Toronto region will need to fill 500,000 jobs in next five years

The Toronto region is expected to create more than half a million jobs in the next five years, but some will be low-paying, temporary or contract jobs without benefits, warns a new report from the Toronto Region Board of Trade and United Way Toronto.

“There are downward pressures on the labour market, which are effectively displacing youth and newcomers from those positions, which they have traditionally held,” according to Closing the Prosperity Gap for a Liveable City Region, to be released on Wednesday.

“The large number of applicants for low-paying and entry-level positions is remarkable,” said the report, the final installment of the board’s Think Twice, Vote Once series tied to this year’s elections.

“As the number of middle income jobs has continued to decline, a bifurcated labour market of high-income jobs and low-income service jobs is becoming the norm.”...