Send this page to someone via email

Watch above: Deb Matthews on Ontario’s changing labour market.

TORONTO – The 400-odd jobs lost at the shuttering Wrigley’s factory in North York are only the latest added to a staggering pile of blue-collar jobs Ontario has lost in the past decade.

The decline of what was once Canada’s manufacturing heartland has been blamed on a strong dollar, globalization, automation.

If the loonie is to blame, some have suggested a struggling dollar could help woo manufacturers back.

“Given that the Canadian dollar is down a further 5 per cent since November, it’s tempting to conclude that there’s a further steep climb ahead,” A January report from CIBC reads.

But Mike Moffatt, the chief economist with the Mowat Centre, is more skeptical. He doesn’t think a plunging dollar will bring manufacturers streaming back.

Story continues below advertisement

“I think the big concern for companies is not so much how high the dollar is but that overall dollar volatility makes it difficult for companies to do long-term funding,” he said.

“So I don’t think we’re going to see a lot of those companies that left 10 years ago all of a sudden come back because the dollar is a little bit lower.” Tweet This

And many of the trends behind a decline in full-time, permanent, well-paying jobs in Ontario extend well beyond the 2008 global financial crisis.

READ MORE: What’s behind Ontario’s job-market woes? (Hint: Not the recession)

The number of manufacturing jobs in Ontario has dropped from 1.1 million in Aug. 2004 to 745,000 in Dec. 2014, the latest month that data is available.

And there are fewer manufacturing jobs in the province now than in Dec. 2011 when the recession was supposed to have ended. There were 767,000 people working in manufacturing then.

Story continues below advertisement

Deb Matthews knows it. Ontario’s Deputy Premier, Treasury Board President and minister responsible for the province’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, is similarly skeptical of a manufacturing renaissance.

“Our economy is changing, make no mistake about it: Some of those manufacturing jobs that we had in the past, that were steady jobs with good income, they’re not here any more,” she told Global News in an interview last fall.

WATCH: Deb Matthews on Ontario’s poverty reduction strategy

That hasn’t stopped the Ontario and federal governments from paying companies to stick around, often through multi-million-dollar deals whose details remain secret.

READ MORE: Ontario gave 109 companies $765M over eight years. So where are the jobs?

Many economists have argued it makes more sense to invest in individuals and building their skills, rather than in companies in the hopes they’ll create jobs in the long term.

Story continues below advertisement

What’s driving these companies out?

“Globalization is a large one,” Moffatt said. “We’re seeing a lot of manufacturers either set up shop or lose to competitors from China and India, that’s a big reason why we’re seeing so many of these companies struggle and in many cases move elsewhere.”

And Toronto’s growing gridlock and high property values is making it even less of an industrial draw.

“We’re seeing a lot of manufacturers move, particularly to the 905, where land plots are cheaper, there’s less gridlock to deal with,” Moffatt said.

“So although we’ve lost a lot of manufacturing jobs [in Toronto], there are a lot of companies doing well in the 905 and southwestern Ontario.”

Read the series

So what does it mean if these jobs are gone and aren’t coming back?

Story continues below advertisement

It means it’s tougher — often almost impossible — for Ontarians without education to get a decent jobs.

READ MORE: Canadians want to work. Why have so many stopped looking?

It also means more people in precarious work — temp, contract and part-time jobs that tend to pay less and don’t include health or other benefits.

READ MORE: Life in the temp lane

A report on precarious work in Ontario found almost one in five people in the Toronto and Hamilton regions were precariously employed. And fewer than half were in permanent, full-time work with benefits.

The report also found that, in addition to hurting household wellbeing in general, parents in precarious work are less likely to be involved in their children’s education, have more trouble finding appropriate child care and even affording the basic necessities for school. They’re also less likely to report strong community connections, or even to have close friends in whom to confide.

“Labour market regulations and income security policies were designed in an era when precarious employment was less prevalent,” the report reads.

“What is needed today is a new public policy framework that will be responsive to those in precarious employment and buffer them from the challenges associated with employment uncertainty and lack of control over work schedules.”

Story continues below advertisement

With a report from Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto.

Tell us your story: Are you an Ontarian who’s lost a blue-collar job? Have you found yourself trapped in precarious work? We’d love to hear from you.



Note: We may use your response in this or other stories. While we may give you a shout to follow up we won’t publish your contact info.