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 72,530 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 2023 Employment Bulletin summarizes the results of the 41st 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, Secondary Plan areas, Employment Areas and Areas of Employment.

Toronto Employment Concentration, 2023

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 1,535,290 jobs in 2023.
  • Total employment in the city of Toronto in 2023 grew by 50,690 jobs (3.4 per cent) from 2022, compared to 33,080 jobs (2.3 per cent) growth between 2021 and 2022.
  • Toronto’s total employment is approaching the pre-pandemic total high of 1,569,800 in 2019, a difference of 34,510 jobs (2.2 per cent) in 2023.
  • Full-time employment increased by 38,270 jobs (3.4 per cent) from 2022.
  • Part-time employment increased by 12, 410 jobs (3.6 per cent) from 2022.
  • Community and Entertainment employment increased by the highest rate at 12.6 per cent.
  • The Office category continues to be Toronto’s largest employment category with nearly half of all jobs (49.9 per cent).
  • The Survey counted 72,530 establishments, an increase of 780 establishments (1.1 per cent).
  • 7,580 new business establishments opened in 2023 with 2,500 located in Employment Areas (33.0 per cent), 1,610 in Downtown (21.2 per cent), 410 in the Centres (5.4 per cent), and 3,060 (40.4 per cent) in the rest of the city.
  • Toronto’s Downtown and Centres contained 674,760 jobs in 2023, or 44.0 per cent of all employment.
  • In 2023, 397,910 jobs were located in Employment Areas, or 25.9 per cent of all jobs in Toronto.
  • Employment Areas contained 90.1 per cent of all Manufacturing jobs in 2023.
  • Areas of Employment (AOE) account for 383,860 jobs, or 25.0 per cent of all citywide employment.
  • Manufacturing was the leading employment activity in 2023 comprising 75,310 jobs or 19.6 per cent of all jobs located in an AOE.

Total Employment in City of Toronto, 1983-2023

This figure shows a stacked bar chart of annual counts of full and part time employees for the period 1983-2023. A long term trend increase in employment is apparent, with shorter term fluctuations corresponding to economic cycles.

Total Employment – 2013, 2022, 2023

Employment Total Number of Employees Net Change % Change Net Change % Change
2013 2022 2023 2013-2023 2022-2023
Full-time 1,048,300 1,141,100 1,179,370 131,070 12.5% 38,270 3.4%
Part-time 315,560 343,500 355,910 40,350 12.8% 12,410 3.6%
Total 1,363,850 1,484,600 1,535,290 171,440 12.6% 50,690 3.4%

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 2023, 210 businesses reported a significant positive or negative change caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2023, representing about 22,690 jobs.
  • There were 120 establishments that reported employment growth caused by the pandemic, adding 20,150 jobs (88.8 per cent), while 90 establishments reported a loss of 2,540 jobs (11.2 per cent).
  • The categories that reported the highest percentage employment growth from the COVID-19 pandemic were Institutional (35.3 per cent), Community and Entertainment (25.4 per cent), and Office (23.8 per cent).
  • The categories that reported the highest percentage employment losses were Retail (40.5 per cent) and Office (22.8 per cent).
  • In 2023, 70.9 per cent of the establishments across the city answered the additional questions providing insights on remote work trends. Of those businesses, 85.8 per cent reported having no active employees working remotely while 14.2 per cent did.
  • The majority of establishments reporting remote work employment were in the Office category (74.0 per cent).
  • One in four establishments (25.6 per cent) that adopted a hybrid work model reported having employees work on-site three days a week on average.

Number of Establishments Reporting Remote Work Employment by Category, 2022-2023

The bar chart shows the number of establishments that reported work-from-home employment by category in 2022 and 2023. The six categories include: Manufacturing, Retail, Service, Office, Institutional, and Community & Entertainment. For both years, Office reported the most remote work while Community and Entertainment reported the least remote work.

 

  • 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, and 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 383,860 jobs, or 25.0 per cent of all citywide employment, and 21,900 establishments, or 30.0 per cent of the total.
  • The top five AOEs, Rexdale-Airport, South Etobicoke, Downsview, Highway 400, and Tapscott, comprise nearly half of the employment with 175,970 jobs, each with greater than 29,000 jobs.
  • Manufacturing was the leading employment activity in 2023 comprising 75,310 jobs or 19.6 per cent 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.

  • In 2023, the city is building back from the significant losses of 2020 and 2021. The 2023 employment total of 1,535,290 is comparable to the 2018 employment count of 1,522,880, but less than the record number of 1,569,800 jobs reached in 2019.
  • The number of establishments in Toronto, while growing in the last two years to reach 72,530 in 2023, is still much lower than the 2019 record high of 76,560.
  • Downtown continues to recover since the stresses of the pandemic and in 2023; Downtown reported the highest employment count reported in the last five years at 601,010 jobs. This represents a gain of 35,790 jobs or 6.3 per cent since 2018.

For copies of Employment Bulletins from 2003 to 2022, 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 2020 are available on the Open Data Catalogue.