| Public Services include the public administration
of the federal, provincial and municipal governments, as well as
employment in education and health care. Within the public services,
there is a striking difference between the education and health
services, and public administration. Whereas education and health
grew at a rate close to the overall growth rate for services, governments
reduced their employment by 55 000 jobs, for a decline of 7%. The
implication of these growth variations is that the patterns of service
specialization directly affect the growth rates of cities.
Geographical Description
This map is composed of four thematic map layers that show the
growth rate for public services in total (initial map view) between
1986 and 1996, and separately for health, education and public administration.
On all map layers, the circles indicate the population in 1996 (where
larger populations are represented by larger circles), while the
colours in the legend indicate the rates of growth, either positive
or negative.
Public Services (overall)
The pattern of growth rates for public administration shows the
most distinctive pattern of change. There were substantial declines,
with more than half of the cities losing employment during the period
1986 to 1996. This map layer shows strong regional variations, with
a widespread decline throughout the Prairie provinces, rapid growth
in British Columbia and mixed performance in southern Ontario and
Quebec. The federal capital (Ottawa) and the provincial capitals
Halifax and Winnipeg suffered the greatest losses. The highest rates
of growth occurred in coastal British Columbia and in small cities
on the fringes of Toronto and Montréal.
Public Administration
The pattern of growth rates for public administration shows the most distinctive pattern of change. There were substantial declines, with more than half of the cities losing employment during the period 1986 to 1996. This map layer shows strong regional variations, with a widespread decline throughout the Prairie provinces, rapid growth in British Columbia and mixed performance in southern Ontario and Quebec. The federal capital (Ottawa) and the provincial capitals Halifax and Winnipeg suffered the greatest losses. The highest rates of growth occurred in coastal British Columbia and in small cities on the fringes of Toronto and Montréal.
Education and Health
In contrast to public administration, the growth rates for education
and health were universally positive, although relatively slow growth
in the eastern Prairie provinces contrasted with rapid growth in
British Columbia, Alberta and southern Ontario and Quebec. The very
highest rates of growth occurred in coastal British Columbia and
in smaller centres around Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver, where population
growth was rapid. The very largest cities, in contrast, showed only
moderate growth as education and health funding by governments tends
to be allocated towards areas where the population is growing and
infrastructure is lacking.
Fifteen small and peripheral cities lost jobs between 1986 and
1996 in the education sector, but none more than 300. Toronto added
almost 25 000 jobs in education during this period. Areas of slow
growth, mostly rural or smaller centres, lost jobs in education
as the birth rate declined, especially rural Quebec and across the
northern periphery of the country. Nationally, the growth in the
education sector more or less reflected the overall distribution
of population growth across the country in, for example, Vancouver,
Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa and Montréal. Nevertheless,
many growing cities across the country (for example, Prince George,
British Columbia and Fredericton, New Brunswick) also added jobs
in these activities.
Growth in health-care employment was almost universal across Canada.
Only three places lost jobs, none losing more than 120 people, whereas
Toronto added 44 000 health-care workers. Nationally, the growth
in health care more or less reflects the overall distribution of
population growth across the country. Since 1991, 96% of population
growth has occurred in the four largest provinces (Ontario, Quebec,
Alberta and British Columbia), and two-thirds of that growth took
place in Ontario and British Columbia. Many small centres across
the country also added jobs in these activities. In contrast to
the education sector, employment in health increased in those slow-growth
communities where the population is aging.
To properly interpret this map, please consult the text Data
and Mapping Notes.
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