The Changing Pattern of Commercial Specialization: 1991-2001 J. Simmons This paper traces the changes that have taken place in location of service activities among the cities of Canada during the decade 1991 to 2001. It builds on a previous CSCA paper based on the 1996 Census by Simmons, Jones and Bylov (2002), and draws on recent papers by Simmons and Bourne (2003, 2004a, 2004b) that discuss changes in the Canadian market, as described by the 140 urban centres. Perhaps the most important theme, however, is the exploration of the location preferences of an explosion of new service activity that has swept across Canada during the last twenty years. Since 1991, some 78 per cent of the country's employment growth has occurred in the services. By the year 2003, there were 1.7 million jobs in communications and business services, and another 1.6 million in consumer services -- in total, more than the primary and manufacturing sectors combined. Economic geography is turned upside down when activities that are oriented to markets and consumers drive the growth. Where do these new service activities locate? Are their clients local, regional, or national? How far from the clients should the service be? Which distribution and service centres appear to be the most attractive? This paper examines the directions of growth and relocation during the last decade.
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