Who Are Barrie’s Top Employers?

For years, moving to Barrie was a fairly simple calculation.

You could buy more house, have more property and maybe no neighbours behind, be closer to the lake, and probably improve your quality of life. The catch was that your job was more than likely somewhere south of here, and Highway 400 was going to become a significant part of your weekdays.

A lot of people had to really talk about it, but many decided the trade was worth it. That calculation has changed.

Barrie has effectively developed a much broader employment base of its own, while hybrid work since COVID has changed what “commuting to Toronto” means for thousands of professionals. It’s not daily.

So perhaps the more interesting question isn’t who Barrie’s largest employers are.

It’s this:

Can you move to Barrie and build a serious career here?

Increasingly, the answer is yes!

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Barrie Is More Than a Commuter City

Barrie isn’t a company town. In fact, one of the big strengths of the local economy is how spread out it has become.

The Barrie City 2024 employer survey identified more than 4,200 businesses. Among participating businesses, healthcare and social services accounted for 12,813 jobs, retail for 11,021, manufacturing for 6,924 and education for 5,852. More recent economic development stats following the survey put healthcare employment at nearly 14,000 projected jobs in 2025.

Those numbers don’t really fit the old image of Barrie as simply a place where people sleep before driving south in the morning on weekdays. 

And healthcare is perhaps the best example.

Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre has become a major regional institution serving a population of more than 540,000 people, with a team of more than 4,500 employees, physicians, nurses and volunteers.

And RVH is expanding all the time, in space and services offered.

Its plans include significantly increased cardiac, cancer, dialysis, maternal and child, outpatient, teaching and research capacity in Barrie, along with a future healthcare campus in Innisfil ( they bought the land so it’s happening). There are also plans being explored for a new 119,000 square foot healthcare services building beside the existing hospital.

For physicians, nurses, healthcare workers, pharmacists and other medical professionals, Barrie is no longer simply somewhere to live while working somewhere else.

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What else is there to know and love about Barrie? We thought you’d never ask! Check out the posts below:

• Discover Fun Things To Do in Barrie, Ontario
• Why Are People Moving From Toronto to Barrie?
• Is Barrie a Safe Place to Live?

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The Employers You Don’t Always Think About

CFB Borden is another enormous part of the regional economy that tends to get overlooked because it isn’t technically inside Barrie.

That distinction doesn’t mean much economically.

Borden is the Canadian Armed Forces’ largest training establishment. Approximately 3,250 military members and 1,500 civilians work there, and roughly 20,000 military personnel train at the base annually. That’s a lot of people. 

Then there’s Georgian College.

Beyond being a significant employer itself, Georgian is important because it produces many of the people local employers need to grow. The college works with about 6,200 employers, providing subsidized student work experiences as well.

Barrie also has a surprisingly substantial manufacturing sector. More than 300 manufacturers operate in the city, with particular strengths in automation, robotics, automotive parts, machining, tooling, plastics and fabricated metals.

Add the City of Barrie, County of Simcoe, Federal and Provincial Governments, two large school boards, professional and financial services, construction, technology, logistics and thousands of small and medium businesses, and the jobs picture becomes considerably more diversified than many people outside the area realize.

That diversity matters. There is no single employer holding up Barrie’s economy and that makes for a much more stable city economically. 

What’s Being Made Around Here?

The City reported in 2025 that more than 300 manufacturing businesses employ over 7,400 people here. And we’re not simply talking about traditional factories. Barrie has developed considerable expertise in robotics, automation, medical devices, precision machining and automotive technology.

Innovative Automation, for example, builds sophisticated robotic manufacturing systems and has more than doubled its revenue since 2016. Canplas, which has been manufacturing in Barrie for more than 50 years, employs about 270 people and has recently added 75,000 square feet to accommodate its growth.

Napoleon is a familiar household name and has gone from a local manufacturer to an international home comfort brand, while companies such as Southmedic, Prodomax and a cluster of smaller precision manufacturers sell products and expertise well beyond Simcoe County.

And you can’t really talk about manufacturing here without mentioning Honda. Its massive Alliston operations support not only thousands of jobs there, but an automotive supply chain that extends throughout Simcoe County, including suppliers and automation companies in Barrie.

That also makes today’s economic uncertainty worth acknowledging. Tariffs, changing Canada and U.S. trade relationships, automation and changes in the automotive industry could have a real effect on Honda, its suppliers and manufacturing jobs throughout the region.

Barrie isn’t immune to any of that. No city will be. 

But this is where having a diverse employment base helps.

• Manufacturing can soften while healthcare expands.
• Construction will have its cycles while defence, education and public sector employment tend to move differently.
• Technology may eliminate certain jobs while creating entirely new ones. Barrie is a growth hub in Simcoe County. 

Economic diversity doesn’t eliminate the bumps. It tends to make the road a little less rough.

Ready to start your home search in Barrie or Simcoe County? Start here with our featured properties. 

Work Has Changed

We’ve watched the questions relocating buyers ask change over the years.

There was a time when commute time was the big issue because five trips south and five trips north every week were simply assumed.

Today, we’re just as likely to be discussing the home office, internet service, proximity to RVH, Highway 400 access, GO service, getting to Pearson Airport and, most importantly, how many days a week someone actually needs to be somewhere else.

The Real Estate Conversation Has Changed

Where you work also influences where you look.

Someone working at RVH may naturally consider north Barrie, the East End, Midhurst or Oro Medonte. A household connected to CFB Borden may look toward Springwater or communities west of Barrie. Someone still travelling regularly to Toronto may put more value on south Barrie, GO service and quick Highway 400 access.

And someone working primarily from home might happily trade commute time for more land, privacy and a proper office.

That’s why employment and real estate are more connected.

People rarely uproot their lives because they found a house with a nicer kitchen. They move when the larger equation works: careers, schools, commute, family, lifestyle and what their housing budget can get them.

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Thinking of relocating and buying a house in Barrie? Start by reading the posts below: 

• What Types of Houses Are in Barrie?
• Why Buy a Home in Snow Valley? 
• What to Look for in a Waterfront Home in Barrie

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What Comes Next?

Perhaps the most interesting part of Barrie’s employment story isn’t who’s here today, but what’s being built for tomorrow.

Municipal forecasts anticipate substantial employment growth over the coming decades.

• Healthcare is expanding. South Barrie’s employment lands continue to develop.
• Manufacturing is becoming more technology and automation-driven. CFB Borden remains a major institutional anchor.

There will be economic cycles along the way, and Barrie isn’t immune to them. Nor is every career available here. 

That’s worth saying very plainly.

But for people working in healthcare, education, defence, government, engineering, manufacturing, construction, skilled trades, professional services or entrepreneurship, the career landscape is considerably deeper than it once was.

Add hybrid work to that equation and the definition of a “Barrie job” becomes even less important.

Barrie has always made a pretty compelling lifestyle argument.

What’s changed is that it increasingly has a career argument to go with it.

And for the next generation deciding whether Barrie is somewhere to commute from or somewhere to actually build a life, that may be the most important story.

Planning to relocate for a new career or a change in scenery? Our Barrie real estate agents are happy to guide you through the local market. Reach out to us today at 705.305.4174 or email hello@weeksgroup.ca with any questions.