Ontario Sectors - Food Processing

Labour Force

Strong Work Ethic and Productivity

Ontario's investment in workers pays off in today's information-driven economy. Average employee job tenure in Ontario was over 9 years in 2006, significantly higher than the U.S. average of 5.5 years in January 2006. In our manufacturing sector, job tenure was even higher at over 9.5 years. Lower turnover means lower labour costs and a more profitable business climate for companies in Ontario.

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey 2006, February 2007; U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2006 (6/2008)

Highly Skilled Workforce: How We Do It

Ontario is blessed with an exceptional post-secondary education system and a highly-educated workforce; more than 57% of our people have completed post-secondary education. The province features 20 publicly-funded universities and 24 colleges, including fully-accredited food science and food safety processing programs at the University of Guelph and customized food processing training offered at such colleges as Loyalist and Durham. Another excellent source of food processing technical support and training is the Guelph Food Technology Centre, which assists more than 500 companies and organizations each year. There are also many highly competent independent consultants and companies providing excellent services to the food sector. [More]

Examples of Labour Rates in Ontario
Occupation	Hourly Rate	Benefit costs	annual $
Occupation	Hourly Rate	Benefit costs	Sal. & Hourly Rate combined	Cost of Benefit
Electrician	$25	6.70%	52,938	7,901.19
Machinist	$23	6.70%	49,397	7,372.69
Millwright	$25	6.70%	51,637	7,707.01
Production Assembler (non-machine)	$16	6.70%	32,468	4,845.97
Production General Labourer	$15	6.70%	30,361	4,531.49
Shipper/Receiver	$17	6.70%	35,809	5,344.63
Product Quality Assurance Manager	$22	6.70%	73,486	10,968.06
Warehouse Manager	N/A	6.70%	63,587	9,490.60

Source: compiled by Aon Consulting, July 2006 (3/2007)

"On average, across the province and all occupations, the percentage cost of the 'Group Benefits package' to the total wage bill, is approximately 6.7%". - Aon Consulting Inc. - 2005 Ontario Wage Cost Review

Terms:

Hourly Wage: The wage rate, expressed in dollars and cents, paid to the employee per hour as of December 31, 2005. Does not include benefits, overtime, incentive payments, etc. Also does not include any base salaries expressed as hourly rate equivalents.

Salary & Hourly Rate Combined: The combination of salary paid and hourly paid incumbents. All hourly paid incumbents have been normalized to an annual earning based on the standard hours worked per week provided for that incumbent.