Hot Industries in Toronto, Ontario

By Monster Contributor

By the Monster Career Coach

Toronto the good. The big smoke. Hogtown. Call it what you will, this city is the largest in all of Canada and is the provincial capital of Ontario. It’s the heart of the Greater Toronto Area, a region encompassing the City of Toronto itself and four regional municipalities (which are fondly called “the burbs,” short form for “the suburbs”).

Total population of this Greater Toronto Area is nearly 5.6 million people! It is the most culturally and ethnically diverse city in all of North America. And it’s home to more than 100,000 companies of all types and sizes, boasting more head offices of businesses than any other Canadian city.

Movers and Shakers
While overall growth has slowed compared to 2008, Toronto isn’t easily held back. For 2009, a number of sectors are doing better than average. These include the following categories (with some representative employers that you may recognize):

  • Hospitals – Sunnybrook Hospital, Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids), Toronto General Hospital, Mount Sinai Hospital, Trillium Health Centre, Princess Margaret Hospital, North York General, The Scarborough Hospital
  • Legal Firms – Stikeman Elliot, McCarthur Tetrault, Gowling Lafleur Henderson, Blake Cassels and Graydon, Miller Thomson, Goodmans
  • Construction and Home Building – Metrus Development, Tridel, Greenpark, Mattamy Homes
  • Financial Services – Royal Bank, Bank of Montreal, Bank of Nova Scotia, TD Bank Financial Group, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Manulife Financial, Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company, Mackenzie Investments
  • Accounting Firms – Deloitte and Touche, KPMG, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, Grant Thornton, BDO Dunwoody
  • Green Economic Sector (environmental) – Green Enterprise Toronto, Cleantech Venture Network, SkyPower Corp., Bullfrog Power, Solar Wall, Greenfield Ethanol

Slower Spots in Toronto

Given the worldwide slowdown in 2009, demand for automobiles and related parts contracted, which had a significant impact on some 700 companies in the automotive field within the GTA   Office tower construction and commercial building is not as active as it was in the previous year. Yet in spite of this, sales of homes in Toronto are estimated to be at a record pace, with historic highs in prices being reached.

Signs of Growth in Toronto

The four regional municipalities surrounding the city of Toronto – York, Peel, Durham and Halton, continue to sprout new homes and malls. Shopping plaza parking lots are rather full on weekends, proving that Torontonians love to keep on buying.

Toronto is also a hotbed for post-secondary learning institutions. The city is home to five institutions that grant university level degrees (The University of Toronto, York University, Ryerson University, Ontario College of Arts and Design, and University of Ontario Institute of Technology) along with six community colleges, including Humber College, Sheridan Institute, Centennial College, George Brown College and Durham College. Post-secondary institutions are constantly hiring for all types of positions, from HR to payroll, to facility management and catering. Teachers too!

Outlook
Things are looking good for Toronto in 2010. Major investments in “green” technologies and renewable energy firms are proving to be a boon to job seekers. And now that the financial services markets are stabilizing world-wide, Toronto being the focus of finance for Canada positions it ideally for a rebound in this important sector.

For more information, you can visit Toronto.ca, which features details about the types of employers and economic trends for the city. Or go to the York Region, Durham Region, Peel Region and Halton Region sites for facts regarding Toronto’s four surrounding regional municipalities.