Ontario’s landscape and horticulture industry is growing with over 12,000 establishments employing over 88,000 workers. Over the last five years, the industry has experienced robust growth, increasing at an average annual rate of 3.2%, driven by residential and commercial development, consumer interest in home-improvements, and the increasing desire for greener landscapes in urban areas. By 2025, expansion demand of the broader landscape and horticulture industry related to employment is expected to increase to a workforce size of over 102,000 workers. This represents a projected workforce increase of 13.5% compared to 2020.
In Ontario, the landscape and horticulture industry consists of establishments that produce plants such as nursery growers, greenhouses, tree farms, and garden centres. In addition, the sector provides indoor and outdoor landscape design, build/construction of indoor and outdoor landscapes and maintenance, turf and grounds management, tree planting, landscape lighting and irrigation services, and snow and ice removal. Additionally, the sector includes establishments that operate greenhouses, tree farms, nurseries, and garden centres. In short, landscape and horticulture establishments are responsible for making Ontario residences, commercial areas, and public spaces more sustainable and enjoyable for people, animals, and plant life.
While industry growth projections are very positive, the sector is facing a critical workforce challenge in terms of both labour and skills that could impact the industry’s capacity in the coming decade. Compounding this challenge is Ontario’s aging workforce and the declining pool of available youth entering into the labour force. With the anticipated retirement of nearly 8,900 workers, and given current growth trajectories, the landscape and horticulture sector will likely need to hire, train, and retain almost 24,000 additional workers over the next five years.
Indeed, there are clear signals that businesses involved in landscaping and horticulture are already experiencing pressure from labour and skills shortages. A survey conducted across 170 firms in January of 2021, indicated that over 90% of landscape and horticulture firms had significant problems in attracting and retaining workers for both entry-level and higher skilled occupations. The greatest challenge is attracting supervisors and crew leaders, landscape technicians and designers, and labourers, which is prevalent across the province.
Attracting and developing new workers is crucial in meeting long-term workforce needs and continued industry growth. To adequately meet future talent needs, the Ontario school system and the employment services network should be maximized to inform students and job seekers about available career opportunities. There are many good reasons to promote these jobs. While entry-level work is often seasonal and the wages are modest, there are significant opportunities for long-term work, career advancement and substantially higher wages. Interviews suggest that the sector has achieved some success in attracting youth through partnerships with individual high schools, community colleges and universities; it is recommended that these efforts be strengthened and expanded in the coming years.
Finally, if the landscape and horticulture industry is to continue to grow, building a sustainable workforce will require enhancing recruitment from groups traditionally underrepresented in the industry, including women, visible minorities, and newcomers, among others. To attract younger and more diverse workers, landscape and horticulture firms must consider competing with other industries seeking similarly skilled talent including construction, utilities, and municipalities. In order to compete for these workers, the sector needs to articulate the benefits of working in landscape and horticulture.
This report examines the current size and occupational composition of Ontario’s landscape and horticulture industry and provides a five-year labour market forecast on employment. It intends to identify current and future labour market pressure points to inform industry, government, and other stakeholders. This anticipated labour and skills shortage have far-reaching implications, which will require collaboration and cooperation between many stakeholders to curtail. The sector as a whole, and Landscape Ontario as an industry association leader, have the opportunity to proactively address the growing need for talent and promote the diversity of careers to the future workforce.
Over the next five years, the landscape and horticulture industry will require nearly 24,000 workers across a range of skilled occupations, supervisory staff and entry-level labour. Each of the three occupation clusters identified have strong anticipated demand. If the industry doesn’t take explicit and directive action, the implications are possibly severe. The growth of the sector and its ability to deliver services will likely be inhibited. Ongoing and prospective work may be delayed and the quality of work compromised. Through interviews conducted, numerous stories were shared about many companies delaying work to 2022 and 2023 due to the lack of a skilled workforce.
However, now is the time to take targeted action to develop the skills and labour needs of the future. The landscape and horticulture industry is well-positioned to leverage capacity across educational institutions, the industry association, employers, government and the not-for-profit sector to build pathways into green careers in Ontario.
