Ontario’s In-Demand Jobs, Region by Region

Government forecasts for Ontario for 2025–2027 rate 82 occupational groups Good or Very good provincially. But 35 of those 82 have a Moderate rating in at least one region, Jobs.ca’s analysis finds.

Government 2025–2027 forecasts. Four examples, not a ranking. Ratings describe occupational groups, not current vacancy totals. Undetermined is not zero vacancies.

Registered nursing has a Very good employment outlook across Ontario and in all 11 of its economic regions in the government’s 2025–2027 forecasts. Early childhood educators and assistants have a Good provincial outlook, but a Moderate outlook in five regions.

For someone deciding where to focus a job search, that distinction matters. An Ontario-wide list can miss the conditions in the place you actually want to work.

We compared all 516 occupational groups across Ontario and its 11 economic regions. The 35 represent 42.7% of the 82 groups with positive provincial outlooks, with each occupation counted once. This is not a share of jobs or candidates.

Where the provincial picture changes

Early childhood education: the outlook for educators and assistants, NOC 42202, is Good in Ontario and Toronto. It is Moderate in Kitchener–Waterloo–Barrie, Hamilton–Niagara Peninsula, London, Windsor–Sarnia and Northeast. Someone searching in one of those regions should read the local assessment alongside current vacancies. Read the government’s regional breakdown.

Software development: developers and programmers, NOC 21232, have a Limited provincial outlook. The Toronto rating is Very limited, while Muskoka–Kawarthas and Stratford–Bruce Peninsula are Moderate. These ratings describe an occupation’s relative employment prospects within a region. They do not tell us that a smaller region has more vacancies than Toronto. Compare the regions.

Records management: technicians, NOC 12112, have a Good provincial rating, a Moderate rating in Kitchener–Waterloo–Barrie and an Undetermined rating in Northwest. Undetermined gives you no outlook rating to act on. It should prompt further research, rather than an assumption that there are no jobs. Read the occupation’s outlook.

A practical way to use the outlooks

Find the occupational group that matches the work you can do, then open its regional assessment. Read the explanation as well as the rating. Check current postings for the qualifications, pay and working arrangements employers are actually advertising before committing to a search or training plan.

For registered nurses, NOC 31301, the consistently Very good rating is useful context for that process. It cannot tell an individual applicant whether a particular employer is hiring, whether their credentials qualify them or how quickly they will receive an offer. Read the nursing outlook.

What these numbers measure

This is Jobs.ca’s analysis of Employment and Social Development Canada’s 2025–2027 occupational forecasts, published December 10, 2025. We downloaded the English and French workbooks on November 3, 2026. The files carry a December 8, 2025 release-date field. All 516 provincial ratings matched the current Job Bank page when checked.

The forecasts are dated evidence, not a live vacancy count or a Jobs.ca forecast. Job Bank says the outlooks reflect tariff conditions as of November 2025. Subsequent events can change the market. Its ratings assess job-finding prospects; they do not establish a labour shortage.

Our comparison contains 6,192 Ontario records: 516 occupations across the province and its 11 regions. We grouped Good and Very good for this calculation and compared each of those 82 provincial occupations with its assessed regional ratings. There are 59 Undetermined provincial groups. Among the 82 positive provincial groups, 39 have an Undetermined rating somewhere regionally; those groups can overlap with the 35 above. We retained unrated observations and did not treat them as weak prospects or zero vacancies.

Government dataset and downloads · Job Bank’s explanation of outlooks · Full Ontario observations

Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada. Calculations and interpretation are Jobs.ca’s. Prepared with AI assistance; Jobs.ca is responsible for the analysis.

Put the outlooks to work. Search Ontario job postings. Choose a city and enter the work you want to do, then check the advertised qualifications, pay and working arrangements.