Item - 2022.PH34.13

The Planning and Housing Committee:

1. Received the report (May 13, 2022) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning for information.

The attached bulletin summarizes the results of the 2021 Toronto Employment Survey. The bulletin highlights the Survey's key findings and counts of employment and business establishments in the City of Toronto for 2021. The bulletin also reports on the type and longevity of establishments and employment activity in Downtown, the Centres, Secondary Plan areas, Provincially Significant Employment Zones, and designated Employment Areas.

In 2021, the Toronto Employment Survey recorded 1,451,520 jobs citywide, an increase of 1,610 jobs or 0.1% from 2020. Toronto’s economy experienced limited recovery in 2021, following the record-breaking job losses of 2020 due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, employment increases were observed in Institutional (0.9%) and Office (0.7%) categories, while Manufacturing as well as Service employment declined by the highest rates, both at 1.7%. The Survey counted 69,990 business establishments in 2021, a net decrease of 3,090 establishments (-4.2%) from 2020. In 2021, 820 establishments were new to the City.

The Survey results from the last two years are indicative of employment trends during the COVID-19 pandemic and are a key benchmark of the economic trends over the period. Due to data collection challenges related to the pandemic, the Survey results may not have fully captured the extent of economic impacts over the period. It is anticipated that Survey coverage and completeness will improve in 2022 with the return to field survey work.