Industry Statistics

Employment

The customer contact centre industry employs 4 out of 100 working Canadians in over 13,000 contact centres. Thousands more Canadians provide external services that contribute to the sector. 

Economic Contribution

In 2000, the customer contact centre sector contributed between $36 and 38 billion (4%) to Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In comparison, Canada’s construction sector contributed $48 billion (5.1%), while Canada’s largest industry sector—manufacturing—contributed $169 billion (18%). 

Distribution by Region

Over 50% of Canadian customer contact centres are located in Ontario. The rest are distributed throughout the country, with nearly 25% in Western Canada, 18% in Quebec and 7% in Atlantic Canada. 

Distribution by Industry Sector

In 2000, the financial services industry became the largest user of customer contact centres in Canada, with 17% of all Canadian contact centres providing financial services. The services, retail/wholesale and manufacturing sectors still represent a significant portion of contact centre users, with approximately 13% of Canadian contact centres providing services in those sectors. However, their percentage of the overall Canadian contact centre population has been shrinking. In contrast, the proportion of government, transportation and telcos/utilities organizations using contact centres has been growing.

For more statistics on the customer contact centre industry, please download Chapter 4 of the Sector Study - Characteristics of the Canadian Contact Centre Environment (PDF - 0.4 MB).

To learn more about the customer contact centre industry in general, please access the sector study report, “The Canadian Customer Contact Centre Landscape: An Industry in Transition.”