Kingston Pembroke Labour Market Monitor: Service Canada January, 2010

An overview of the Kingston Pembroke Economic Region. It includes the census division of Prince Edward, the counties of Hastings, Renfrew, Lennox and Addington, and Frontenac. The Labour Market Monitor is a monthly report focusing on labour market information produced by a local Labour Market Information Analyst. For further information contact: Nancy Ker.

Labour Force Trends/Survey

Employment in the Kingston-Pembroke economic region decreased by 18,900 from January 2009 to January 2010. All job losses came from full-time employment (-24,200) partially offset by part-time employment gains (+5,200).  Declining employment caused the employment rate to drop by 5.4 percentage points to 54.4%, the second lowest employment rate among all Ontario economic regions. Kingston-Pembroke economic region also had the highest absolute year over year decrease in the labour force (-14,000) across Ontario as the participation rate fell to below 60%. The number of unemployed people increased by 5,000 from January 2009 to January 2010, causing the unemployment rate to rise from 6.2% to 8.9%. Over the 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

The Granite opened at 45 Bridge Street West in Bancroft. The new restaurant employs 14 people. 

Construction

Upgrades to Bancroft's wastewater treatment plant will begin next month. The Canada-Ontario Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund (COMRIF) is providing $6.3 million in funding for the $8.6-million project. The Town of Bancroft will cover the remaining costs. 

The Town of Deseronto approved two major construction projects for 2010. Improvements to the Deseronto Wastewater Treatment System will cost $4.5 million while renovations at the Deseronto Community Centre will cost $1.5 million. Both projects are funded through the Building Canada Fund. Deseronto and the federal and provincial governments will each cover one-third of the costs.

The service centres along Highway 401 near Camden East and Odessa are closing on March 31 2010. Both sites will undergo remediation, preparing them for new and modern facilities. The service centres are scheduled to reopen in June 2011 with scaled-down services. Full services will be available by December 2011.

Four new dressing rooms will be built at the Nick Smith Centre in Arnprior at an estimated cost of $750,000. Funded through the Recreational Infrastructure Canada (RInC) program, the Town of Arnprior and the federal and provincial governments will each cover one-third of the costs. Construction is expected to start this March and be completed by August 2010.

Although the number of building permits issued in 2009 by the city of Belleville was down from 2008 figures, the dollar value of the construction projects was up by 43%. The city issued 665 permits in 2009 with a construction value of $77.1 million. In 2008, there were 756 permits issued with a dollar value of $54.0 million. Major projects for 2010 include a

$30-million sports complex and the second phase of the renovation/expansion at Quinte Health Care Belleville at a cost of $40 million.

Construction activity in Prince Edward County remained strong in 2009. The number of permits issued was down slightly, 866 in 2009 compared to 876 in 2008, but the dollar value of the projects rose by 34%. Total dollar value in 2009 was $94.9 million compared to $70.8 million in 2008.

Lennox and Addington County also had a good year for construction in 2009. The dollar value of projects was $60.0 million in 2009 compared to $53.4 in 2008, which is an increase of 12%.

The value of construction projects in 2009 declined in the cities of Quinte West, Kingston and Pembroke. Projects in Quinte West totalled $59.3 million in 2009 compared to $79.6 million in 2008. Construction projects in Kingston totalled $233.9 million in 2009, down by 7.7% from the 2008 dollar value of $253.4 million. Construction values increased in industrial and residential building and declined in commercial and institutional building. In Pembroke, the value of construction projects was $16.5 million in 2009. This is a 1.8% decline from the 2008 value of $16.8 million. Construction values declined in residential and commercial building, but increased in industrial and institutional building.

Figures from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) show housing starts in the Kingston Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) increased by 32% in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to the same time in 2008. Total construction activity for 2009 was 6.7% higher than 2008. Kingston CMA was one of two CMAs in Ontario to have a growth in annual new construction in 2009. The Kingston CMA consists of the townships of Loyalist, South Frontenac and Frontenac Islands, and the City of Kingston.

Educational Services

Two physicists at Queen's University in Kingston received a $9-million grant from the Ontario Research Fund-Research Infrastructure (ORF-RI) program. They will be researching the structure and evolution of the universe.

Health Care and Social Services

All Together Affordable Housing Corporation will receive $237,000 through the federal Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS). They will use the funding to purchase, renovate and maintain affordable housing in Belleville. 

A new walk-in clinic opened at 154 Civic Centre Road in Petawawa. 

Hastings County and Local 496 of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) ratified a new three-year contract. The employees will receive a 6.75% wage increase over the duration of the contract. The contract is retroactive to January 1, 2009.

Manufacturing

The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) is investing over $300,000 in Continental Conveyor (Ontario) Limited in Napanee. The funding is through its Southern Ontario Development Program (SODP). The money will go towards replacing older manufacturing equipment with more efficient, state-of-the-art machines. A Computer Numeric Control (CNC) machining centre will also be created ending the need to contract out this process. Up to 15 new jobs will be created over the next two years.  

Other Services

The Bancroft and District Chamber of Commerce received $10,000 from the Eastern Ontario Development Program (EODP). The chamber will put the money towards the improvement of mineral and rock collecting sites. These sites are used by tourists and students on field trips.

Professional, Scientific and Technical Services

The North & Central Hastings and South Algonquin Community Futures Development Corporation (CFDC) received $50,000 through the Eastern Ontario Development Program (EODP). The funding will help in developing a shared approach for a Public Transit System in the North Hastings area

Public Administration

Hastings County will receive $5 million in funding through the Social Housing Renovation and Retrofit Program (SHRRP). By March 31, 2011, a number of social housing properties in the Hastings-Quinte area will be repaired and upgraded.

The Ontario Ministry of Tourism is forming 13 new tourism regions in Ontario. Regional Tourism Organizations will be established in each region in early 2010. They will work with other tourist partners to enhance and grow their region’s tourism products and marketing activities. The province is providing $25 million in funding for each of the next two years to help in establishing these new tourist regions. 

Ontario's minimum wage will increase on March 31, 2010. Adults will be entitled to $10.25 an hour; students (under 18 years of age) will make $9.60 an hour; and $8.90 an hour for liquor servers. For more information, visit Ontario's Ministry of Labour Web site at: www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/pubs/guide/minwage.php 

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. Sources used include: The Bancroft Times, Belleville Intelligencer, Napanee Beaver, Picton Gazette, Trentonian, Kingston Whig Standard, Renfrew Mercury and Pembroke Daily Observer. 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.