Workforce WindsorEssex has released its 2025-2026 Community and Labour Market Plan, a report that provides a look at the labour market and areas for support and improvement.
The report finds that since 2011, employment has grown by 38 per cent, the population has grown by nearly 25 per cent while the working-age population has reached 407,600 with 245,800 residents employed as of December 2025.
While employment is at record levels, the report notes that growth has been uneven across sectors and age groups.
The plan has identified five realities shaping the future of the region, including that key sectors such as manufacturing and health care remain anchors to the regional economy, but transitions into in-demand employment are not aligned as employers report talent pipeline gaps.
CEO of Workforce WindsorEssex Justin Falconer says a frustrating, recurring theme is around the talent pipeline gaps.
"We have people without jobs and jobs without people, and that's always a big concern," he says. "This report really does look at workforce development and how we're helping people acquire those necessary skills to find employment. That's a big part. It takes an entire community to do workforce development. It's not on just us; it's really everyone."
Falconer says they're seeing more youth than ever before looking to enter the labour market at greater rates, and there are a lot more entry-level jobs available.
"We need to think about how we're creating that early attachment for youth. What sort of exposure can we give youth to different sectors and different types of work? How to help them make that career exploration easier and get into a job that they're really going to thrive in and excel in," he says.
Another key reality listed in the report is that while immigration has and remains central to growth and labour supply, there needs to be a stronger coordination between settlement services, employers, educators, and workplace programs to improve retention and ensure full skill utilization.
Director of Community and Workforce Development at Workforce WindsorEssex Kelsey Santarossa says one of the biggest gaps they're seeing is credential recognition when it comes to immigrants looking for work.
"We've heard that from service providers, and we've heard that from newcomers themselves. They're coming in with incredible skills that aren't necessarily recognized. I'm hopeful that some of the things our federal government is trying to do in making sure that those degrees are shareable and transportable across the country, that we remove some of those accreditation barriers, are something we see progress in over the next little while," she says.
The plan is noting seven areas of coordinated action to respond to the realities as part of a coordinated regional framework, including:
-early talent alignment and youth labour market entry
-newcomer workforce integration and skill utilization
-francophone economic vitality and bilingual workforce
-skilled trade retention and certification completion
-inclusive and sustainable employment outcomes
-employer capacity, retention, and workforce resilience
-labour market intelligence, system coordination, and career navigation infrastructure
Click here to find the entire report.