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2017 set to be a bumper year for Canada′s financial sector

Are you a returning Canadian graduate looking to break into the financial industry back home?

Canada’s financial sector is flourishing. Over the last decade, it has boosted GDP and provided innumerable jobs – something that is not set to change. But in addition to bolstering the economy, it also encourages growth for other business too, a Conference Board of Canada report has uncovered.

“Financial institutions provide consumers and businesses access to a diverse array of capital sources, which is an important driver of economic growth,” explained Michael Burt, director of industrial trends at the Conference Board of Canada.

“Canada’s financial institutions are effective in their roles as facilitators and are ranked among the top 10 globally when it comes to access to capital.”

According to the report, financial services made up 4.4% of Canadian employment in 2015, accounting for some 791,000 jobs, and 6.8% of Canadian GDP.

There was even more good news elsewhere, as Canada was found to be ranked in the top four countries in the world when it comes to public equity, private equity and venture capital. It is third when it comes to public listings of domestic companies and in relation to capital investment. To put it in clearer terms, the report essentially found that access to credit is satisfactory and business credit was growing faster than business investment.

The Conference Board of Canada said: “The sector’s importance to the Canadian economy is increasing, with its share of employment, GDP, international trade, outward FDI outpacing the average for all sectors.

“In fact, financial services have been Canada’s largest and fastest growing source of services exports, more than doubling since 2005. The sector also accounted for 53% of Canada’s outward FDI in 2015.”

Financial services exports have also more than doubled in the last decade, attaining a huge $11.7bn in 2015 and achieving more than any other sector. Finally, the report revealed that the financial services industry employed 250,790 people in Toronto alone, making up 7.9% of its employment in 2015.

Dissecting this further, the Conference Board of Canada stated: “More than 30% of all financial services headquarters are located in Toronto and 43% of headquarters employment is located in the metro area.

“The sector made up a little over 13% of Toronto’s GDP and close to 8% of the metro area’s employment in 2015, compared with 7% and 4.4% nationally.”

The benefits reaped from this sector go further still, as “the sector indirectly employed another 106,290 people in the metro area. In total, Toronto’s financial services sector generated a combined $16.1bn in revenues for federal, provincial and municipal governments in 2015,” the research organisation continued.

Canada’s financial sector is set to grow even further in 2017 so now is the perfect time to jump in and capitalise on the good times. If you’d like to tap into this booming industry, check out our job board to see what exciting financial services opportunities are waiting for you.