Windsor has highest unemployment rate in Canada - Windsor Star

Author of the article:

Dave Waddell

Publishing date:

Oct 08, 2021 • 20 hours ago • 3 minute read • 14 Comments

Border restrictions and microchip shortages are being blamed in part for new figures showing Windsor has the highest unemployment rate among Canadian cities. In this Nov. 10, 2020, file photo, a caravan of Pacificas are shown exiting the Windsor Assembly Plant. Photo by Nick Brancaccio /Windsor Star

As the rest of Canada picked up economic momentum in September, with employment returning to pre-pandemic levels, the Windsor area got left behind.

The most recent local unemployment figure of 10.4 per cent is the highest in Canada and this area remains the only one still wrestling with a double-digit figure.

Toronto and Calgary had the next-highest rates at 8.9 per cent.

The national unemployment rate fell .2 per cent to 6.9 while the provincial rate dipped three basis points to 7.3 per cent.

“These are definitely not the numbers we want to see,” said Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce CEO Rakesh Naidu.

“We’ve been stubbornly in double digits for some time now. That’s definitely disappointing.

“There are things (microchip shortage, border closure) affecting our region more than other areas. That’s reflected in these numbers.”

There were 165,400 people employed locally last month, a loss of 500 jobs from August. Windsor’s pre-pandemic level of employment in February 2020 was 167,300.

The local numbers are just as ugly when looking at the employment and labour force participation rates.

The Windsor Census Metropolitan Area’s employment rate dropped .2 per cent to 54.1 per cent while the participation rate shrank four basis points to 60.4 per cent.

That’s a stark contrast to Ontario’s employment rate of 60.6 (plus .5) and the national rate (60.9 per cent, plus .4). The participation rates at both the provincial and national levels improved by .4 per cent to 65.4 per cent and 65.5 per cent, respectively.

The Windsor Census Metropolitan Area includes Lakeshore, Tecumseh, Amherstburg and LaSalle.

Workforce WindsorEssex CEO Justin Falconer said the numbers illustrate how vital the manufacturing sector, with automotive being its beating heart, remains to this area.

The sector lost 1,500 jobs in September as the Windsor Assembly Plant and its numerous feeder plants were idle due to the microchip shortage at the time the Statistics Canada survey was completed (Sept. 12-18).

“It’s hard to go back to normal when your biggest employer in the region is still being hampered by the microchip shortage,” Falconer said.

“Even if we were to make improvements in these numbers in the coming months, without automotive production going back to what it was, you have one hand tied behind your back.”

Falconer said between 20 and 25 per cent of jobs in the area are somehow connected to the automotive sector. He called the region’s diversification strategy “a long game that seldom brings quick wins.”

“We’re trying to change those percentages by adding different jobs, not taking away good-paying manufacturing jobs,” Falconer said.

Other sectors showing significant gains or losses were education services (plus 1,600 jobs), food and accommodation (plus 500) and construction (minus 500).

Naidu added the border remaining closed continues to be a drag on the local economy, especially the manufacturing sector.

“The border closure is now doing irreversible damage to our economy,” Naidu said. “We’re losing jobs that aren’t coming back.”

Naidu shared a tale from a local manufacturer who initially set up a 6,000-square-foot facility in Detroit to allow for final testing of machinery and contract sign-offs for American clients.

The local company has since moved to an 80,000-square-foot building, moved machinery out of a Windsor plant and hired employees in Detroit.

“Initially, it was a way to get around the border closure, but it has worked so well over there, he told me he doesn’t think he’ll bring the new business back to Windsor,” Naidu said.

Despite Windsor’s high unemployment rate, there are thousands of jobs going begging locally.

In September, there were 6,054 active job postings on the Workforce website, an increase of 5.65 per cent over August, from 1,949 employers.

“People aren’t taking the opportunities that exist,” Naidu said. “We’ll see what happens when some of the government subsidy programs run out at the end of October. That may encourage people to join the workforce and lower these numbers.”

[email protected]

twitter.com/winstarwaddell