Think Design:
Toronto’s Design Sector
Table of Contents:
Design Industry
Industry Size
While Toronto accounts for roughly one-third of all employment at Design firms, the table below shows that Toronto has a lower share of smaller firms (under 50 employees) and a much larger share of firms with 50 or more employees. Toronto is a Design hub for Canada, accounting for over half of all Design firms with 100 or more employees.
Table 6. Industry Size by Number of Firms and Employee Count
(Canadian Business Counts, 2020; total employment estimated)
| Canada | Ontario | Toronto | Toronto % of Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimated Total Design Employment | 37,874 | 16,881 | 12,257 | 32.4% |
| By Number of Firms | ||||
| Without Employees | 22,783 | 9,929 | 6,384 | 28.0% |
| With Employess | 8,642 | 3,715 | 2,379 | 27.5% |
| By Employee Count | ||||
| 1–4 | 6,151 | 2,711 | 1,738 | 28.3% |
| 5–9 | 1,394 | 549 | 333 | 23.9% |
| 10–19 | 676 | 281 | 187 | 27.7% |
| 20–49 | 320 | 124 | 76 | 23.8% |
| 50–99 | 69 | 32 | 27 | 39.1% |
| 100–199 | 23 | 12 | 12 | 52.2% |
| 200–499 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 57.1% |
| 500+ | 2 | 2 | 2 | 100.0% |
Figure 4 shows the number of Design firms (solid) and total employment (lines) over time for Canada (blue), Ontario (green) and Toronto (purple). The length of each bar is the percentage of the Canadian total. While the number of firms has remained generally stable, employment has grown over time with Toronto comprising an increasing larger share of the total.
Figure 4. Design Industry by Year
(Canadian Business Counts, 2016–2020; total employment estimated)
Design Industry Employment Growth
Between 2016 and 2020, Toronto accounted for 56% of all Canada-wide employment growth in the Design Industry.
Design Companies
While most firms are categorized as Architectural Services, many are multidisciplinary and provide a wider range of Design services. The appendix lists the top firms by number of employees by primary industry.