Toronto Employment Survey

Since 1983, Toronto has monitored the City’s employment by conducting an annual survey of businesses. The data collected is vital to monitor the City’s economic health, as well as aiding in decision and policy making. It is essential background information for forecasting and planning the City’s infrastructure and services for the citizens and businesses of Toronto. The Survey is a unique resource in Canada for the private and public sectors.

Throughout the summer, surveyors visit each and every business establishment in the City of Toronto. That’s over 71,750 locations. The surveyors collect information about the number of employees working there, and the type of work that is taking place. No other programme relates Toronto employment and land use.

Your Information is Confidential

The information collected is treated as strictly confidential. The data is only released to the public in aggregate form. This allows employment patterns to be studied without revealing specific information on individual businesses.

We Need You

The continued success of this important survey depends on the co-operation and assistance of the City’s business community. We rely on each business establishment to provide us with information on the number of full- and part-time employees as well as the type of employment activity taking place at each location.

Watch out for a surveyor at your business this summer and count your business in.

The 2022 Employment Bulletin summarizes the results of the 40th annual Toronto Employment Survey and provides an analysis of changes in Toronto’s economy over the past decade. The bulletin reports on key employment trends by sector, and on evolving employment patterns across the city and in Downtown, the Centres, Employment Areas, Secondary Plan areas, and Areas of Employment.

Toronto Employment Concentration, 2022

This map shows locations of all establishments in the city, with graduated symbols for establishments (1) having less than 100 employees, (2) having between 100 and 499 employees (3) having between 500 and 2,499 employees and (4) having over 2,500 employees.

Highlights

  • The Toronto Employment Survey counted 1,484,600 jobs in 2022.
  • Total employment in the city of Toronto in 2022 grew by 33,080 jobs (2.3%) from 2021, compared to 1,610 jobs (0.1%) growth between 2020 and 2021.
  • Full-time employment increased by 21,750 jobs (1.9%) from 2021.
  • Part-time employment increased by 11,330 jobs (3.4%) from 2021.
  • Community and Entertainment employment increased by the highest rate at 13.4%. After making a partial recovery in 2021 of jobs lost the year before, Office employment decreased 0.1% in 2022.
  • The Office category continues to be Toronto’s largest employment category with over half of all jobs (50.3%).
  • The Survey counted 71,750 establishments in 2022, an increase of 1,760 establishments (2.5%).
  • 6,470 new business establishments opened in 2022 with 2,250 located in Employment Areas (34.8%), 1,240 in Downtown (19.2%), 340 in the Centres (5.2%), and 2,640 (40.8%) in the rest of the city.
  • Toronto’s Downtown and Centres contained 638,810 jobs in 2022, or 43.0% of all employment.
  • In 2022, 398,080 jobs were located in Employment Areas, or 26.8% of all jobs in Toronto.
  • Employment Areas contained 89.4% of all Manufacturing jobs in 2022.
  • Areas of Employment (AOE) account for 398,290 jobs, or 26.8% of all citywide employment.
  • Manufacturing was the leading employment activity in 2022 comprising 76,850 jobs or 19.3% of all jobs located in an AOE.

Total Employment in City of Toronto, 1983-2022

This figure shows a stacked bar chart of annual counts of full and part time employees for the period 1983-2022. A long term trend increase in employment is apparent, with shorter term fluctuations corresponding to economic cycles.

Total Employment – 2011, 2020, 2022

Employment Total Number of Employees Net Change % Change Net Change % Change
2012 2021 2022 2012-2022 2021-2022
Full-time 1,028,850 1,119,350 1,141,100 112,250 10.9% 21,750 1.9%
Part-time 302,720 332,170 343,500 40,780 13.5% 11,330 3.4%
Total 1,331,570 1,451,520 1,484,600 153,030 11.5% 33,080 2.3%

Source:City of Toronto, City Planning, Planning Research and Analytics

Note: Numbers have been rounded to the nearest ten. Totals and sums may differ due to rounding.

  • In 2022, approximately 500 establishments reported significant employment change as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, representing a loss of 15,650 jobs.
  • There were 260 establishments that reported growth related to the pandemic, adding 21,660 jobs (81.6%), which is a slight increase from last year, while 250 establishments reported a loss of 4,900 jobs (18.4%).
  • The categories that reported the highest percentage employment gains were Institutional (36.2%), Service (26.9%) and Office (22.4%).
  • The categories that reported the highest percentage employment losses were Service (32.1%), Office (22.3%) and Retail (18.8%).
  • Of the 30,440 businesses that responded to the “work-from-home” survey questions, 4,540 establishments (14.9%) reported having some degree of work-from-home employment, with approximately 100,000 jobs reported as work-from-home.
  • The majority of the establishments reporting work-from-home employment were in the Office category (74.7%).
  • Three in ten businesses that adopted a hybrid work model reported having employees work from home on average three days a week (29.5%).

Number of Establishments Reporting Work-From-Home Employment by Category, 2021-2022

This figure shows the number of establishments that reported work-from-home employment by category in 2022. The six categories include: Manufacturing, Retail, Service, Office, Institutional, and Community & Entertainment. Office reported the most work-from-home employment while Community and Entertainment reported the least work-from-home employment.

 

  • According to the Ontario Planning Act, an “‘area of employment’ means an area of land designated in an official plan for clusters of business and economic uses including, without limitation, the uses listed in subsection (5) [of the Act], or as otherwise prescribed by regulation”. These uses include manufacturing, warehousing, office, associated retail uses ancillary facilities. In Toronto, there are 23 Areas of Employment (AOE) which represent geographic clusters of lands designated as either Core Employment Area or General Employment Area in the Official Plan.
  • Employment in the AOEs accounts for 398,290 jobs, 26.8% of all citywide employment, and 21,650 establishments, 30.2% of the total.
  • The top five AOEs, Rexdale-Airport, South Etobicoke, Downsview, Highway 400, and Tapscott, comprise nearly half of the employment with 179,480 jobs, each with greater than 30,000 jobs.
  • Manufacturing was the leading employment activity in 2022 comprising 76,850 jobs or 19.3% of all jobs located in an AOE.

This map shows the Areas of Employment (AOEs) in the city, along with Core and General Employment Areas.

For copies of Employment Bulletins from 2003 to 2021, please contact Hailey Toft by telephone at 416-392-8343 or by email at cityplanning@toronto.ca.

Toronto Employment Survey Summary Tables for 2016 to 2022 are available on the Open Data Catalogue.