Data & Maps

Annual Employment Inventory Survey

Contact Us

City's Employment Survey Office
Planning & Economic Development Department
Call 905-546-2424 ext. 1 292
Email [email protected]

The City of Hamilton carries out the annual Employment Inventory Survey during the summer months to look at business growth, trends and changes in the city.

First conducted in 2010, the survey focused on businesses, buildings and employment within the City’s Downtown. In 2013, it expanded to cover all of the City’s employment, commercial and rural settlement areas.

The information helps us to:

Monitor the extent, nature, and location of employment and land use.
Monitor changing economic conditions.
Track the effectiveness of local employment initiative and continued success of the city’s commercial, employment and rural settlement areas.
Develop or expand future facilities, initiatives, incentives and planning policies across the city.

The survey was last conducted in 2019 and has been on hiatus since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2023 Employment Inventory questionnaire will provide a much-needed refresh to previously collected data and a snapshot of the impact of the pandemic on Hamilton businesses. This information will enable the City to address immediate and long-term planning and development opportunities, while also assisting with monitoring the extent, nature and location of employment lands and adaptation to an ever changing employment landscape.

The 2023 Employment Inventory is now open!

Add Your Business to the 2023 Employment Inventory

Who should participate: Business Owners, Administrators, Organizational Leaders.

Note: Data that is not publicly available (as found online and in directories) will remain confidential and will not be shared. Confidential survey information will only be released in aggregate form to show general employment patterns and trends without revealing information on individual businesses.

“The return of the employer inventory provides a unique opportunity for a made-in-Hamilton measurement of the pandemic’s impacts on the employment and business community. The findings will outline where the City has seen growth, while also capturing a needed layer of direct feedback on where work must continue. This feedback can then steer plans to help improve the way we support and build Hamilton through our business community." - Mayor Andrea Horwath

“The information we gather in the annual employer inventory allows us to plan better, think better, and envision new ideas based on a complete conversation with our business community. We will be able to look for trends, assess employment growth, and gain a sound footing how the new landscape of the post-COVID world will help us support business in a strategic, proactive way.” - Jason Thorne, General Manager of Planning and Economic Development

Frequently Asked Questions

Media Release & Communications

How and when will the survey be delivered?

This survey will primarily be conducted by post-secondary student surveyors during in-person site visits to businesses throughout May to September 2023. Businesses may also be contacted via phone calls and email.

How will we be able to identify the surveyors during site visits?

All surveyors will be wearing City of Hamilton attire with City ID badges.

How will the information will be used to benefit business?

The annual snapshot is important for the City’s Planning and Economic Development Department to monitor employment trends throughout Hamilton.

This information is used to track the effectiveness of city-delivered employment incentive programs, to plan future facilities and services such as bus routes, sewage infrastructure, and social services, and to address Ontario’s Provincial Growth Plan.

The data collected will provide information on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and help the City develop a path forward in the recovery.

Why can’t this information be collected from taxes?

Your tax information is confidential and cannot be shared. The Planning and Economic Development Department, like other departments, does not have access to this information, and therefore we need to collect some basic information separately.

Where will the data be stored, and will it be shared?

The data collected from this survey will be stored in a database file for internal studies and to assist with forecast and trend analysis. The aggregated results of the analysis will be used to write a staff report to be presented to Council about the employment survey findings. Data that is not publicly available (as found online and in directories) will remain confidential and will not be shared.

May 31, 2023 - City Looking to Learn Who Works Where in Hamilton through 2023 Employment Inventory Survey
May 19, 2023 - Communication Update - Employment Inventory Launch(PDF, 116.55 KB)

Date modified

November 09, 2023