With thriving industries such as manufacturing and the automotive market, Cambridge’s economy is headed for a a lot more steady future, advocates say
Waterloo Area is amongst Ontario’s prime 5 financial zones as measured by median employment revenue ($39,980), which is $three,020 a lot more than the national typical of $36,960 and six per cent a lot more than Toronto ($37,550) which is touted as the “monetary capital of the province,” according to information from a current study by the Fraser Institute.
Released final week, the study located Canada’s National Capital Area had the highest median employment revenue in the nation in 2019 (Ottawa-Gatineau, $45,500), when other power-focused metropolitan locations also ranked extremely.
Ontario was also household to the lowest-ranked CMA in the nation (St. Catharines, $31,540).
Amongst Canada’s 41 metropolitan locations, Waterloo Area was really competitive, with a median employment revenue of close to $40,000.
“We enjoy to see our median revenue rise due to the fact it just creates a a lot more vibrant and steady economy inside our personal neighborhood,” mentioned Greg Durocher, executive director of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce.
Referring to the “grey-collar workforce,” defined as positions that need some mixture of physical and technical capabilities, such as well being care workers, teachers and robotics engineers, Durocher added that Cambridge has evolved into a neighborhood “exactly where people today with exceptional capabilities, properly-educated people today, functioning in sophisticated manufacturing in our neighborhood and that has definitely raised the bar on person revenue levels.”
“We have a vibrant economy,” Durocher mentioned in an interview with Cambridge These days. “There are nevertheless a lot of job openings, which is a robust signal that the economy is very robust.”
Durocher highlighted sophisticated manufacturing as 1 of the most vital industries driving the nearby economy.
“Cambridge has the densest sophisticated manufacturing population in Waterloo Area and that is a fairly essential sector for us,” he mentioned.
“We have a really diverse workforce.” We are not dependent on 1 sector, we are not absolutely dependent on the automotive sector or the technologies sector. We have a fantastic balance that sort of evens out all these huge financial shocks.”
In reality, some of the highest median annual salaries by occupation in Cambridge are much better than these in Waterloo Area, according to the Cambridge Labor Marketplace Report (April 2023) by FindYourJob.ca and primarily based on a lot more than 50 public job internet sites.
For instance, at the prime of the annual salary variety, a truck driver in Cambridge earns $180,000 and in Waterloo Area $105,000 the typical salary for a retail salesperson in Cambridge is $150,000, when in Waterloo it is $one hundred,000.
According to the report, Cambridge had three,014 active jobs and 1,742 new jobs final month. Much more than 1,213 businesses had been hiring, and the typical posting time was 22.two days. Most of the jobs presented had been complete-time (two,528).
The sectors with the highest development in April primarily based on the quantity of job postings had been mining, quarrying, oil and gas extraction, management, educational solutions, transportation and storage, and public administration.
Transport hub
“Cambridge is a North American transportation hub and a fantastic location to invest,” mentioned Cambridge MPP Brian Riddell.
He recalled a current $four million investment partnership involving Moderna and Novocol Pharma that “will generate higher-paying jobs for the Cambridge neighborhood,” he added.
Novocol is a manufacturer of sterile injection cartridges with more than 500 extremely skilled staff and has been operating in Cambridge for more than 45 years.
“Higher-skilled jobs developed by the project will additional strengthen our reputation as a neighborhood of decision to reside, function and raise a loved ones.” This investment in our manufacturing sector additional illustrates that Cambridge is a desirable place in North America to invest and do enterprise,” Riddell mentioned.
With a lot more than 25 years’ expertise as an employment adviser, Margaret Penner, manager of Lutterwood Employment Solutions in Cambridge, told CambridgeToday that the outlook for nearby employment is constructive.
“We have located that the consumers accessing our solutions are these with a lot more challenges accessing or retaining employment,” she mentioned.
She explained that Lutterwood’s employment solutions involve job delivers, education and education. In some instances, the organization may perhaps give the employer a monetary incentive to train the possible employee.
“About 80 % of our consumers will discover function,” Penner mentioned.
Primarily based on her expertise, she mentioned seasonal jobs like retail and meals processing in Cambridge are relatively steady in terms of employment.
“Building and trades are choosing up and they are locating their people today.” There are nevertheless a lot of job possibilities,” she mentioned. Even so, she specified that production is nevertheless locating workers: “They do not have sufficient men and women to completely function and have a complete volume of staff.”
Durocher believes that if the economy grows at a manageable pace and the tech sector returns to the way it was in the days prior to the pandemic, “we’re going to want a entire bunch of workers, and immigration is going to have to fill that gap.”
In the identical vein, Penner added that “till we get to a location exactly where employers are not attempting so desperately to discover fantastic hires, it really is going to be a bit of a journey to completely get back to the new regular.”