The entrepreneurial spirt has been alive and well in Eastern Ontario over the last two years. There was growth in the number of businesses operating in almost all sectors of the Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry and Prescott-Russell. The number of businesses operating in 2024 in SDG was 10,764, compared to 9,942 in 2022, according to the Eastern Ontario Training Board’s Local Labour Market Plan.
In Prescott-Russell the number of businesses increased from 8,811 in 2022 to 9,691 in 2024.
More recent numbers show that in December of last year, there were 10,763 business operations in SDG, 373 more than in December of 2023, and 9,797 businesses in PR, or 477 more than in December of 2023.
Self-employed: In December of 2024, there were 7,520 self-employed entrepreneurs with no employees in SDG and 6,977 self-employed entrepreneurs in PR.
The professional, scientific, technical services, construction, health and social assistance, administrative support, waste management and remediation services and public administration sectors continue to grow.
After a decrease in the number of businesses operating in the accommodation and food services and personal and household services sectors between 2020 and 2022, those areas experienced an increase in the number of businesses between 2022 and 2024.
The number of Real estate and leasing businesses rose from 1,938 to 2,127 in SDG and from 1,620 to 1,811 in PR in that two-year period.
In agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, the number of businesses went from 1,348 to 1,410 in SDG.
The number of construction businesses in SDG increased from 973 to 1,053 and in PR from 1,391 to 1,485.
Transport truck drivers, shippers and receivers and cooks were the three occupations generating the most online job postings in 2024 in SDG. In PR, the top three occupations generating job postings were home support workers, food services supervisors and retail and wholesale trade managers.
Challenges: Meetings of employers in the manufacturing and health care sectors in SDG and PR discussed labour market shortages, challenges in recruiting and retaining staff and strategies to address these concerns. “In general, we continue to hear about the importance of life skills including reliability and work ethic from employers. Many are experiencing difficulty filling vacancies and retaining employees,” says the EOTB.
The report relates, “At a meeting of SDG and PR manufacturers conducted in September 2024, employers raised concerns about employee absenteeism, a lack of general soft skills, employee morale including gossip and rumours resulting in a toxic work environment, and delays caused by union requirements in areas like job postings. Lack of day care and transportation were additional challenges. Strategies to address these challenges included reframing recruitment and changing language to appeal to a more diverse range of potential employees, increasing wages and benefits, conducting employee surveys and hiring newcomers.
