Windsor-Essex’s professional services are run by dedicated facilities and privately-held companies engaged in call centres, back-office and information-based operations.
If you’re interested in starting a professional service business in Windsor-Essex, learn about how we provide the most business-friendly location and access to a desirable quality of life.
Sector profile
Our professional services are vital to our community and help support our greater economy. The professional services sector employs over 25,000 people in the region, has less than a 2 per cent saturation of contact centre employment and an annual GDP of over $4.1 billion.
Professional services operating in Windsor-Essex include:
- Legal and accounting firms
- Insurance agencies
- Engineering/construction consulting firms
- Advertising and marketing agencies
- Management, technical and design consultancies
- Human resources services
The region is home to Sutherland Global Services Inc., a business process transformation company and HGS Canada, a global business process management company providing customer care for many well-known brands.
Sector highlights
Windsor-Essex proudly offers the following benefits to provide our professional services an excellent support network that is essential to their success:
- A highly-educated workforce with a large pool of available labour
- Post-secondary institutions offer training in finance, information technology and human resources
- Over 150 languages are spoken in the region, with 15 per cent of the population speaking more than one language regularly at home
- Almost 10 per cent of the regional population can speak French
- Desirable international connections
- Low operating costs for businesses with facility lease rates up to 50 per cent less than the Greater Toronto Area
Industry strengths
There are many reasons why our business owners and investors choose to operate their professional services in Windsor-Essex. With a uniquely positioned, thriving environment, we top the charts with the following industry strengths:
- Canada’s largest catchment area with over 7.4-million people within a 90 minute drive
- Over 85 per cent of businesses in the region have access to fibre optic/broadband
- Multi-national corporations report high retention rates of employees
- Over 140,000 financial services employees in Windsor-Essex and southeast Michigan
Education and research
Windsor-Essex provides a multitude of education and research opportunities, especially within the professional services area. There are approximately 3,500 graduates annually who are skilled in business administration, finance and IT-related professional service fields.
- The University of Windsor is a multi-disciplinary institution that offers diverse opportunities in professional service education including:
- Odette School of Business which offers accounting, finance, management, management science, and marketing and strategy courses
- Programs in computer science including applied computing, computer information systems and software engineering
Known for providing students valuable career opportunities with three campuses to choose from, St. Clair College offers a solid foundation in professional services including programs in:
- Accounting
- Marketing
- Finance
- Human resources
- International business
- Computer systems technology