Town of Cochrane Strategic Plan – Final Report October 2014
According to the 2009 Skills Inventory and Socio-Economic Assessment, 41 Canadian Business
Patterns data indicates a 7.5% decrease in the number of businesses operating in Cochrane
between 2003 and 2009. Nearly three quarters (74%) of the remaining 344 firms have fewer than
five employees. 106 firms are medium-sized (10 to 99 employees) and four are large businesses
(100+ employees).
4.2.4 Employment by Industry Sector
Based on the most recent data available (2011), trades, sales and service, and business services
represent the highest proportion of jobs in Cochrane. Collectively, these three industries represent
approximately 62% of jobs in the Town (Table 4.3).
Note that while the percentage of people in typically higher-paid Trades occupations jumped by
about 7% over 2005, Sales and Services occupations fell by 4%. The number of manufacturing
jobs fell by about 3% in 2011, as did Health Services occupations. Interestingly, the number of
people working in Knowledge Economy jobs within the Natural and Applied Science sector
quadrupled, from less that 1% in 2006 to 3.6% in 2011.
In 2011, unemployment rates in Cochrane were 13.8%; this is significantly higher than the
Ontario unemployment rate of 8.3%. The labour force participation rate for Cochrane in 2011 was
58.4%, also lower than the Ontario rate of 65.5%.42 This is not unexpected, as similar patterns
prevail throughout most of northern Ontario.
Table 4.3: Cochrane Top Sectors by Employment, 2011
Industry
Labour Force Population
Trades
Sales and Service
Business Services
Education, Law and Social Services
Manufacturing
Management
Health
Agriculture
Art, Culture, Recreation and Sport
Natural and Applied Sciences
% of Jobs 2006
% of Jobs 2011
2,500
27.2%
20.2%
14.2%
9.4%
9.0%
6.8%
6.0%
2.4%
0.8%
0.8%
2,755
20.4%
24%
16.8%
9.6%
12.1%
7.4%
3.4%
3.4%
1%
3.6%
41
Millier Dickenson Blais (2009) Cochrane Community Adjustment Committee Skills Inventory and Socio-Economic
Assessment.
42
Statistics Canada. (2013). 2011 National Household Survey Cochrane. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/qzd9pn8
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