Specialization in Health and Education Services

Health- and education-related activities now dominate the public sector, accounting for three-quarters of all public-sector jobs. Not surprisingly, health and education employment specialization have become important components of any local economy and of its social well-being. In many places, universities, community colleges and regional health centres are among the largest employers and service providers.

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Photograph of University of Toronto

Geographical Description

This map is composed of three thematic map layers that show health and education specialization in terms of overall health and education employment activity (initial map view) and individually for health and education. On all map layers, the size of the circles is proportional to the population of the cities, while the degree of specialization is shown by the colour in the legend.

Although not as irregularly distributed as jobs in public administration, employment in health and education tends to be distributed irregularly because the single employer - typically a branch of the provincial government - may concentrate facilities in hopes of achieving economies of scale. While there are university towns and small regional centres with large health-care facilities, education and health activities generally tend to choose the same market centres that are selected by commercial activities.

Employment in education includes primary and secondary education, which are closely related to the population of the market, and post-secondary education, which is more erratically located and therefore largely accounts for the spatial concentration of specialization in education. For the most part, both components of education are funded and allocated by the provincial governments. A number of regional centres with universities emerge as being specialized in education. They include Prince George, British Columbia; Lethbridge, Alberta; Brandon, Manitoba; Guelph and Kingston, Ontario; Sherbrooke, Quebec; and Fredericton, New Brunswick. In general, the industrial cities of southern Ontario and Quebec are less favoured, especially those places that lie in the shadow of larger cities. Rural and urban differences in educational specialization are very strong, and there are major variations among the urban centres surrounding the larger metropolitan regions such as Toronto and Montréal: some attract higher education, while others are largely residential.

Although health-care employment is partly funded by the federal government, the provincial governments largely determine the location of facilities. Like education, health-care facilities operate at two levels: doctors, clinics and local hospital facilities are closely related to the market, but regional facilities (for example, for the mentally ill) lead to specialized health-care centres. Health-care specialization is distributed in much the same way as commercial services. Health-care facilities in smaller cities provide services for residents of the nearby trade areas. At the same time, the growing importance of health care has led to specialized regional centres, such as Kenora, Ontario; Portage la Prairie, Manitoba; Joliette, Quebec; and Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador. In general, the industrial cities of southern Ontario and Quebec are less favoured, especially those places that lie in the shadow of larger cities. A more serious problem is the relative lack of facilities in some of the most isolated locations (for example, Kitimat, British Columbia; Labrador City, Newfoundland and Labrador; Wood Buffalo, Alberta; and Quesnel, British Columbia).

To properly interpret this map, please consult the text Data and Mapping Notes.

• Specialization in Public Services (overall) Map | Read about this map
• Specialization in Public Administration Map | Read about this map

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