• Employment in the Ontario health care and social assistance sector increased by 3.7% in 2017, while the unemployment rate fell to a record low 1.4%
• Sector growth will be driven by demand from Ontario’s aging population, as those who perceive their health to be very good or excellent continues to decrease as a share of the population. 
• Employment in the provincial health care and social assistance sector is projected to grow by about 2.0% per year on average over 2018 to 2020 period.

The Ontario health care and social assistance sector employed 869,500 people in 2017, an increase of 3.7% from the previous year. The sector is the second largest among all sectors in the province in terms of employment, employing 12.2% of the provincial workforce, behind only the wholesale and retail trade sector. Growth has been strong throughout the decade, as the workforce has grown uninterrupted since 2005, and expanded by 19.1% since 2010.

The unemployment rate in the Ontario health care and social assistance sector fell to a record low 1.4% in 2017, adding to the strong outlook of the sector. Economic activity in the form of gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 2.2% in 2017, growing nearly uninterrupted in the sector in Ontario throughout the past decade.

The health care and social assistance sector is made up of four subsectors. The ambulatory health care services subsector, which comprises establishments engaged in providing health care services to patients, accounted for 32.8% of the workforce in the sector in 2017, followed by hospitals at 28.4%, nursing and residential care facilities at 20.3%, and social assistance at 18.6%.

Clieck here for more information