Missing Pieces
Late last year, TWIG was asked by several organizations to examine data related to persons with criminal records. What we quickly discovered was a significant paucity of data—only small snapshots, secondary sources, and fragmented statistics were available to capture the full scope of challenges in Canada’s criminal justice system.
Labour Market Insight 2025
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Workforce Diversity Profile
Toronto has the largest labour force in Canada, with one of the most educated and skilled workforces in North America. Our workers are an incredible asset in attracting new businesses and driving economic development. However, many workers in Toronto face systemic barriers to full workforce participation, preventing them from sharing in the City’s prosperity.
TWIG’s Inclusion profiles derived from the 2021 Census, yield considerable information on the income, education, occupations, and sectors for each of the above groups. These profiles provide important information that has implications for workforce policymakers and practitioners who want to design better employment supports for groups facing barriers to employment and higher income in the City of Toronto.
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A Work in Progress: Towards $10 a day Child Care in Toronto.
The signing of the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) agreement between the Province of Ontario and Federal Government in March 2022 provided a significant opportunity to make child care more accessible and affordable to families. The $10-a-day child care initiative has successfully lowered fees, increasing access for low and middle-income families and consequently raising demand. However, challenges persist. While Toronto has seen growth in child care spaces over the past two years, the availability is hindered by challenges in recruiting qualified staff. The report highlights disparities in child care access among communities, emphasizing the ongoing efforts required to enhance the effectiveness of the initiative. It acknowledges that the current state of the initiative is a work in progress.
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Quality of Life, or Quality of Work? The Great Resignation in Ontario
The Great Resignation is a phrase that describes record numbers of people leaving their jobs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Many labour market observers see the Great Resignation as a once-in-a-generation change to the way workers find a better work-life balance. Indeed, the Great Resignation is viewed by many as one of the major factors behind our ongoing labour shortages. While the Great Resignation remains an ongoing narrative, recently some U.S. studies have cast doubt on the nature and depth of the Great Resignation.
This paper, using Canadian Labour Force Survey (LFS) data, seeks to determine whether the phenomenon occurred in Ontario.
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Labour Market Insights
Metro Toronto Movement for Literacy and TWIG partnered in 2022-2023 to create a labour market tool that can be used not only by adult literacy and language programs but also their learners to find relevant and up-to-date information about the labor market, help with making informed decisions about employment, developing job search skills, preparing for the workplace, and customized learning. The tool was developed in consultation with adult learners and practitioners and includes real-time data on employment trends in Toronto, along with suggestions on how LMI can be used.
The LMI tool can be downloaded here, or you can access it at: https://www.mtml.ca/updates/labour-market-information/toronto-region. The Labour Market Information will be updated on a quarterly basis.
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Toronto at Home: Building on Shifting Ground
JobsTO Labour Lowdown March 2025
Unlocking the Promise of Affordable Child Care in Toronto: Insights from TWIG’s Report