MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY IN THE GTA AND PEARSON ECONOMIC ZONE NEEDS FURTHER INVESTMENT IN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Region needs to focus on training new workers to keep up with growth plans
Toronto, May 1, 2025 – Ontario’s manufacturers are facing serious and long-term industry challenges as they struggle with an aging workforce and a potentially sustained trade dispute with the U.S. that will result in significant job losses, according to a new report by Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME).
The report, titled Keep Calm and Keep Training, reveals that the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and specifically West Toronto, Peel and Hamilton, are experiencing falling workforce rates amidst ambitious growth plans from its manufacturing businesses, which workforce training cannot keep pace with.
Manufacturers west of Toronto form a significant manufacturing hub, drawing strength from Pearson International Airport and key 400-series highways, connecting with other provinces, the U.S., and the rest of the world. Local areas of strength include food and beverage (18,000 jobs), automotive (12,500 jobs), construction and infrastructure (12,300 jobs), aerospace (6,600 jobs) and life sciences (5,500 jobs).
However, according to the report, manufacturing employment in the region has fallen 0.2 per cent in 2024, accounting for 9.6 per cent of overall employment.
CME’s second annual labour report, Keep Calm and Keep Training, highlights the impact of the Trump tariffs on Ontario’s manufacturing workforce. According to the report, the province’s workforce was flat in 2024 compared to the previous year, and many companies have frozen hiring and investment: 40 per cent of manufacturers postponed investment projects; 28 per cent froze hiring and 28 per cent started seeking alternative markets.
At the same time, however, the province is facing ongoing challenges in training workers for advanced manufacturing technologies, and Ontario colleges and universities have been forced to cut critical programs.
Over the next two years, colleges alone expect to lose between 75,000 to 128,000 students, largely due to the sharp reduction in international student numbers. This translates to a staggering 25 per cent to 40 per cent drop in total enrollment. Making this worse, one in four factory workers was 55 or older last year, which means the sector is projected to face 22,500 retirements per year through 2033.
Despite the significance of the zone to Ontario’s overall economy, pressure is mounting on several fronts. As housing challenges increase, there is increasing demand to convert employment lands to residential use, and growth plans of the airport and other businesses call for access to local talent and training opportunities to be scaled up significantly.
The report outlines recommendations to address the region’s greatest needs to ensure it can keep up with increasing demand for labour. In the context of the current trade war, CME sees significant opportunity to connect workforce development in the region with the efforts of federal, provincial and municipal governments to better leverage procurement, especially when it comes to rebuilding Canada’s defence capabilities.
Amid the challenges faced by the sector, CME sees cause for hope in the resolve manufacturers and government have expressed to fight back.
“Crises come and go, but our sector endures,” said Dennis Darby, CME President and CEO. “Our manufacturing sector has gone through world wars, economic crashes, and even a global pandemic. But here we are now, more modern, more innovative and more ready to face global headwinds than ever before.”
This sentiment was echoed by Toronto Pearson as it undergoes major expansion of terminal activity.
“Growth isn’t possible without a strong, skilled labour force behind it,” declared Karen Mazurkewich, Vice President, Stakeholder Relations and Communications. “From construction to operations to innovation, it’s people who will make this expansion possible. Strengthening the manufacturing workforce is essential to ensuring these efforts deliver lasting benefits for our passengers, our partners, and the economy the airport drives.”
The report also highlights several areas of regional economic strength, and many ideas for resilience:
- Support workforce development in businesses – by improving incentives for employers to offer on-the-job training opportunities, addressing obstacles causing apprentices and students to abandon the sector.
- Properly resource education programs aligned with the needs of manufacturers.
- Use Ontario’s diversity as a competitive advantage – attracting more under-represented women, indigenous people and immigrants with in-demand skills.
Ontario manufacturing sector is at a crucial crossroads. Manufacturers, however, have a plan. This starts now in our schools in workplaces, as we teach hands-on, applied technological skills to build quality products and prosperity.
Keep calm, carry on, and most importantly, keep training.
About Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters
Since 1871, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters has been helping manufacturers grow at home and, compete around the world. Our focus is to ensure manufacturers are recognized as engines for growth in the economy, with Canada acknowledged as both a global leader and innovator in advanced manufacturing and a global leader in exporting. CME is a member-driven association that directly represents more than 2,500 leading companies who account for an estimated 82 per cent of manufacturing output and 90 per cent of Canada’s exports.