Ontario Science Centre lays off 30 employees, including the entire science department
The Ontario Science Centre has laid off its entire science department as part of cuts that resulted in 30 employees losing their jobs. The Canadian Press was able to get a recording of a conference call of CEO Paul Kortenaar announcing a restructure.
As part of this restructure, the entirety of the business development, science, security, and live exhibit teams were impacted. This comes after the center was closed in 2024, claiming that the roof had deficiencies, which drew questions because that roof survived record snowfalls without causing issues.
Ontario has plans for a new science center to be built, which is estimated to cost one billion dollars. It’s going to have the new location at Ontario Place, aiming to open it in 2029. There’s currently an interim location operating in Toronto while the new location is being built.
There are plans for growth in the Ontario Science Centre’s future
According to CTV News, the province said that the science programming will remain unchanged. There are also plans for new programming at the interim locations and the future location at Ontario Place. They estimate that this project should create 1,000 new jobs, which is an overall net positive that isn’t going to help those who were just laid off.
Unions were upset about the layoffs, stating that you can’t have a science center without a science department. Kortenaar’s rationale was that the restructuring is necessary for the future of the center.
Layoffs are currently commonplace across industries
It seems that there are layoff announcements at least weekly, if not daily during some weeks, making the Ontario Science Centre layoffs an unfortunately common sight. The United States had the infamous Friday night massacre that cut high-ranking scientists working at the CDC.
Beyond scientists, Marvel also laid off some of its top talents, which led to accusations that the company was switching to using AI and letting corporate greed take over. Then, there’s Kroger, which laid-off workers right before the holidays in 2025, possibly with the use of AI, if the accounts that some laid-off workers told were true.
There’s a cost-of-living crisis going on at the same time as this crisis that’s leading to layoff announcements appearing regularly in the news, and it’s to where somebody working three jobs struggles to survive. The cost of rent keeps going up as well while wages remain stagnate. The effects are being felt by people across countries and industries, and there are currently no signs of improvement coming.
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