Employment services, 2015

Released: 2017-03-29

The employment services industry group generated $13.3 billion in operating revenue in 2015, down 0.3% from 2014. Operating expenses declined by 0.7%, resulting in an operating profit margin of 4.1% in 2015, up from 3.7% in 2014.

The employment services industry group consists of establishments primarily engaged in permanent placement, executive search, contract staffing, temporary staffing and co-employment staffing services.

As this industry group is labour-intensive, salaries and subcontract expenses make up the majority of the expenses, accounting for 88.3% of total operating expenses. Salaries, wages and benefits accounted for 60.2% of total operating expenses, followed by subcontract expenses at 28.1%.

Coinciding with the decline in the oil and gas industry, the resource-based provinces reported lower operating revenue for employment services in 2015. Operating revenue in Alberta decreased by 14.1% to $2.8 billion. Saskatchewan (-5.0%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (-3.6%) also reported lower operating revenue compared to 2014.

Across Canada, most of the industry operating revenue continued to be generated by Ontario firms (54.6%), followed by Alberta (21.2%) and Quebec (12.1%).

In terms of sales by type of service, temporary staffing services continued to be the largest contributor to the industry group's sales; however, its share in 2015 declined from 52.7% in 2014 to 51.3%. Permanent placement and contract staffing services generated 39.2% of total sales, up from 37.6% in 2014. Other sales of goods and services contributed the remaining 9.4%.

The business sector, which is the primary client of the employment services industry group, accounted for 86.8% of total sales in 2015. The government, not-for-profit organizations and public institutions sector accounted for 10.4% of total sales. The remainder of sales (2.8%) was generated by individuals and households and clients outside Canada, combined.

Contact information

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