sheet series
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
NIAGARArsquoS POPULATION
HAS SHOWN STEADY
GROWTH SINCE
2009
INCREASING BY 1 BETWEEN 2009 AND 2015
455000
450000
445000
440000
435000
430000
425000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Po
pu
lati
on
Year
2004 Population
estimate437610
2009 Population
estimate440802
2015 Population
estimate449098
2014 Population
estimate447380
16 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
Table 4 shows the number of individuals who moved into
and out of the Niagara region between 2009 and 2014
These data allow us to understand Niagararsquos net-
population changes and any significant migration
patterns in Niagara For example the region shows the
highest amount of in- and out-migrants in the 25ndashtondash44
cohort Even though this group accounted for 347 of
in-migrants and 394 of out-migrants it represented
only 114 of net-migrants (ie those people who moved
into Niagara and stayed in region) In comparison the
45-to-64 age cohort has a smaller tally of in- and out-
migration but accounts for almost half of all net-
migration These data suggest that Niagara offers unique
ldquopullrdquo factors for older workers
A comparison of 2009ndash2014 migration to data from
2008ndash2013 represented in table 3 illustrates a generally
consistent migration pattern for the region Individuals
between the ages of 45 and 64 continue to be the largest
group of net-migrants into Niagara The 25ndashtondash44 cohort
reports the most in- and out-migration but their high
turnover accounts for fewer net-migrants Negative
net-migration in the 18ndashtondash24 cohort remains a challenge
for Niagara However the 2009ndash2014 data set shows a
431 decrease in the lost population within this
migration group Overall a 205 increase in net-
migrants to the Niagara region was seen between 2009
and 2014
AGE RANGE IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10688 8197 2663
18ndash24 8264 8983 minus 719
25ndash44 20479 19552 927
45ndash64 12493 8374 4119
65 and over 5635 4305 1330
Total 57731 49411 8320
Source Taxfiler
AGE GROUP IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10909 8086 2823
18ndash24 8382 8791 minus 409
25ndash44 20556 19407 1149
45ndash64 13290 8471 4819
65 and over 6139 4498 1641
Total 59276 49253 10023
Source Taxfiler Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
TABLE 4 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2009ndash2014
TABLE 3 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2008ndash2013
17 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The following data show the number of
employers operating within the Niagara
region Please note that tables 5 and 6
cover only establishments with
employees Establishments operating
without employees (eg people who are
self-employed or businesses operating
with only family members as staff) are
covered on page 28 Note also that
changes to the way Statistics Canada
reports these data prevent comparisons
from prior to December 2014
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
THE MAJORITY OF BUSINESSES IN NIAGARA ARE MICRO-BUSINESSES
18 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2014
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2015
2014ndash2015ABSOLUTE CHANGE
2014ndash2015PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
1ndash4 6100 6245 145 24
5ndash9 2530 2509 minus 21 minus 08
10ndash19 1650 1647 minus 3 minus 02
20ndash49 1134 1167 33 29
50ndash99 370 368 minus 2 minus 05
100ndash199 173 175 2 12
200ndash499 73 74 1 14
500+ 24 26 2 83
Total 12054 12211 157 13
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
As seen in table 5 a slight majority of Niagararsquos employer
landscape is made up of micro-businesses A micro-
business is a business employing between one and four
individuals A small business in comparison typically
employs between 5 and 99 individuals this second group
accounts for 472 of Niagararsquos employers and 402 of
all Ontario employers Combining microndash and small
businesses we see that 978 of all businesses in both
Niagara and Ontario employ fewer than 99 individuals
TABLE 5 EMPLOYERS SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014ndash2015
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
14 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONP
ost
-Sec
on
dar
y Tr
ain
ed L
abo
ur
Forc
e P
erce
nta
ge
163
469
117
367
311
446
57 70
Apprenticeshiptrades certificate or diploma
College diploma University certificate or diploma below bachelor level
University certificate or diploma at bachelor level
or above
633
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Per
cen
tag
e
115
318
104
264
566
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
FIGURE 5 LABOUR FORCE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AMONG THE ST CATHARINES ndash NIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
No certificatediploma or degree
High schoolcompletion
Post secondary certificate diploma
or degree
FIGURE 6 POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA VERSUS ONTARIO 2011
Source Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey
Niagara Ontario
Niagara Ontario
50
40
30
20
10
0
15 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 7 NIAGARA REGION ANNUAL POPULATION ESTIMATES 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
Changes to a regionrsquos population will
almost certainly have a direct impact on
the characteristics of a regionrsquos workforce
It is for that reason that we include
population and migration data for the
Niagara region in this report Figure 7
shows the estimated population of the
Niagara region from 2001 to 2015
Statistics Canadarsquos most recent population
estimates suggests approximately 449098
individuals lived in Niagara in 2015
This growth follows a brief period of
population decline in 2007ndash2008
Additional information on population
patterns for Niagararsquos 12 municipalities is
available for review in NWPBrsquos municipal
fact sheet series
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
NIAGARArsquoS POPULATION
HAS SHOWN STEADY
GROWTH SINCE
2009
INCREASING BY 1 BETWEEN 2009 AND 2015
455000
450000
445000
440000
435000
430000
425000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Po
pu
lati
on
Year
2004 Population
estimate437610
2009 Population
estimate440802
2015 Population
estimate449098
2014 Population
estimate447380
16 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
Table 4 shows the number of individuals who moved into
and out of the Niagara region between 2009 and 2014
These data allow us to understand Niagararsquos net-
population changes and any significant migration
patterns in Niagara For example the region shows the
highest amount of in- and out-migrants in the 25ndashtondash44
cohort Even though this group accounted for 347 of
in-migrants and 394 of out-migrants it represented
only 114 of net-migrants (ie those people who moved
into Niagara and stayed in region) In comparison the
45-to-64 age cohort has a smaller tally of in- and out-
migration but accounts for almost half of all net-
migration These data suggest that Niagara offers unique
ldquopullrdquo factors for older workers
A comparison of 2009ndash2014 migration to data from
2008ndash2013 represented in table 3 illustrates a generally
consistent migration pattern for the region Individuals
between the ages of 45 and 64 continue to be the largest
group of net-migrants into Niagara The 25ndashtondash44 cohort
reports the most in- and out-migration but their high
turnover accounts for fewer net-migrants Negative
net-migration in the 18ndashtondash24 cohort remains a challenge
for Niagara However the 2009ndash2014 data set shows a
431 decrease in the lost population within this
migration group Overall a 205 increase in net-
migrants to the Niagara region was seen between 2009
and 2014
AGE RANGE IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10688 8197 2663
18ndash24 8264 8983 minus 719
25ndash44 20479 19552 927
45ndash64 12493 8374 4119
65 and over 5635 4305 1330
Total 57731 49411 8320
Source Taxfiler
AGE GROUP IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10909 8086 2823
18ndash24 8382 8791 minus 409
25ndash44 20556 19407 1149
45ndash64 13290 8471 4819
65 and over 6139 4498 1641
Total 59276 49253 10023
Source Taxfiler Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
TABLE 4 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2009ndash2014
TABLE 3 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2008ndash2013
17 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The following data show the number of
employers operating within the Niagara
region Please note that tables 5 and 6
cover only establishments with
employees Establishments operating
without employees (eg people who are
self-employed or businesses operating
with only family members as staff) are
covered on page 28 Note also that
changes to the way Statistics Canada
reports these data prevent comparisons
from prior to December 2014
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
THE MAJORITY OF BUSINESSES IN NIAGARA ARE MICRO-BUSINESSES
18 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2014
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2015
2014ndash2015ABSOLUTE CHANGE
2014ndash2015PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
1ndash4 6100 6245 145 24
5ndash9 2530 2509 minus 21 minus 08
10ndash19 1650 1647 minus 3 minus 02
20ndash49 1134 1167 33 29
50ndash99 370 368 minus 2 minus 05
100ndash199 173 175 2 12
200ndash499 73 74 1 14
500+ 24 26 2 83
Total 12054 12211 157 13
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
As seen in table 5 a slight majority of Niagararsquos employer
landscape is made up of micro-businesses A micro-
business is a business employing between one and four
individuals A small business in comparison typically
employs between 5 and 99 individuals this second group
accounts for 472 of Niagararsquos employers and 402 of
all Ontario employers Combining microndash and small
businesses we see that 978 of all businesses in both
Niagara and Ontario employ fewer than 99 individuals
TABLE 5 EMPLOYERS SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014ndash2015
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
15 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 7 NIAGARA REGION ANNUAL POPULATION ESTIMATES 2001ndash2015
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
Changes to a regionrsquos population will
almost certainly have a direct impact on
the characteristics of a regionrsquos workforce
It is for that reason that we include
population and migration data for the
Niagara region in this report Figure 7
shows the estimated population of the
Niagara region from 2001 to 2015
Statistics Canadarsquos most recent population
estimates suggests approximately 449098
individuals lived in Niagara in 2015
This growth follows a brief period of
population decline in 2007ndash2008
Additional information on population
patterns for Niagararsquos 12 municipalities is
available for review in NWPBrsquos municipal
fact sheet series
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
NIAGARArsquoS POPULATION
HAS SHOWN STEADY
GROWTH SINCE
2009
INCREASING BY 1 BETWEEN 2009 AND 2015
455000
450000
445000
440000
435000
430000
425000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Po
pu
lati
on
Year
2004 Population
estimate437610
2009 Population
estimate440802
2015 Population
estimate449098
2014 Population
estimate447380
16 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
Table 4 shows the number of individuals who moved into
and out of the Niagara region between 2009 and 2014
These data allow us to understand Niagararsquos net-
population changes and any significant migration
patterns in Niagara For example the region shows the
highest amount of in- and out-migrants in the 25ndashtondash44
cohort Even though this group accounted for 347 of
in-migrants and 394 of out-migrants it represented
only 114 of net-migrants (ie those people who moved
into Niagara and stayed in region) In comparison the
45-to-64 age cohort has a smaller tally of in- and out-
migration but accounts for almost half of all net-
migration These data suggest that Niagara offers unique
ldquopullrdquo factors for older workers
A comparison of 2009ndash2014 migration to data from
2008ndash2013 represented in table 3 illustrates a generally
consistent migration pattern for the region Individuals
between the ages of 45 and 64 continue to be the largest
group of net-migrants into Niagara The 25ndashtondash44 cohort
reports the most in- and out-migration but their high
turnover accounts for fewer net-migrants Negative
net-migration in the 18ndashtondash24 cohort remains a challenge
for Niagara However the 2009ndash2014 data set shows a
431 decrease in the lost population within this
migration group Overall a 205 increase in net-
migrants to the Niagara region was seen between 2009
and 2014
AGE RANGE IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10688 8197 2663
18ndash24 8264 8983 minus 719
25ndash44 20479 19552 927
45ndash64 12493 8374 4119
65 and over 5635 4305 1330
Total 57731 49411 8320
Source Taxfiler
AGE GROUP IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10909 8086 2823
18ndash24 8382 8791 minus 409
25ndash44 20556 19407 1149
45ndash64 13290 8471 4819
65 and over 6139 4498 1641
Total 59276 49253 10023
Source Taxfiler Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
TABLE 4 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2009ndash2014
TABLE 3 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2008ndash2013
17 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The following data show the number of
employers operating within the Niagara
region Please note that tables 5 and 6
cover only establishments with
employees Establishments operating
without employees (eg people who are
self-employed or businesses operating
with only family members as staff) are
covered on page 28 Note also that
changes to the way Statistics Canada
reports these data prevent comparisons
from prior to December 2014
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
THE MAJORITY OF BUSINESSES IN NIAGARA ARE MICRO-BUSINESSES
18 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2014
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2015
2014ndash2015ABSOLUTE CHANGE
2014ndash2015PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
1ndash4 6100 6245 145 24
5ndash9 2530 2509 minus 21 minus 08
10ndash19 1650 1647 minus 3 minus 02
20ndash49 1134 1167 33 29
50ndash99 370 368 minus 2 minus 05
100ndash199 173 175 2 12
200ndash499 73 74 1 14
500+ 24 26 2 83
Total 12054 12211 157 13
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
As seen in table 5 a slight majority of Niagararsquos employer
landscape is made up of micro-businesses A micro-
business is a business employing between one and four
individuals A small business in comparison typically
employs between 5 and 99 individuals this second group
accounts for 472 of Niagararsquos employers and 402 of
all Ontario employers Combining microndash and small
businesses we see that 978 of all businesses in both
Niagara and Ontario employ fewer than 99 individuals
TABLE 5 EMPLOYERS SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014ndash2015
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
16 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
MIGRATION AND POPULATION
Table 4 shows the number of individuals who moved into
and out of the Niagara region between 2009 and 2014
These data allow us to understand Niagararsquos net-
population changes and any significant migration
patterns in Niagara For example the region shows the
highest amount of in- and out-migrants in the 25ndashtondash44
cohort Even though this group accounted for 347 of
in-migrants and 394 of out-migrants it represented
only 114 of net-migrants (ie those people who moved
into Niagara and stayed in region) In comparison the
45-to-64 age cohort has a smaller tally of in- and out-
migration but accounts for almost half of all net-
migration These data suggest that Niagara offers unique
ldquopullrdquo factors for older workers
A comparison of 2009ndash2014 migration to data from
2008ndash2013 represented in table 3 illustrates a generally
consistent migration pattern for the region Individuals
between the ages of 45 and 64 continue to be the largest
group of net-migrants into Niagara The 25ndashtondash44 cohort
reports the most in- and out-migration but their high
turnover accounts for fewer net-migrants Negative
net-migration in the 18ndashtondash24 cohort remains a challenge
for Niagara However the 2009ndash2014 data set shows a
431 decrease in the lost population within this
migration group Overall a 205 increase in net-
migrants to the Niagara region was seen between 2009
and 2014
AGE RANGE IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10688 8197 2663
18ndash24 8264 8983 minus 719
25ndash44 20479 19552 927
45ndash64 12493 8374 4119
65 and over 5635 4305 1330
Total 57731 49411 8320
Source Taxfiler
AGE GROUP IN-MIGRANTS OUT-MIGRANTS NET-MIGRANTS
0ndash17 10909 8086 2823
18ndash24 8382 8791 minus 409
25ndash44 20556 19407 1149
45ndash64 13290 8471 4819
65 and over 6139 4498 1641
Total 59276 49253 10023
Source Taxfiler Statistics Canada CANSIM 051-0062
TABLE 4 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2009ndash2014
TABLE 3 POPULATION MIGRATION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2008ndash2013
17 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The following data show the number of
employers operating within the Niagara
region Please note that tables 5 and 6
cover only establishments with
employees Establishments operating
without employees (eg people who are
self-employed or businesses operating
with only family members as staff) are
covered on page 28 Note also that
changes to the way Statistics Canada
reports these data prevent comparisons
from prior to December 2014
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
THE MAJORITY OF BUSINESSES IN NIAGARA ARE MICRO-BUSINESSES
18 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2014
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2015
2014ndash2015ABSOLUTE CHANGE
2014ndash2015PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
1ndash4 6100 6245 145 24
5ndash9 2530 2509 minus 21 minus 08
10ndash19 1650 1647 minus 3 minus 02
20ndash49 1134 1167 33 29
50ndash99 370 368 minus 2 minus 05
100ndash199 173 175 2 12
200ndash499 73 74 1 14
500+ 24 26 2 83
Total 12054 12211 157 13
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
As seen in table 5 a slight majority of Niagararsquos employer
landscape is made up of micro-businesses A micro-
business is a business employing between one and four
individuals A small business in comparison typically
employs between 5 and 99 individuals this second group
accounts for 472 of Niagararsquos employers and 402 of
all Ontario employers Combining microndash and small
businesses we see that 978 of all businesses in both
Niagara and Ontario employ fewer than 99 individuals
TABLE 5 EMPLOYERS SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014ndash2015
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
17 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
The following data show the number of
employers operating within the Niagara
region Please note that tables 5 and 6
cover only establishments with
employees Establishments operating
without employees (eg people who are
self-employed or businesses operating
with only family members as staff) are
covered on page 28 Note also that
changes to the way Statistics Canada
reports these data prevent comparisons
from prior to December 2014
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
THE MAJORITY OF BUSINESSES IN NIAGARA ARE MICRO-BUSINESSES
18 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2014
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2015
2014ndash2015ABSOLUTE CHANGE
2014ndash2015PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
1ndash4 6100 6245 145 24
5ndash9 2530 2509 minus 21 minus 08
10ndash19 1650 1647 minus 3 minus 02
20ndash49 1134 1167 33 29
50ndash99 370 368 minus 2 minus 05
100ndash199 173 175 2 12
200ndash499 73 74 1 14
500+ 24 26 2 83
Total 12054 12211 157 13
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
As seen in table 5 a slight majority of Niagararsquos employer
landscape is made up of micro-businesses A micro-
business is a business employing between one and four
individuals A small business in comparison typically
employs between 5 and 99 individuals this second group
accounts for 472 of Niagararsquos employers and 402 of
all Ontario employers Combining microndash and small
businesses we see that 978 of all businesses in both
Niagara and Ontario employ fewer than 99 individuals
TABLE 5 EMPLOYERS SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014ndash2015
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
18 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2014
NUMBER OFESTABLISHMENTSDECEMBER 2015
2014ndash2015ABSOLUTE CHANGE
2014ndash2015PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
1ndash4 6100 6245 145 24
5ndash9 2530 2509 minus 21 minus 08
10ndash19 1650 1647 minus 3 minus 02
20ndash49 1134 1167 33 29
50ndash99 370 368 minus 2 minus 05
100ndash199 173 175 2 12
200ndash499 73 74 1 14
500+ 24 26 2 83
Total 12054 12211 157 13
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
As seen in table 5 a slight majority of Niagararsquos employer
landscape is made up of micro-businesses A micro-
business is a business employing between one and four
individuals A small business in comparison typically
employs between 5 and 99 individuals this second group
accounts for 472 of Niagararsquos employers and 402 of
all Ontario employers Combining microndash and small
businesses we see that 978 of all businesses in both
Niagara and Ontario employ fewer than 99 individuals
TABLE 5 EMPLOYERS SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014ndash2015
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
19 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SIZE IN NIAGARA
ESTABLISHMENT SIZENUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NIAGARA ONTARIO
1ndash4 506 576
5ndash9 210 178
10ndash19 137 116
20ndash49 94 82
50ndash99 31 27
100ndash199 14 12
200ndash499 06 07
500+ 02 03
Total 1000 1000
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
Year-over-year comparisons show generally consistent
trends within Niagararsquos employer landscape The
December 2015 data reports two additional ldquolargerdquo
employers (ie those employing in excess of 500
individuals) as well as growth in micro-businesses and
small businesses employing between 20 and 49
individuals Compared to Ontario (table 6) Niagararsquos 2015
landscape was generally typical of what we observed at
the provincial level Although Niagara has proportionally
fewer micro-businesses than the province the data
suggest local strengths in establishments with 5 to 9
employees and 10 to 19 employees Niagara also sees
some slight advantages in establishments at the 20ndash49
employee range and 50ndash99 employee range
PERCENTAGE OF ALL BUSINESSES
TABLE 6 EMPLOYER SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
20 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
This section provides a comprehensive overview of industry
employment patterns in the St CatharinesndashNiagara Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Figure 8 identifies that in 2015 208 of Niagararsquos jobs were
found in the goods-producing sector As the name suggests
this sector includes all jobs in agriculture utilities resource
extraction manufacturing and construction
Table 7 sheds further light on Niagararsquos industrial profile by
providing a historical overview of industry employment In
2015 Niagararsquos three largest industries were wholesale and
retail trade accommodation and food service and health
care and social assistance Combined these three industries
represented 409 of all jobs in Niagara in 2015
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
FIGURE 8 GOODS-PRODUCING VERSUS SERVICES-PRODUCING JOBS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Services-producingsector 2005
765
Goods-producingsector 2005
236
Services-producingsector 2010
784
Goods-producingsector 2010
216
Services-producingsector 2015
792
Goods-producingsector 2015
208
100
80
60
40
20
0
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
21 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 7 TOP 10 EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIES IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2005ndash2015
INDUSTRY 2005 2010 2014 2015
Wholesale and retail trade
31400 31700 31100 34800
Accommodation and food services
20500 22200 23000 24800
Health care and social assistance
21400 22700 23000 23900
Manufacturing 26900 21500 20800 18300
Construction 12400 13400 15300 18000
Business building and support services
11200 9500 11100 14800
Educational services 12000 11900 13700 14600
Information culture and recreation
12300 12000 8400 9300
Professional scientific and technical services
7700 7700 9100 9200
Other services (except public administration)
8500 8600 6800 7900
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing
9100 7700 10100 7700
Public administration
7200 6500 8400 7500
Transportation and warehousing
7700 9000 8100 7400
Agriculture 5300 3900 4000 2900
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas ndash ndash ndash 1700
Utilities ndash 1600 1900 1500
Sources Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131
Note ndash denotes years for which data were suppressed by Statistics Canada
AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT IN NIAGARA
2005 20142010 2015
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
22 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENT
Accommodation and food services 189
Business building and other support services 151
Forestry fishing mining quarrying oil and gas 133
Agriculture 128
Construction 125
Wholesale and retail 113
Utilities 103
Information culture and recreation 102
Health care and social assistance 100
Other services (except public administration) 097
Educational services 096
Manufacturing 083
Transportation and warehousing 078
Public administration 074
Professional scientific and technical services 054
Finance insurance real estate rental and leasing 048
TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
The industries of business building and other support
services and construction saw exceptional local growth
between 2014 and 2015 These industries also saw
significant five-year growth compared to the province
Between 2010 and 2015 construction in Niagara saw a
344 increase in employment compared to 103 in
Ontario business building and other support services
grew by 558 in Niagara but only by 148 in Ontario
Agriculture one of Niagararsquos economic pillars shed nearly
25 of its workforce between 2014 and 2015 For
additional information on this industry see Focus on
Agriculture page 23
Table 8 presents the 2015 provincial location quotients for
Niagararsquos industry sectors Location quotients allow us to
measure which industries are particularly unique within a
region A location quotient of 100 as is the case in health
care and social assistance means that the local industry
has the same concentration of jobs as that of the province
as a whole In other words we are ldquopar for the courserdquo in
terms of the concentration of jobs in health care and social
assistance The higher the location quotient the more
unique a region is considered to be with respect to a given
industry Accommodation and food servicersquos location
quotient of 189 means that this sector is almost twice as
concentrated in Niagara as it is in Ontario Finance
insurance real estate rental and leasingrsquos location
quotient of 048 means that jobs in this industry are
almost half as concentrated in Niagara as they are in the
province
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
TABLE 8 INDUSTRY LOCATION QUOTIENTS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2015
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
23 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
FIGURE 9 EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA 2001ndash2015
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
34003300
5300
66006500
5200
3900
4400 42004100 4000
2900
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0131 NWPB calculations
7400
Lab
ou
r Fo
rce
Size
35003700
Recent years have reported a considerable decline in
employment in agriculture and its related industries
(figure 9) In 2006 agriculture employed 7400
individuals in Niagara In 2014 agriculture employed
4000 individuals The 2015 employment level fell by
275 of the 2014 level to a historic low of 2900
employed individuals In an attempt to better understand
this year-over-year decline NWPB conducted a shift-share
analysis on the agriculture industry in 2014 and 2015 A
shift-share analysis allows us to understand how many jobs
were gained and lost in the agriculture industry because of
changes in the overall provincial economy changes in the
industry at the provincial level and changes in the industry
at the local level While this analysis does not explain why
these changes occurred it does show where the changes
are coming from that is whether the challenges and
opportunities facing the agriculture industry derive from
local factors or are beyond the scope of local influence
Of the net 1100 jobs in agriculture that were lost between
2014 and 2015 in Niagara approximately 266 can be
attributed to job-loss trends in agriculture at the provincial
level Growth in employment in Ontario as a whole
accounted for an increase in approximately 27 jobs in
agriculture Approximately 860 of the lost jobs in Niagara
can be attributed to local factors
These data indicate that only about one-quarter of the
losses in Niagararsquos agriculture industry are due to changes
in Ontariorsquos agriculture and agriculture-related industries
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
24 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section drills down into Niagararsquos top
industry subsectors Industry subsectors
are a more specific grouping of the
businesses not-for-profits and charities
operating in Niagara Where the previous
section would examine construction as an
industry we would now see specialty
trade contractors as a subsector of
construction Since nearly 98 of
employers in Niagara employ fewer than
99 individuals as seen on page 18 table 9
will deal specifically with these
enterprises
2015 saw specialty trade contractors
ambulatory health care services and food
services and drinking places continue to
house the largest number of employers in
Niagara Notable year-over-year changes
were found in specialty trade contractors
which grew by 27 establishments and
crop production which shrank by 22
establishments
Table 10 shows how these changes are
reflected in subsector employment
figures Food services and drinking places
house the largest number of jobs in
Niagara This is followed by administrative
and support services and specialty trade
contractors
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTORS ARE THE
LARGEST INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR IN NIAGARA
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
25 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
TABLE 9 TOP 10 MICRO-AND SMALL-BUSINESS INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRYDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Specialty trade contractors 994 1021
Ambulatory health care services 924 916
Food service and drinking places 918 911
Professional scientific and technical services 890 893
Administrative and support services 486 495
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
465 452
Repair and maintenance 419 410
Real estate 375 378
Construction of buildings 359 354
Crop production 365 343
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
26 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
Food services and drinking places 15461 15780
Administrative and support services 8747 8758
Specialty trade contractors 7210 7234
Ambulatory health care services 5587 6309
Professional scientific and technical services 4830 5071
Crop production 3563 3366
Religious grant-making civic and professional and similar organizations
3025 3023
Construction of buildings 2843 2611
Real estate 2005 2175
Repair and maintenance 1977 2054
Sources Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015 EMSI Analyst
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS
NUMBER OF JOBS
DECEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2015
TABLE 10 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NIAGARA REGIONrsquoS TOP INDUSTRY SUBSECTORS 2014 AND 2015
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
27 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
28 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Zero-employee firms as seen in table 11
are the businesses that best reflect
self-employment in the Niagara region
Statistics Canadarsquos definition of a zero-
employee firm includes those operations
where all work is done by either the
owner the owner and their immediate
family or the owner and temporary
contractors Zero-employee firms also
include independent contractors even
those contractors working under the
brand or logistic support of a larger
corporate body Because of this zero-
employee firms reflect a diverse range of
employment trends
In December 2015 there were 24347
zero-employee firms operating in the
Niagara region this is a 43 increase
over the 23334 zero-employee firms
reported in December 2014
Table 11 lists the top 10 industry
subsectors by number of firms for
zero-employee firms in the Niagara
region The largest year-over-year increase
was seen in real estate which experienced
an addition of 390 businesses in 2015
(669 of the 2014 total count)
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
IN DECEMBER 2015
THERE WERE
24347 ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
OPERATING IN THE
NIAGARA REGION
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
29 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 11 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION 2014 AND 2015
INDUSTRY SUBSECTORDECEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2015
Real estate 5826 6216
Professional scientific and technical services 2216 2242
Specialty trade contractors 1219 1268
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
895 915
Ambulatory health care services 882 902
Administrative and support services 730 784
Construction of buildings 706 706
Crop production 664 672
Management of companies and enterprises 595 602
Truck transportation 556 566
Total 14289 14873
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2014 and December 2015
NUMBER OF FIRMS
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
30 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
INDUSTRY SUBSECTOR
NIAGARA REGION ONTARIO
Real estate 2553 2117
Professional scientific and technical services 921 1251
Specialty trade contractors 521 474
Securities commodity contracts and other financial investment and related activities
376 408
Ambulatory health care services 370 388
Administrative and support services 322 338
Construction of buildings 290 290
Crop production 276 190
Management of companies and enterprises 247 283
Truck transportation 232 276
Source Canadian Business Counts December 2015
ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
Table 12 shows how much each of these subsectors
contributes to the overall zero-employee firm landscape in
Niagara and offers proportional comparisons at the
provincial level Although real estate represents slightly
more than one-quarter of all zero-employee firms in
Niagara it accounts for only about one-fifth of zero-
employee firms at the provincial level The remaining
subsectors are generally consistent between the region
and Ontario with the provincersquos slightly higher
representation in professional scientific and technical
services as the only considerable exception
PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS
TABLE 12 TOP ZERO-EMPLOYEE FIRMS AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL ZERO EMPLOYEE FIRMS IN THE NIAGARA REGION VERSUS ONTARIO 2015
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
31 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
Here we examine labour force trends from
an occupational perspective Where
industry-focused measurements examine
business activities (using the North
American Industrial Classification System
or NAICS as a standard measurement)
this occupation-focused analysis uses
Canadarsquos National Occupation
Classification (NOC) system to understand
the work a person is doing Table 13
provides a high-level overview of the
employment patterns in the St
CatharinesndashNiagara CMA Please note that
these data do not differentiate between
full-time and part-time employment
On average there were 45 more jobs in
Niagara in 2015 than in 2014 The largest
concentration of these jobs can be found
in sales and service occupations The
steady growth of sales and services
occupations which accounted for 331
of all jobs in Niagara in 2015 is
representative of Niagararsquos shift toward a
services-producing economy as outlined
on page 20 While most industries posted
year-over-year gains between 2014 and
2015 two sectors saw some notable
proportional losses Most notably
occupations in manufacturing and utilities
decreased by 196 and jobs in natural
resources and agriculture fell by 73
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
SALES AND SERVICE JOBS WERE
BOTH ABSOLUTELY
AND RELATIVELY THE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE AREA
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
32 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
OCCUPATION
Sales and service occupations 62500 62600 61600 67600
Trades transport and equipment operators and related occupations
30400 27300 29700 29500
Business finance and administration occupations 25700 25000 27400 26900
Occupations in education law and social community and government services
16500 18000 18300 21300
Management occupations 18500 16400 16600 17700
Health occupations 11800 13500 14000 13600
Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8100 8500 8100 9200
Occupations in manufacturing and utilities 12400 10100 10700 8600
Occupations in art culture recreation and sport 4900 5400 4800 5900
Natural resources agriculture and related production occupations
4300 3700 4100 3800
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
2005 2014 2010 2015
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
TABLE 13 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINESndashNIAGARA CMA BY ONE-DIGIT NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODE 2005ndash2015
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
33 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA OCCUPATIONS
TABLE 14 TOP OCCUPATIONS IN THE ST CATHARINES-NIAGARA CMA
OCCUPATION2005 2010 2014 2015
Service support and other service occupations
14800 15300 14300 14800
Service representatives and other customer and personal services occupations
15000 14800 15400 14000
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations
9100 9700 9000 12500
Industrial electrical and construction trades 11300 9300 9900 12500
Sales representatives and salespersons - wholesale and retail trade
9000 9700 8900 10000
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations
7400 7000 8000 9500
Sales support occupations 8600 9000 7200 8800
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services
9800 8000 7000 8400
Professional occupations in education services
7400 7000 6800 8000
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations
6000 4100 6800 7500
Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
7000 7600 7600 7400
Total employed all occupations 195000 190400 195400 204100
Table 14 provides the top 10 occupations in Niagara at a
two-digit NOC level While this table is not inclusive of all
jobs in Niagara it provides more detailed occupations
than what is seen in table 13 while still accounting for
roughly 55 of all jobs in Niagara
Source Statistics Canada CANSIM 282-0159
AVERAGE NUMBER OF JOBS
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
34 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
NIAGARA EMPLOYERS EXPLORING HIRING PATTERNS During the production of this yearrsquos labour market report
NWPB deployed a brief questionnaire about hiring patterns
among local employers This questionnaire emerged out of
a two-year trend discovered in our Employer One survey
We observed that more than two-thirds of employers
completing the Employer One survey consistently reported
hiring through informal networks or word-of-mouth
recruiting Our questionnaire offered employers a platform
to share their reasons for hiring through these approaches
and how it worked out for them
A total of 85 employers completed our questionnaire
As seen in figure 10 these responses come from employers
of various sizes Of the 68 employers who reported hiring in
2015 838 reported that they had at some point hired
through informal networks or word-of-mouth recruiting
Of those who had hired through informal networks or
word-of-mouth recruiting 769 reported a positive
experience 192 reported a mixed experience and only
38 reported a negative experience
While these data do not represent all employers in Niagara
they do present interesting avenues for subsequent
research For example employers frequently reported that
informal hiring networks and word-of-mouth referrals
allowed them to source talent without devoting an extensive
amount of time to reviewing numerous applications from
otherwise unsuitable applicants Employers also reported
that hiring in this fashion ensured a good alignment
between the culture of their business and the background
and personality of a prospective hire this seemed
particularly prominent where applicants were engaged
through social media Numerous respondents also cited the
importance of using word of mouth recruiting to direct
applicants to a standardized hiring process
NWPB will continue to examine informal networks and
word-of-mouth recruiting in an effort to better serve both
employers and job seekers in Niagara
FIGURE 10 NIAGARA EMPLOYER SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED HIRING THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS OR WORD-OF-MOUTH RECRUITING 2016
Source Niagara Workforce Planning Board 2016
25
20
15
10
5
0
Nu
mb
er o
f Em
plo
yers
22
13
7
4
15
1211
4 3 3
66 65
9
16
1ndash4 5ndash9 10ndash19 20ndash49 50ndash99
Size of Employer Number of Employees
100ndash199 200ndash499 500+
Survey completions Used informal networks or word-of-mouth hiring
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
35 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
This section describes the initiatives that NWPB will be
undertaking or continuing in the short medium and
long term It is designed to address areas of concern or
need that were identified in our previous labour market
report or through consultation with partners and
community stakeholders As ever NWPB is open to
feedback and suggestions from the community on our
plans for the future
ACTION PLAN
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
36 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREAS OF INTEREST INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUPPORTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITH CAREERS IN THE SKILLED TRADES
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivery of a pilot day in November 2015
and a second day in November 2016
NWPB District School Board of
Niagara (DSBN) Ontario
Secondary School
Teachersrsquo Federation
(OSSTF) Employment
Ontario
Expansion of program to
include additional teachers
and multiple school boards
Review feedback from participating
teachers and employers from pilot program
to improve outcomes for delivery
NWPB DSBN OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Alteration of the structure
of the event to better
accommodate both teachers
and employers
Based on feedback expand the project
to include additional school boards in the
Niagara region
NWPB Niagara Catholic District
School Board
NCDSB will be delivering a
pilot E3 program 2016
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Evaluate potential for greater
collaboration with Brock Universityrsquos
Faculty of Education pre-service training
program
NWPB Existing reference group
and Brock University
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Expand project to include greater
number of teachers in both DSBN and
NCDSB as well as greater number of
participating employees
NWPB DSBN NCDSB OSSTF
Employment Ontario
Increased dialogue between
Niagara educators and employers
to better prepare students for entry
into the workforce
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore potential for mentorship
activities that could emerge out of
existing relationships from the project
NWPB TBD Potential for preparing the
youth workforce for future
employment while allowing
young people to gain
additional work experience
PROJECT EMPLOYER EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE (E3)
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
37 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST AVAILABILITY OF DATA FOR FRONT-LINE SERVICE AGENCIES AND THE NIAGARA COMMUNITY AT LARGE
PROJECT LOCAL LABOUR MARKET BROCHURES
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Create a Niagara Community Data
Consortium (NCDC)
NWPB Canadian Council on
Social Development
(CCSD)
NCDC launched on April 9
2015 currently houses 10
member organizations
Created a job-demand report NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Preliminary report complete
Quarterly reports to follow
Created labour market brochures and
annual municipal fact sheets
NWPB NA Publication of municipal
labour market brochures and
subsequent feedback led to
the revised municipal fact
sheets which have become
part of annual labour market
reporting activities
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Continue job-demand reporting NWPB Employment Ontario
Vicinity Jobs
Identifying consistent
demand patterns as they
emerge as a means of
informing employment
services programing
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
38 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2016
ACTION PLAN
AREA OF INTEREST EXPLORING LABOUR MARKET DEMAND IN THE NIAGARA REGION
PROJECT EMPLOYER ONE SURVEY
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Delivered the Employer
One survey in January
2015 and 2016
NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers
of commerce
sector groups
Produced a comprehensive report
and summary infographic
Developed best practices for marketing
the survey in future iterations
Produced a research proposal based on
survey results designed to explore the
hidden job market
Delivered a questionnaire on hiring through
informal networks and word-of-mouth
recruiting based on Employer One results
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver survey in 2017 NWPB Employment Ontario local
chambers of commerce sector
groups
Increase number of survey completions
and produce a comprehensive report
and summary infographic based on the
findings
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD TBD TBD TBD
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
39 | LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLANNING REPORT 2015
AREA OF INTEREST SUPPORTING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN THE LABOUR FORCE AND DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO MEANINGFUL LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
ACTION PROJECT LEAD PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Develop and deliver a brief student survey about youth knowledge of labour market information
NWPB NCDSB DSBN Delivered survey through NCDSB currently analyzing results expecting to deliver survey to DSBN in September
Gather information about apprenticeship programs and course requirements and form a resource data base
NWPB The Apprenticeship Focus Group
Information to be given to focus group to begin strategizing resources various dates TBD
Based on feedback from Employment Ontario and the Apprenticeship group develop draft presentation for delivery to school boards
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN NCDSB
TBD
SHORT-TERM PLANNING (1 YEAR)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Deliver presentations to schools in both school boards and further consult with Employment Ontario agencies to build interactive component into presentation for optimal engagement
NWPB Employment Ontario DSBN
NCDSB
TBD
MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING (1ndash2 YEARS)
ACTIONPROPOSED PROJECT LEAD PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
Explore the development of
specialized student presentations
for further delivery of this project
NWPB DSBNNCDSB TBD
LONG-TERM PLANNING (2ndash3 YEARS)
ACTION PROPOSED PROJECT LEAD
PROPOSED PARTNERS OUTCOMES
TBD based on feedback from
project
TBD TBD TBD
ACTION PLAN
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca
36 Page Street Suite 404 St Catharines Ontario
Phone 905-641-0801 | Fax 905-641-0308
Email infoniagaraworkforceboardca
Website wwwniagaraworkforceboardca