Economic and employment activities complement employment growth in Urban Centres (UCs), Frequent Transit Development Areas (FTDAs), and Major Transit Growth Corridors (MTGCs). These businesses support the region’s economy and population, and rely on and have implications for the transportation network and the design of neighbourhoods.
Key performance measure
Metro 2050 establishes the performance measure as percentage of regional employment growth located in UCs, FTDAs, and MTGCs. The target is to locate 50% of regional employment growth in UCs and 27% in FTDAs between 2006 to 2041.
Progress
This key performance measure is not on track. Between 2016 and 2021, the employed labour force grew by 4% from 1,111,450 jobs to 1,158,545 jobs across the region. Both UCs and FTDAs experienced negative growth rates and lost 60,870 jobs and 3,560 jobs respectively, while jobs in other locations grew. This change in growth rate and pattern is likely attributed to the timing of the 2021 Census, which occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. This had several impacts on employment levels, including heightened unemployment, business and site closures, and the relocation of certain employment to remote work, which is classified as no fixed place of work.