Ontario’s manufacturing jobs fall to lower rate since 1976: budget watchdog

The Ford government's push to make Ontario a "manufacturing powerhouse" appears to be faltering, according to the latest data from the province's budget watchdog, which found manufacturing activity is at its "lowest level since 2015."

The Financial Accountability Officer's (FAO) latest economic review found that manufacturing - which represents about 10 per cent of the province's economy - has faced a number of challenges, including pandemic-related shutdowns, supply-chain disruptions, shipping issues, auto plant retooling, slowing demand, and, most recently U.S. tariffs on Ontario’s exports.

The result, the watchdog found, was a decline in manufacturing output in seven of the past eight quarters between mid-2023 to mid-2025, leading to 20,600 fewer jobs, representing a declining share of the province's economy.

"Manufacturing jobs as a share of Ontario’s total employment recently fell below 10% for the first time since record keeping began in 1976," the FAO said.

The report offers a sharp contrast to Premier Doug Ford's characterization of the sector under his government, which has been heavily focused on leveraging taxpayer funds to attract new investment by offering tax credits, direct support and production incentives.

"We’ve seen $70 billion of investment from manufacturing to auto to the tech sector," Ford recently said in the Ontario Legislature.

"We have 825,000 manufacturing jobs. That’s more than Florida, which is a much bigger state, and New York, which is a bigger state, combined. We have more manufacturing jobs here," Ford added.