Specialized rural-based industries such as agriculture are important in non-metro areas of Ontario.
However, recent fact sheets released by the Rural Ontario Institute suggest the health and social services sector is the single largest employment sector in those areas.
The Institute's Norm Ragetlie says their fact sheets also point to a decline in the number of people in the core work force in non-metro parts of the province.
He believes the prospects of the relatively large manufacturing and construction sectors will have significant impacts on future employment on the so-called non-metropolitan economies.
