Since mid-2019, FOCAL has been pleased to share research, resources and insights related to the Canadian automotive manufacturing sector’s ongoing transition from internal combustion engine vehicle […]

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TORONTO, ON — The Future of Canada’s Automotive Labourforce (FOCAL) initiative has released the results of its analysis on the economic impact of Canada’s automotive industry’s […]

The FOCAL initiative has long championed work in the trades and is dedicated to helping job-seekers find the right position, apprenticeship or other training opportunity for […]

This is a story about Ravi*, an energetic and ambitious young man who wanted to learn a trade in the Canadian automotive industry, build a career […]

Skills development and lifelong learning are key to investing in employee capabilities and advancing well-paid, sustainable work in the Canadian automotive industry. Knowing this, a lot […]

There’s been a lot of media coverage lately about Canada’s critical minerals strategy, so we thought we’d take this opportunity to provide an overview and some […]

Many businesses are contributing to the greening (or decarbonizing) of the Canadian economy by actively reducing their carbon footprint and/or offering solutions to everyday environmental issues. […]

At FOCAL, we understand that the term ‘diversity’ goes beyond issues of gender and ethnicity—the meaning is far more broad than that. We recognize the need […]

Several of our most recent blog posts have been about employment challenges facing the Canadian automotive industry. We’ve addressed issues such as re-training and upskilling during […]

The FOCAL initiative has several stated objectives, and the following are particularly critically important to hiring new graduates across the automotive industry: Engaging industry stakeholders in […]

As the Canadian automotive industry continues to transition away from internal combustion engine (ICE) powered vehicles to those driven by batteries (EVs), opportunities to invest in […]

“Canada’s EV revolution has a problem—not enough skilled labour to support it.” That was the headline for a stark analysis of the automotive industry published on […]

As the automotive sector continues to move forward—albeit against the headwinds of a sluggish economy—even the most progressive automakers, parts manufacturers and vehicle assembly businesses may […]

The Canadian automotive industry continues to enjoy rapid evolutionary growth. As reported in a Government of Canada report entitled Canadian automotive industry, the sector remains crucial […]

A recent edition of the Financial Post ran a story about how Canada’s auto industry is training for a wave of jobs never seen before. The […]

We recently looked back on some of the accomplishments the FOCAL initiative achieved in phase I, but today is all about what’s ahead—the future of the […]

The automotive industry has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past century, and another exciting chapter of its evolution is currently taking place. From innovations in […]

While there remains a great deal of work to be done, we wanted to take this opportunity to review the principal achievements of The Future of […]

The automotive industry is vital to the Canadian economy. As cliché though this frequently repeated observation might appear, it remains a powerful truth. According to the […]

The Canadian automotive manufacturing industry is a complex network of interconnected businesses. The complexity of this network has led to significant underestimation of the industry’s true […]

A 20% increase in vehicle assembly would produce a very substantial number of new jobs… FOCAL’s forecasts show that increased production mandates for automotive assembly in […]

Auto assembly and parts manufacturing are among Canada’s largest manufacturing industries, with important strategic links to industries that have not been traditionally included in previous analyses. […]

Everything old is new again. The automotive manufacturing industry is in the middle of a well-documented shift away from Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs) to Electric Vehicles […]

Innovative. High-tech. Hungry for growth. These are just three of the many positive terms that describe Canada’s automotive sector. Fundamental to Canada’s economic development, the industry […]

Career opportunities for skilled trades This is the second post in a two-part blog series. It is an interpretation of industry-validated occupational supply and demand analyses, […]

Opportunities for those with a post-secondary diploma or degree: engineers, technical, managers This is the first of a two-part blog. It is an interpretation of industry-validated […]

The automotive industry is quickly transforming to include increasingly advanced and exciting technologies such as vehicle, manufacturing, and smart mobility technologies.  That means new jobs and […]

A passage from a recent article in The Wall Street Journal entitled The New World of AutoTech will almost certainly make anyone who reads it stop […]

Over the last three years, the FOCAL project has dug deeply into labour market issues facing employers and employees in Canada’s automotive production sector. FOCAL’s forecasts […]

For over a century, the automobile was simply regarded as a means to an end. Its job was to get passengers from one place to another, […]

You’ve all heard of Silicon Valley, that dynamic part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California that serves as a global center for high […]

This new FOCAL paper provides an overview of some of the key recent impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the automotive production sector in Canada. In […]

At first glance, it would seem that the automotive and aerospace industries have very little in common. Both are in the business of getting people from […]

The Canadian labour force is aging. This includes thousands of employees within the Canadian automotive industry who will soon retire. The loss of accumulated skills and […]

The Focal Initiative paper entitled Women’s Participation in Canada’s Automotive Industry goes straight to the point: “The fact that women are under-represented in the automotive labour […]

One of the key observations in a FOCAL Initiative paper entitled Youth Employment in Canada’s Automotive Manufacturing Industry states: “The demographic shift toward an older labour […]

The Canadian population is ageing. Consequently, the need for new workers to enter the automotive production workforce has become progressively more urgent. Canada is a nation […]

The automotive industry in Canada is evolving to include new roles across the supply chain. This shift has the potential to contribute significantly to national and […]

Seen from a distance, the Canadian the automotive industry consists of thousands of skilled and semi-skilled individuals engaged in largely repetitive tasks while working on vehicle […]

Industry 4.0 is the label used to define and describe one of the leading trends in current manufacturing technology. The growing tech-based evolution will initiate a […]

The FOCAL project team published baseline labour market forecasts for Quebec’s FOCAL Automotive Production Industry in Spring 2020. This report expands the scope of that work […]

The FOCAL project team published baseline labour market forecasts for Ontario’s FOCAL Automotive Production Industry in Spring 2020. This report expands the scope of that work […]

This paper takes a close look at the labour force of landed immigrants in the automotive production sector (parts + assembly), and immigrant labour force participation […]

Technology has long played a critical role in the development and production of motor vehicles by Canada’s automotive industry. The importance of automotive technology has only […]

About FOCAL: The FOCAL initiative is a collaboration between the Canadian Skills Training and Employment Coalition (CSTEC), Prism Economics and Analysis and the Automotive Policy Research […]

Join FOCAL for our March 4th discussion of our Eastern Ontario auto production employment forecasts!

Join FOCAL for our March 4th discussion of our Eastern Ontario auto production employment forecasts!

Do you represent an auto sector employer in the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area? Are you a jobseeker looking to the future in this area? Do you represent […]

Do you represent an auto sector employer in the London/Stratford and Bruce Peninsula region?  Are you a jobseeker looking to the future in this area? Do […]

Do you represent an auto sector employer in the Kitchener-Waterloo and Barrie region?  Are you a jobseeker looking to the future in this area? Do you […]

Do you represent an auto sector employer in the Windsor-Sarnia region?  Are you a jobseeker looking to the future in this area? Do you represent an […]

Public understanding of the automotive sector is often associated with images of skilled employees on vehicle assembly lines, but the industry is also home to a […]

In this series of reports, we observe the contributions of Canada’s six automotive technology clusters located in Vancouver, the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), Kitchener […]

Canada’s automotive technology clusters are key to the advancement of the broader automotive sector. These clusters contribute to manufacturing capability and support the development of new […]

Canada’s automotive technology clusters are key to the advancement of the broader automotive sector. These clusters contribute to manufacturing capability and support the development of new […]

Canada’s automotive technology clusters are key to the advancement of the broader automotive sector. These clusters contribute to manufacturing capability and support the development of new […]

Canada’s automotive technology clusters are key to the advancement of the broader automotive sector. These clusters contribute to manufacturing capability and support the development of new […]

Canada’s automotive technology clusters are key to the advancement of the broader automotive sector. These clusters contribute to manufacturing capability and support the development of new […]

Canada’s automotive technology clusters are key to the advancement of the broader automotive sector. These clusters contribute to manufacturing capability and support the development of new […]

Automotive manufacturing employment in Canada is much larger than has traditionally been estimated, and employers in the sector will face significant hiring needs over the next […]

A new research paper says hiring and training more women can help to address a looming skills shortage Canada’s automotive sector, but acknowledges that enhanced education efforts and targeted recruitment practices may be required to attract candidates.

What do you know about the size and scope of Canada’s automotive sector? And why does that matter when you’re thinking about your career? If you’re […]

This profile summarizes a regional labour market forecast for the broader automotive industry. The forecast model projects and quantifies trends in labour demand and supply for […]

This paper is part of the FOCAL Initiative’s response to commentary we heard aboutyouth recruitment and retention from automotive sector employers during thisproject’s initial round of […]

“Industry 4.0″ is one of the leading trends in manufacturing technologies. For the Canadian automotive manufacturing sector to maintain its competitiveness and share in the North […]

This paper follows up on a fall 2019 Focal initiative paper entitled Women, Youth and Indigenous Peoples’ Employment in Canada’s Automotive Sector and takes a closer […]

This profile summarizes a provincial labour market forecast for the broader automotive industry. The forecast model projects and quantifies trends in labour demand and supply for […]

Throughout last year, we talked to dozens of automotive manufacturers about their workforce challenges. Many conversations were punctuated by ongoing concerns around shortages related to skills […]

This profile summarizes a provincial labour market forecast for the broader automotive industry. The forecast model projects and quantifies trends in labour demand and supply for […]

This profile summarizes a regional labour market forecast for the broader automotive industry. The forecast model projects and quantifies trends in labour demand and supply for […]

This profile summarizes a regional labour market forecast for the broader automotive industry. The forecast model projects and quantifies trends in labour demand and supply for […]

This profile summarizes a regional labour market forecast for the broader automotive industry. The forecast model projects and quantifies trends in labour demand and supply for […]

This profile summarizes a regional labour market forecast for the broader automotive industry. The forecast model projects and quantifies trends in labour demand and supply for […]

This profile summarizes a regional labour market forecast for the broader automotive industry. The forecast model projects and quantifies trends in labour demand and supply for […]

This profile summarizes a regional labour market forecast for the broader automotive industry. The forecast model projects and quantifies trends in labour demand and supply for […]

Some of Canada’s largest automotive manufacturers, the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association (APMA) and the province of Ontario have teamed up in an effort to meet the […]

Our FOCAL initiative team continues to work on the project’s new research papers and its occupational forecasts. The project’s key goal remains unchanged: to provide relevant […]

The Future of Canadian Automotive Labourforce (FOCAL) Initiative will: produce current labour market information related to Canada’s automotive manufacturing sector; examine key trends affecting the automotive […]

This report summarizes what industry stakeholders and researchers have indicated helps automotive manufacturers win production mandates and explains the context for the variable demand side of […]

Ontario is the engine of Canada’s economy, accounting for nearly 40% of total national GDP each year between 1997 and 2017. In particular, its automotive manufacturing […]

Quebec plays a critical role in Canada’s economy, accounting for nearly 20% of total national GDP each year between 1997 and 2017. The province’s GDP was […]

The Windsor-Sarnia region is comprised of the Economics Region (ER) of WindsorSarnia and three Census Divisions (CDs): Chatham-Kent, Essex, and Lambton. The region’s GDP was an […]

Canada’s automotive industry plays an important role in the economy of the country. The industry has a complex supply chain and changes quickly. Understanding links between […]

This report summarizing our preliminary insights into labour market challenges faced by employers in Canada’s automotive sector is part of the Auto Labour Market Information (LMI) […]

This report on automotive sector wages compensation is based on publicly available data that includes important analysis and identifies some important trends. However, because the industry […]

The Eastern Ontario region is comprised of the Economics Regions (ERs) of Ottawa, Kingston-Pembroke, and Muskoka-Kawarthas. The region’s GDP was an estimated $109 billion in 2018, […]

The Kitchener – Waterloo – Barrie Economic Region (ER) is comprised of four Census Divisions (CD): Waterloo, Wellington, Dufferin, and Simcoe. The region’s GDP was an […]

Manufacturing employers in Canada have recently faced tight labour markets. Automotive manufacturing employers, including those that assemble vehicles and those that manufacture parts and components, are […]

The Golden Horseshoe region is comprised of two Economics Regions (ERs) as defined by Statistics Canada: Toronto and Hamilton-Niagara Peninsula. The region’s GDP was an estimated […]

The London/Stratford-Bruce Peninsula region is comprised of the Economics Regions (ERs) of London and Stratford-Bruce Peninsula. The region’s GDP was an estimated $48 billion in 2018, […]

The automotive industry supply chain is complex and dynamic. The industry includes not only assemblers, but also many parts suppliers including companies that might self-identify as […]

This report examines diversity and employment in Canada’s automotive industry. More specifically, it focuses on better understanding the employment characteristics of women, youth, and Indigenous persons […]

The Winnipeg region is comprised of five Economic Regions (ERs) as defined by Statistics Canada: South East Manitoba, South Central Manitoba, North Central Manitoba, Winnipeg, and […]

The Montreal region is comprised of three Economic Regions (ERs): Montreal, Monteregie, and Estrie. The region’s GDP was an estimated $192 billion in 2018, 13.3% of […]

The Vancouver region is comprised of the Economics Region (ER) of Lower Mainland Southwest and the Census Divisions (CDs) of Fraser Valley, Greater Vancouver, Sunshine Coast, […]