Hamilton-Niagara Peninsula Labour Market Monitor: Service Canada, January 2010

The Labour Market Monitor is an overview of labour market information for the Hamilton-Niagara Peninsula Economic Region, which includes the census divisions of Hamilton, Niagara Region, Haldimand-Norfolk Region, Brant County and the city of Burlington. This monthly report is produced by the local area Labour Market Information Analyst. For further information, contact: Nadia Remtulla.

Labour Force Trends/Survey

In the economic region of Hamilton-Niagara Peninsula, the size of the labour force increased mainly due to growth in the working-age population. Employment fell by 4,300 from January 2009 to January 2010. All of the losses were in full-time employment (-16,300) partially offset by a gain in part time employment (+12,000). With the decline in employment, the employment rate fell by 0.8 percentage points to 59.4%. The number of people unemployed increased 12,800 from January 2009 to January 2010, pushing the unemployment rate up from 8.1% to 9.7%, one of the highest rates among all economic regions in Ontario. Over this same period, the provincial unemployment rate rose from 7.2% to 8.7%.

For more information, please visit the Statistics Canada website.

Labour Market News by Industry

Accommodation and Food Services

CJ’s, a restaurant that also provides banquet services, opened in Welland. CJ’s has 22 employees.

The Cheese Shoppe food store opened on Locke Street in Hamilton.

The Bangkok Spoon DeLuxe restaurant opened on King Street in Hamilton.

The La Cantina Restaurant and Espresso Bar, located in Welland, has closed.

Construction

Construction of a new hotel on Anchor road in Hamilton is starting in the spring of 2010. The eight-storey, 55-room hotel should be open for business in spring of 2011.

Fort Erie regional government is providing $4.5-million for a new ambulance, police facility and emergency medical services facility.  Construction should start in April 2010.

The federal government is providing $1.38 million for the demolition of buildings on Colborne St., Brantford. The government will award the tender agreement at the end of January 2010. Demolition should take place from February to July 2010.

The City of St. Catharines is spending $3.4 million to build a sports field that includes an artificial turf, lights, stadium seats, washrooms and parking. Construction should take place from May to October 2010.

Thorold City Council hired Alfred Beam Excavation Ltd. to complete road reconstruction work totalling $3.14 million. The work will take place between February and October 2010.

Canadian Niagara Hotels announced they are starting work on a $75-million Marriot Residence Inn. The 30-storey hotel will have 300 rooms.

Reconstruction and restoration work costing $2.75 million will take place in Fort George at the War of 1812 replica site. Most of the work will take place in May 2010.

Samsung is building a $40-million solar power farm on Six Nations reserve land. The project will create about 100 jobs in construction, operation, maintenance and manufacturing of solar panels. Many of the jobs are being created in the Six Nations community.

Lincoln Council approved an application for commercial development of a plaza on Ontario Street in downtown Beamsville.

Educational Services

A Trillium College campus opened on James Street in St. Catharines. The campus offers programs in medical office assistance, and community programs and social work. There are five full-time faculty as well as administrative staff working at the new campus.

The number of early childhood educators needed in the Niagara region will increase to 75 this fall. At least 21 schools in the Niagara region, five schools from the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board, 20 schools in Hamilton and seven schools in Burlington received funding to extend their kindergarten class to a full day starting in the fall of 2010.  Each kindergarten class of 26 students will require one early childhood educator and one teacher. The province of Ontario will hire about 9,500 early childhood educators by 2015, at which point all elementary schools will offer full-day kindergarten classes.

Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Leasing

The Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation announced that new home starts in the St. Catharines region increased from 43 in December 2008 to 67 in December 2009.

Real estate sales in the Hamilton-Burlington area increased by 70% in December 2009 over December 2008 and by 14% when compared to December 2007. Most of the increase occurred in condominium sales.

Health Care and Social Assistance

Hamilton Health Sciences is eliminating 140 positions; 40 nurses, 64 front-line workers, 24 management and administrative support jobs, two service positions, and ten other vacant positions.  Some of the affected employees may decide on retirement, voluntary severance or transfer into another position.

Information, Culture and Recreation

The City of Welland is hiring lifeguards and swimming instructors for the summer. Applications are being accepted until February 26, 2010. More information is available at: www.welland.ca/Hottopics/CivicCorner.pdf 

Manufacturing

Westlake Industries, a pipe fabrication company, has purchased a new building for office administration and manufacturing use. The new Burlington facility should be ready for production in 3 to 4 months. Westlake currently employs about 100 people at its two existing Ontario plants.

The rail-car manufacturer, National Steel Car, is recalling 1100 workers during February and March to fill two large contracts, including one from Canadian National Railway. The contracts will provide work for the employees until at least May of 2010.

CRS Electronic Inc. received a federal government investment of over $800,000. The investment allowed CRS Electronic Inc. to create 15 new jobs in its light-emitting diode (LED) manufacturing facility in Welland.

Borg Warner, an auto parts manufacturer located in Simcoe, is set to shut down at the end of June.  The closure will affect 61 employees.

Other Services

Niagara College is hosting Career Expo 2010 on March 24. Niagara College students and alumni are welcome. Interested employees can sign up at http://www.niagara.edu/career-expo.

McMaster University is holding its annual Opportunities Expo on March 11, 2010. The Expo is open to McMaster students and alumni. Further information is located on the McMaster Carreer's website.

The Canada Summer Jobs 2010 application phase was launched on February 1st and applications are being accepted until February 26th. The program offers funding to not-for-profit and small business employers that serve the local community to hire summer students. More information is available on the Service Canada website.

Professional, Scientific and Technical Services

Employment Ontario is cutting its funding for the following Hamilton and St. Catharines employment service providers:

• John Howard Society of Hamilton, Burlington & Area
• Lowry Training and Consulting
• Marafon Consulting
• Neighbour to Neighbour Centre
• St. Joseph's Immigrant Women's Centre
• YWCA job search service (St. Catharines)
• Job Gym
• Employment Help Centre

Members of the St. Catharines Firefighters Association signed a new contract to receive a pay increase of 3% over 2009 to 2010.

Trade, Wholesale and Retail

The home renovations store, Welland Lumber, will close in mid-March.

Transportation and Warehousing

A new air service, Pace Aviation, is offering charter flights from Niagara District Airport. 

Greyhound Canada announced the cancellation of a number of routes, including some service from London to Niagara Falls. The service closures will affect about 60 areas most of which are rural.

Note: In preparing this bulletin, Service Canada has taken care to provide clients with labour market information from reliable sources that is timely and accurate at the time of publication. Since labour market conditions are dynamic, some of the information presented here may have changed since the bulletin was published. Readers are encouraged to also refer to other sources for additional information on the local economy and labour market. Information contained in this bulletin does not necessarily reflect official policies of Service Canada.