Grey Bruce is seeing a high volume of job vacancies, as the Four County Labour Market Planning Board releases its annual report.
Last month, the board released its annual Local Labour Market Plan (LLMP), which monitors labour market developments and identifies labour issues within the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula Economic Region.
Executive Director Dana Soucie says, “some of the key findings, it’s not unusual that we have an aging population as most of Canada and the world is facing this as well, but in our area, our aging population is a little more acute. As well, we have identified that our aging cohorts are participating at a much lower rate than other areas in Ontario.”
The report says 47.9 per cent of the Stratford-Bruce population is 55-years-old and above, which puts the local supply of workers in jeopardy.
“Efforts to raise Stratford-Bruce’s participation rate should target people 45 years and above, with a particular emphasis on those 55 to 64 years of age. Understanding the circumstances and work arrangements that might lure some of this population back into the labour force is warranted,” says the report.
She says there is good news, however, as there has been an increase in 25 to 44-year-olds migrating to the region to join the work force. This age group has the highest participation rate at 89.7 per cent, which is an increase of 10,900 between 2014 and 2023.
“We did a little bit of a migration data in the LLMP, but we also have another project that will be released in the next few weeks from this year’s project in detail on the migration of our work force. In our analysis, we have seen a growth in that age bracket moving into the area in the last five years,” says Soucie. “Our project will have a breakdown of all different types of movers, including those who have moved within our region.”
The report also found in 2023, the number of people in the labour force declined by 3.1 per cent, and the total number of people employed declined by 4.1 per cent. This is in addition to full-time employment decreasing by 5.5 per cent. The number of unemployed people increased by 21.9 per cent, reaching an annual average of 7,800 last year.
“We are still very much in a labour shortage in the area, in certain sectors more than others,” says Soucie.
She says these sectors include hospitality and tourism, as well as food and accommodation, which she adds is nothing new.
“I think that these sectors haven’t always been viewed as the most popular sector to get into. Some of the entry level positions are lower wages and with the high cost of housing and transportation issues, it’s a little bit harder to attract people to the rural region for minimum wage type of positions,” says Soucie.
The report says 5,463 people made use of employment programs like Employment Ontario in 2022/23, which provides access to the training, skills and experience they need in the labour market.
Soucie says, “the more we know about our labour market and what’s happening, the better we can focus our initiatives and strategies to fill those gaps.”
The report adds to help address the issues of a significant aging population, low participation rate, and high volumes of job vacancies compared to the province, the board will look at possibilities of utilizing flexible work arrangements to engage with older workers, address the shortages of child care facilities, initiatives supporting the local labour market in addressing diversity and inclusion, and others.
