Canadian automotive employment continued to grow this year, with overall employment for the sector up 4.2% in the third quarter over September 2022, putting the total at 613,500 employees. That’s 1.3% below pre-pandemic levels, according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC).
In comparing employment figures from September of this year to the same period in 2022, auto dealers — the largest volume employment category within the automotive industry — saw employment rise 4.5% as of September, to 155,200 employees. Parts and accessories saw employment increase 7.5%, while repair and maintenance experienced a 5.9% increase. Parts and accessories manufacturing rose 4.2%, and motor vehicle manufacturing is up 0.9% and has remained consistently ahead of 2022.
“Employment in the automotive space continued to regain ground and as an aggregate now approaches pre-pandemic levels,” said Andrew King, Managing Partner at DAC, in a statement. “However employment is traditionally a lagging indicator, and with economic headwinds seemingly growing, we hold serious concerns as to the outlook for 2024.”
On the downside, employment figures for metalworking machinery manufacturing were behind 2022 for the first half of the year. It then observed marginal increases in August and September 2023. And motor vehicle body and trailer manufacturing employment figures remained flat.
