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 knowledge associated with these retirements is precipitating an employment deficit. In turn, this creates an exciting range of opportunities in the automotive industry for youth (defined as the 15-24 year-old demographic segment).

To take just two broad examples, FOCAL’s occupational forecasts for automotive manufacturing for the period 2021-2030 are:

• In Ontario the sector’s projected recruitment gap is 30,000 employees, almost a fifth of the province’s current automotive manufacturing workforce.
• In Quebec the recruitment gap for the same time period is just under 5,000 employees, or about a third of the current provincial sectoral workforce.

The opportunities for youth employment in Canada’s automotive industry are, as a result of these and similar occupational shortfalls in other regions of the country, many and varied.

That’s the good news. The even better news is that, according to The Canadian Automotive Partnership Council’s (CAPC) 2014 report entitled A Call for Action II: “Canada has a well-trained automotive industry workforce. Fully 25 percent of young Canadians 18 to 24 years old are enrolled in university; a further 14 percent are enrolled in colleges or a skilled trade. It is one of the highest rates in the world.”

More recently, in 2018 a report was published called Drive to Win. It was created for the Automotive Advisor to Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development and the Ontario Minister of Economic Development and Growth. The report proposed a series of sweeping policy actions to attract young employees to the sector as part of an effort to support, maintain and expand “a culture that celebrates and rewards the power of making things.”

What follows are three reasons why youth should look at the automotive manufacturing industry as a place to find fulfilling work and a long-term career path. 

Reason 1: The growth opportunities

There are 10 domains of technological progress in the automotive sector, most of which are suitable for younger recruits with STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) credentials:

1. Autonomous Vehicle (AV) Technologies.
2. Connected Vehicle Technologies.
3. Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning (AI & ML).
4. Materials & Light Weighting.
5. Battery Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technologies.
6. Hydrogen Fuel Cell (HFC) Technologies.
7. Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) Powertrain Technologies.
8. Production Technologies.
9. Vehicle Safety & Security.
10. Other Software & Electronics.

The Automotive Industry Labour Market Analysis: Youth Employment in Canada’s Automotive Manufacturing Industry paper paints a generally progressive and upbeat picture of advances for youth employment in the sector, especially in the area of wages. As our analysis states:

“The youth average wage in vehicle manufacturing substantially outdoes the youth average wage for ‘all industries’ and the youth average wage in manufacturing. The youth average wage in parts manufacturing was also greater than the youth average wage for manufacturing as a whole.”

Youth average hourly wages in vehicle manufacturing (2017)

Helping fuel an attraction to the automotive sector among Canada’s youth is working in an industry that’s high-tech and innovative. Another recent Government of Canada report points this out:

• Canada is one of the world’s top 10 producers of light vehicles. Five global OEMs (original equipment manufacturer) assemble more than 2 million vehicles at their Canadian plants each year: Stellantis (formerly FCA), Ford, GM, Honda and Toyota.
• Their assembly plants are supplied by a vibrant ecosystem of nearly 700 parts suppliers, including homegrown companies like Magna, Linamar and Martinrea.
• Canada is home to one of only five machine-tool-die-and-mould (MTDM) making clusters in the world and is best in class.
• Canada has been building vehicles for over a century and has a proud legacy of high-quality auto manufacturing.
• The sector plays a key role in Canada’s economy. With a $19 billion contribution to GDP, it is one of Canada’s largest manufacturing sectors.
• The industry directly employs more than 125,000 people, with an additional 400,000 people in aftermarket services and dealership networks.

Further supporting this information, the government report goes on to state that: “Canadian companies are leading the way in developing transformative automotive technologies. Canada’s expertise in emerging technologies is attracting major investments in autonomous and connected vehicle research from global OEMs such as GM and Ford and tech giants like Uber, Google and Nvidia.

Growth in Canada’s vibrant tech industry is increasingly driven by clusters of expertise in artificial intelligence (AI) including machine learning, deep learning, neural networks and computer vision.”

This is the kind of high-tech news that makes the automotive sector increasingly attractive to youth — and it’s news we should keep sharing in order to attract qualified talent in the years to come.

A 2017 study from the Center for Automotive Research (CAR), also quoted in the Automotive Industry Labour Market Analysis: Youth Employment in Canada’s Automotive Manufacturing Industry paper about the US automotive manufacturing industry, concluded that: “Too few youth and the people who influence their career choices have a clear understanding of the exciting high-tech opportunities in the 21st century automotive industry. It’s not a secret that misconceptions about the industry are hampering talent attraction efforts.”

So, while it continues to be important for the industry to recruit youth to work on the assembly line and in parts production, the industry needs to stress the flourishing high-tech opportunities in the category, too.

Reason 2: The automotive ecosystems

Many of the major automotive technology clusters in Canada enjoy access to ecosystems that feed further growth. That growth potential is significant, as the following chart explains:

Average Employment by Occupation, Descending Order by Broader automotive manufacturing sector Share of Total Employment, 2022-2030

Such ecosystems – especially but not limited to those in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), Kitchener Waterloo-Cambridge (KWC), Windsor and Ottawa – include colleges, universities and incubators such as the Hamilton-based Innovation Factory’s  CITM.

CITM is a notable example of just one of six Regional Technology Development Sites (RTDS) within Ontario’s Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN), led by Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE). Translated, all of this means jobs for the younger generation with high-tech capabilities and ambitions.

Keeping pace with Hamilton in automotive innovation is Ottawa. As one of the world’s top technology hubs, Ottawa is a global leader in autonomous vehicles (AV) – supported by the city’s powerful cluster of advanced networking, software and Internet of Things (IoT).

Over 70 companies in Ottawa’s AV ecosystem, led by Blackberry QNX, contribute their expertise, technology and intelligence in the field of connected cars and autonomous vehicles (CAV). The worldwide economic impact of CAVs is estimated to reach $9.2 trillion CAD by 2050.

All of this and more is designed to solidify Ottawa’s reputation as a world leader in the development of self-driving vehicle technology and – of course – act as a magnet to attract a new and younger pool of talent into the Canadian automotive manufacturing industry.

And let’s not forget Windsor, whose title as the ‘automotive capital of Canada’ is based on a century of automotive manufacturing expertise. According to another Government of Canada report – Windsor-Essex reinvents the wheel with new automobility innovation cluster – Windsor is home to a part of the automotive sector that is evolving and changing – “at an incredible pace.”

This represents a wide and powerful range of exciting STEM supported opportunities for youth employment in the Canadian automotive manufacturing industry. 

Reason 3: The lifestyle

Most if not all of these automotive ecosystem regions offer congenial lifestyle possibilities, making them attractive as places to live as well as work.

As we have noted in a recent blog about employment of the younger generation in the automotive industry, youth especially value a “work-life balance” – which is precisely what our automotive ecosystem regions offer:

• Generally lower housing costs
• The availability of green spaces, parks, trails and (in most cases) waterfront
• The educational opportunities in automotive ecosystem regions – offering an abundance of public and private institutions
• A wide range of amenities, city programs and extracurricular activities for families

Living in or near a greenbelt – natural, largely undeveloped, and/or agricultural lands that surround urban areas – and working in a leading high-tech community nearby is an increasingly attractive lifestyle option for the younger married generation – especially if they want to raise a family.

Conclusion: A culture that celebrates and rewards the power of making things

The Canadian automotive industry is an increasingly top-of-mind career option for this country’s youth because it:

• Is one of the key drivers of innovation in the advanced manufacturing sector in this country – and has been for years.
• Stands at the crossroads of a diverse and growing high-tech ecosystem – transforming existing jobs and creating new ones.
• Increasingly spurs innovation across a wide range of industries – driving significant Canadian economic growth.
• Is actively recruiting talented young individuals of every skill level who want to be a part of its expansion – immediate, medium and long-term.

Find out more from FOCAL

The Future of Canadian Automotive Labourforce (FOCAL) Initiative is a collaboration of the Canadian Skills Training and Employment Coalition (CSTEC), the Automotive Policy Research Centre and Prism Economics and Analysis. 

Funded by the Government of Canada, you can find out more about us on our website and follow us on Social Media – LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – and through our newsletter.