The provision of services has replaced the production of goods as the principal form of economic activity in Canada. In the most advanced economies, employment in the service sector accounts for more than 50% of total employment and output, and this amount is growing at the expense of manufacturing and primary industries. However, the service sector is not equally distributed across Canada. There are some services which are ubiquitous, meaning they are found just about everywhere in the country, while other services are located only in certain areas. Unlike the manufacturing sector where results are visible at the end of the day, for industries in the service sector, the product is the service that they provide. Some of the different types of services that can be found in Canada include community (hospitals, day-care, schools), business (computer companies, lawyers, ad agencies), personal (baby-sitting), and leisure (movie theaters, golf courses).
The service sector is composed of tertiary activities (low tech industries devoted to the provision of services), and quaternary activities (high tech industries) that deal predominately with information processing. Some of the services provided by low tech industries include trade, business services, accommodation and beverage services and miscellaneous services. Ontario [1] is the province with the most employees in each of these four service areas, followed by Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta. Of those employed in Ontario's service sector; 24.6% are in trade, 10.7% in business service, 9.1% in accommodation and beverage services, and 8.2% are in miscellaneous service [2] industries. On average, those employed in the business services were earning $687.45 per week in 1998, accommodation and beverage services $231.29 and miscellaneous services $405.59. These weekly earnings have actually been increasing over the last few years. The highest paid employees [3] were those working in Ontario followed by Quebec, British Columbia and then Alberta. In addition to rising wages, the low tech services have seen an increase in the number of employees in all areas. From 1996 to 1998, there was a 0.17% increase in those employed in business services, 0.6% increase in accommodation and beverage services and a 0.82% increase in miscellaneous services.
High tech industries include such things as finance, insurance and real estate, education and related services [4], health and social services and public administration. As was the case with the low tech services, Ontario has the largest amount of people employed in all four of these areas [5] followed by Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta. Finance, insurance and real estate have 9.5% of the employees, education and related services have 10%, health and social services have 12.8% and public administration has 6.8%. The average weekly earnings for employees in the high tech services have also increased over the past few years, but not all services have experienced an increase in the number of employees. Finance, insurance and real estate (5.67%) and health and social services (1.25%) have both experienced an increase from 1996 to 1998, however, education and related services (0.46%) and public administration services (3.5%) have both experienced a decrease [6] in the number of employees.
Over the last few years there has been tremendous growth [7] in the service sector in Canada mostly due to growth in the business sector. From 1974 to 1994, community, business and personal service together had an employment growth of 86%. In this same time period employment in the business sector doubled, comprising 6% of the total employment in Canada in 1994. By 1998, this sector had grown to 798,600 employees. Service growth depends on a shift in public consumption preferences, an increase in the purchase of services from specialized establishments, an increase in public buying of external services, lower and more flexible wages and an increase in public consumption of services. There must also be the creation of new services, real growth in service output and an increase in the productivity of the service activities. The business service [8] is by far the most dynamic of Canada's service industries, providing services to the business community rather than the general public. Interestingly, many people are self-employed in this sector (more than 30% of the total employment). Computer jobs and management consulting services (public relations companies) have especially boosted employment in this area. Also, the average weekly earnings have increased substantially between 1974 and 1994, and as of 1998 it was $687.45 per week. Toronto [9] (29.7% or 161 000 employees) has the greatest percentage of employees in the business sector followed by Montreal (18.2% or 99,000 employees), Vancouver and then Ottawa [10].
Across Canada the distribution and growth of the service sector varies. Certain services such as retail and consumer not-for-profit services are found evenly distributed across the country, while others like utilities and communications services are randomly distributed over the urban hierarchy. For example, government services like Indian and Northern Affairs Canada have offices in almost every province [11]. High tech, information intensive services tend to be concentrated in Canada's eight largest metropolitan centers --Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa-Hull, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, and Quebec City. Approximately 51.2% of Canada's high tech services are found in these cities. Many of these large centers also contain the most of the finance services such as banks (Royal Bank Financial Group [12]) and insurance agencies (Manulife Financial [13]). Half of Canada's producer-service employment is found in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, and half of the country's FIRE employment is in the four largest metropolitan centers.
Non-profit, public services such as education, health and welfare are provided to the public by various levels of government and are usually located near the households that they serve. Their location generally follows the distribution of population but that is not always the case. Some services have specific locational requirements such as the Canadian Forces maritime branch that requires access to an ocean port. Transport, utilities and communication services (airports, ports, municipal transport) are usually irregularly distributed and at times are near the population, physical features, natural resources or primary and secondary services. The distribution of retail and consumer services is explained by the distribution of households and changing purchasing power of the public. Some examples of large retail companies in Canada include Eaton's (went bankrupt in 1999 and has been disbanded) and the Hudson's Bay Company [14]. People who live in these rural regions must travel to the closest central place for these retail services or may shop on-line thanks to the Internet [15].
An overall general pattern that is emerging in the Canadian service industry is the concentration of high tech firms in specific cities. The concentration minimizes transportation costs, facilitates co-operation among firms and takes advantage of the concentration of highly skilled workers.
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