Abstract

Personal services include beauty salons, dry cleaners and travel agents on the convenience side, and car rental and photography on the specialty side. This map shows the difference between the actual employment in personal services and the expected level, based on the city's population and income. Generally, personal services are closely linked to the nearby market, with only a modest preference for larger centres and higher income areas. Everyone uses them; they are everywhere. After the effects of the market are removed, specialization does occur in smaller places in western Canada and the Atlantic provinces that have extensive service areas, whereas most urban centres in southern Ontario and Quebec have smaller trade areas and are thus relatively deficient in these services.