Monday, 15 June 2015

Where is your community in MoneySense list?

Workopolis uses Stats Canada numbers to assist in creating list of job prospects
Long list of criteria in MoneySense ranking system; Woodstock is #110

By Mark Schadenberg
Money Sense magazine recently released its list of the best Canadian cities to reside in. The ranking system had many criteria, including employment.
Now, the folks at Workopolis have announced their list of projected new jobs in various Canadian cities in the third quarter of 2015. The link to the story is below, but Ontario cities making the positive grade include Durham (Oshawa, Whitby, Pickering, Ajax, etc) and the adjoining York (Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill, Newmarket, Aurora, etc) regions.
The Workopolis method of gathering data is based on the number of job / career postings, but it also reflects on a Statistics Canada analysis study called 'May's Labour Force Survey'.
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Here at Workopolis, we remain fairly optimistic about the job market for the remainder 2015. May’s Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada showed that the country added nearly sixty thousand positions last month, mostly full-time, private sector jobs.
According to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey for Q3 of 2015, we can expect to see these gains in employment continue. The survey of over 1,900 employers across Canada reveals that 20% plan to increase their staffing levels in the third quarter of 2015. (74% say that they plan to maintain their current staff levels, and just 5% are expecting job cuts.)
While Ontario was the big winner for jobs in May’s Labour Force Survey, the Manpower report predicts the employment momentum to continue to move eastward with Quebec and Atlantic Canada seeing the most robust hiring in the coming months . . .
Some of this regional shift in hiring continues to be as a result of falling oil prices. The oil producing provinces, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador saw increases in unemployment last month, while the rest of the country experienced job gains.
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Trends and statistics are always monitored to gauge long-term growth, but also short-term ups and downs in an economy we can always refer to as a roller coaster.
Numbers can always be considered accurate, but when you factor in so many different sectors of an economy, it's not easy to pinpoint why employment predictions in the near future for London are not overly promising.
If you watch the local media – Free Press and CTV London – you can follow depictions of a London wrestling the expanding commercial / industrial zones and attracting larger employers, and the costs associated with preparing such properties. Our proximity (Woodstock to London) with the 401/403 interchange connecting up to the 401/402 interchange and a busy automotive assembly area, especially with Toyota and Cami (GM), you would predict a healthy long-term future, but planning for that future by the folks in London must occur now.


Woodstock has lots of serviced land – ready for your industry. See: www.cometothecrossroads.com
The London development committee – Strategic Priorities and Policy – are working on a so-called 'just-in-time' philosophy on attracting large commerce and the readiness of land parcels. A Free Press story on June 10, quoted the mayor:
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Mayor Matt Brown cheered the notion of just-in-time land delivery.
“We need to have industrial land, the right size in the right place serviced and ready to go . . . What is critical here is that this will get us there. We will be in the right place at the right time to win investment. This strikes the right balance.”
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As for the MoneySense magazine list of best Canadian cities to call home, I've discussed this ranking in the past. Credit must be given to the magazine for its extensive criteria, and you must congratulate Burlington for staying head of neighbouring Oakville inside the top 10, but I certainly question how Woodstock could be slotted at #110, while Stratford with its massive municipal debt is at #7. Stratford has a festival, but its home prices are significantly higher than Woodstock.
MoneySense created the list to look at 219 Canadian centres.
Additional criteria for the survey includes weather, employment, average family income, access to health care, crime rates, transportation (public transit and biking trails all included), post-secondary education institutions, and of course both availability of sports and arts in a community.
Major Ontario cities and other southern Ontario rankings.
1 Boucherville, Que.
2 Ottawa
3 Burlington
6 Oakville
7 Stratford
15 Guelph
16 Waterloo
21 Halton Hills
23 Newmarket
31 London
35 Toronto
36 Richmond Hill
38 Vaughan
40 Kitchener
41 Hamilton
61 Mississauga
82 Tillsonburg
90 Cambridge
91 Ingersoll
100 Brantford
110 Woodstock
130 Haldimand
135 Sarnia
146 Windsor
154 Brampton
160 Leamington
172 Norfolk
179 Chatham-Kent


LINKS:
http://www.lfpress.com/2015/06/10/city-would-service-industrial-land-just-in-time


Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative
Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal LePage Triland Realty
757 Dundas St, Woodstock
www.wesellwoodstock.com
(519) 537-1553, cell or text
Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Twitter: markroyallepage

Picture of me, enjoying a cold drink in summer

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