These disparities might impact future home-purchasing power across the province
The rate of job creation in the Toronto and Ottawa area considerably exceeds the national average as well as the pace across the rest of the province, suggesting greater home-purchasing power imbalances down the line, according to the Fraser Institute.
“Given the sheer size of the Greater Toronto Area and surrounding communities, it is easy to miss the economic challenges faced by many other parts of Ontario when looking at province-wide economic statistics,” said Ben Eisen, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute.
Eisen’s study found that from 2008 to 2019, the Greater Toronto Area and Ottawa experienced much higher rates of job creation (21.7% and 16.1%, respectively) than the national average of 11.9%.
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However, census metropolitan areas like London, St. Catharines-Niagara, Thunder Bay, and Peterborough saw little or even negative job growth during this period. Taken together, smaller towns and cities along with rural areas saw a 9.7% decline in total employment, Eisen said.
“Ontario is by far Canada’s most populous province, with regions outside of the GTA that are larger than some provinces. Southwest Ontario, for example, is as populous as the entire Atlantic region,” Eisen said. “The economic challenges in Ontario outside the GTA and Ottawa should be considered an issue of national importance.”
