A new Statistics Canada analysis released September 24 maps the geography of jobs that can be performed from home across the Greater Toronto Area.
The study leans on 2021 Census data and an established task-based framework to classify occupations by whether the work can in principle be done remotely, rather than whether people currently work from home.
The distinction matters as employers continue to refine return-to-office policies, while the underlying mix of teleworkable jobs changes more slowly.
The results show a clear center of gravity, the financial district and the broader downtown core contain the heaviest concentrations of teleworkable jobs, with individual 0.5 square kilometer grid cells estimated to hold about 3,600 or more positions that could be performed from home.
Surrounding districts form a halo of midlevel density, generally ranging from roughly 450 to 1,400 teleworkable jobs per grid cell.
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Beyond the city center, several suburban nodes register as meaningful clusters.
The analysis highlights pockets of teleworkable employment across the GTA, including Mississauga’s city center, where some grid cells reach up to about 3,600 teleworkable jobs, as well as smaller clusters stretching west toward Oakville, east toward Ajax, and north toward Newmarket.
The corridor along Yonge Street into North York also stands out.
The work arrives as the market searches for equilibrium between office demand and a housing shortage.
Statistics Canada frames the mapping as a first step in assessing whether remote-capable employment can inform where underused commercial buildings might be converted to housing.
The report cites industry estimates that the national office vacancy rate was near 18.7% at the end of 2024, which underscores why adaptive reuse is drawing interest among city planners and landlords.
At the same time, multiple feasibility studies suggest only a minority of buildings lend themselves to conversion, which puts a premium on targeting neighborhood clusters where the math and policy align.
Methodology is uncomplicated but informative, researchers apply a widely used approach that classifies a job as teleworkable when its core tasks do not require in-person service, outdoor activity, or hands-on equipment work.
Workers are assigned to grid cells based on their place of employment, not their home address, which helps reveal business district patterns rather than residential sorting that intensified during the pandemic.
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The authors acknowledge a limitation in using 2021 Census data, which captured an unusually high period of remote work, but note that the focus is on capability, not current behavior.
In May 2021, just over half of employees in the Toronto economic region held jobs that could be done from home.
By November 2024, fewer than three in ten were actually working exclusively from home or in hybrid arrangements.
That shift helps explain why downtown employment centers still dominate the teleworkable map even as commuting patterns evolve.
Office landlords with exposure to the dense downtown grid remain tethered to sectors with the highest remote capability, which can amplify vacancy risk in downturns but also concentrate talent pipelines that support long-term value.
Municipal leaders weighing conversion programs can use the map to prioritize corridors where remote-capable employers cluster near aging towers, transit, and services.
Housing advocates can stress test whether potential conversions line up with neighborhoods most strained by affordability pressures.
The authors are careful not to estimate how many units could result from conversions, but the geographic lens provides a practical starting point.
The policy questions that follow are familiar, how many buildings are truly convertible at acceptable cost, and how quickly can approvals move. Where will conversions add housing without undermining viable employment centers.
Which incentives best steer projects toward areas identified as ripe for reuse. The study does not prescribe answers, but it helps aim the conversation.
With teleworkable jobs concentrated in the core and dotted across suburban hubs, any conversion strategy that hopes to dent the housing shortfall will likely need to be targeted, data-driven, and patient.
