Job growth lower in Newmarket than GTA, York Region

Yorkregion.com
April 29, 2016
By Chris Simon

Newmarket lagged behind the rest of the Greater Toronto Area in job growth last year.

From mid-2014 to mid-2015, Newmarket’s employment growth was 1.5 per cent, compared to 4.1 in the GTA and 2.4 in York Region, according to a report released by the town last month. However, the town’s growth was above the Canadian (1.1 per cent) and Ontario (1.2) numbers, and falls roughly in the middle of the pack when compared to other lower tier York municipalities.

“The GTA stats have the halo effect of the Toronto market,” Mayor Tony Van Bynen said. “It’s awfully difficult to tell one community apart from another. The good news for us is that we’ve got a stable employment environment and we’re going through a transition and positioning ourselves for the future. I’m still very optimistic about the long-term job prospects in Newmarket. We’re focused very much on the types of jobs that come available in the future.”

Newmarket is focusing on the creation of a high-speed broadband Internet corridor along the Main Street, Davis Drive, Leslie Street and Harry Walker Parkway areas. And the town is expected to unveil a targeted marketing plan for Davis by the end of May. Both initiatives should help create jobs in the coming years, he said.

The town has indicated a broadband corridor could attract about 17 businesses and 205 direct jobs. An additional 126 indirect jobs may also be generated.

Newmarket’s jobs report is based on an industry survey completed by the region. The survey looks at businesses within each of the region’s nine municipalities.

During the 2014-2015 fiscal year, the number of jobs in town increased from 38,774 to 39,344. Health and social services, largely driven by Southlake Regional Health Centre, remains the largest employment sector in town. In total, 18.2 per cent (7,170 employees) work in the health sector, while 17.4 per cent (6,854 employees) are in retail. The business services sector accounts for 12.7 per cent of the Newmarket workforce.

Interestingly, across the region, manufacturing (15 per cent), retail (12), professional, scientific and technical services (10) and wholesale trade and construction (tied at eight each) are the top employment sectors.

Southlake chief human resources officer Sandra Smith isn’t surprised by the hospital’s role in the local job market.

“We are proud to be able to offer meaningful, challenging jobs, but beyond that we want to create opportunities for long-term sustainable employment,” she said.

Meanwhile, the CreateIT Now innovation centre at Southlake is helping budding youth grow their businesses locally, she said.

Over the past decade, the health and business services sectors have powered the growth of high-value jobs in Newmarket, town economic development officer Chris Kallio said in the report to council.

Employment numbers peaked at about 40,000 in town prior to the 2008-2009 economic slowdown. While that number has now dipped, Newmarket still maintains one of the highest live/work ratios (46 per cent) in the region.

“We also strive to achieve a healthy 2:1 population to employment ratio (when home-based employment is included) in the total employment figures,” Kallio said.

Perhaps the biggest surprise in the town report is the success of Newmarket’s manufacturing industry, which was hit hard - along with the rest of Ontario - during the economic downturn. However, the industry is rebounding. Over the past five years, the number of manufacturing jobs in Newmarket increased 11 per cent, meaning 5,100 employees worked in the sector last year. Manufacturing accounts for 13 per cent of town employment.

However, Van Bynen admits manufacturing won’t have a lot of room for expansion in the coming years. “The reality is, Newmarket doesn’t have an awful lot of land available for the manufacturing type of businesses and when you take a look at the opportunities, that’s going to be along the Yonge Street and Davis Drive areas,” he said. “You can’t build stamping plants in three-storey buildings. We need to pursue the kind of jobs that are accommodated in an office environment.”

The region survey is helpful to town staff, which uses the document to develop long-term marketing strategies, Kallio said.

“Newmarket economic development uses the survey results for a wide variety of purposes, including strategic planning, economic and employment trend analysis and as background for marketing initiatives/promotion of the community,” he said.