Job prospects Planner, Urban And Regional in Ontario

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Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "planner, urban and regional" in Ontario or across Canada.

Job opportunities in Ontario

These outlooks were updated on November 29, 2023.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be good for Urban and land use planners (NOC 21202) in Ontario for the 2023-2025 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a moderate number of new positions.
• Not many positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

What Types of Employers Are Out There?

• Public administration, mainly at the municipal and regional levels of government
• Within the private sector, architectural, engineering and related services firms are key employers

What are the Main Trends Affecting Employment?

• High levels of residential construction due to population growth in many areas of the province
• Significant levels of public sector investments, such as for the redevelopment or construction of transit facilities, hospitals, and cultural spaces, including heritage institutions
• Several initiatives to strengthen stormwater management systems and other infrastructure to reduce the risks of flooding caused by climate change

What Skills Do I Need to Succeed?

• The urban and land use planners profession is not regulated, but only members of the Ontario Professional Planners Institute (OPPI) can use the title ‘Registered Professional Planner’ (RPP)
• Urban and land use planners are also expected to have strong digital skills especially in using Geographic Information System (GIS) software.

Here are some key facts about Urban and land use planners in Ontario:

• Approximately 3,900 people work in this occupation.
• Urban and land use planners mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Local, municipal, regional, aboriginal and other public administration (NAICS 913-919): 30%
  • Architectural, engineering and design services (NAICS 5413): 23%
  • Other professional, scientific and technical services (NAICS 5414, 5416-5419): 5%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 93% compared to 81% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 7% compared to 19% for all occupations
• 81% of urban and land use planners work all year, while 19% work only part of the year, compared to 63% and 37% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 47 weeks compared to 43 weeks for all occupations.
• 9% of urban and land use planners are self-employed compared to an average of 15% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 53% compared to 52% for all occupations
  • Women: 47% compared to 48% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: less than 5% compared to 9% for all occupations
  • high school diploma or equivalent: 7% compared to 25% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: less than 5% compared to 8% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 13% compared to 22% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 40% compared to 24% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: 38% compared to 13% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in Ontario by economic region.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology